In the third episode of Broadsheet, we focus on how to educate the client to understand how to reset their expectations of digital media.

Jeannie Parent begins the episode by saying, “Back then, it was really all about print and it was all about the Sunday paper and the frequencies and the flights and all of those things where we were able to maximize our profits as a business. Now, what we have to do is really think about how we can maximize our clients’ profits first while still recognizing our bottom line which is a challenge for us.”

Jeannie’s right. If you’re not putting your clients’ success over your own, they won’t be a client of yours for much longer. The best way to put your clients first and discover the best products and services to market that small business is to perform what is called a needs analysis.

A needs analysis is an important tool that should be implemented into your sales process for every client. Simply put, a needs analysis is asking questions to really understand a business and what their needs are (makes sense!) and analyzing their answers to develop personalized marketing solutions.

Jeannie uses the example of a local dentist. A dentist needs to fill their chair with patients in order to make money. So when a chair is not filled for an hour, what does that cost the dentist? Understanding how to fill the chair, how to get the first appointment, how to get the consultation, and how those drive appointments are all things you would learn from going through the needs analysis.

It’s also a way to set expectations and make sure the newspaper and the client are on the same page.

As Earl Baer from the LA Times Media Group said, “We do a needs analysis on the front end to make sure the product we deliver on the back end is correct.”

Finally, a needs analysis is a way to introduce yourself as an industry expert on these platforms.

OwnLocal’s founder and CEO Lloyd Armbrust says,  “If you ask someone if they do email marketing, the first thing they’re going to think is, “No, should I be doing email marketing? And if so, is this the guy to do it for me, because he seems to be really smart, he’s asking me all these questions.”

There are an overwhelming amount of solutions for small business advertising. It’s important to perform the needs analysis every time to make sure you and your sales people are suggesting the correct solutions that will fit that business. Doing so will put you on a path to success and assure you keep your clients for a long time.

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