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2019 Mentor Program Blog Post: Susan Tran & Kate Jones

By Kate Jones posted 10-13-2020 11:22 AM

  
MENTOR: @Susan Tran
Director of Corporate Support | Marketing Manager | Special Projects Producer
Maine Public (Portland, ME)
MENTEE: @Kate Jones
Corporate Sponsorship Manager
PBS Utah (Salt Lake City, UT)
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Our PBS CSPI Mentor Program Experience

Kate: When I joined the Mentor Program, PBS Utah had just become the only PBS station for the whole state and I was the only underwriting representative. Although this opened up new opportunities, it was overwhelming and I felt that I needed the tools to efficiently prospect new industries and make the initial contact with businesses in a dynamic way that would get some response. I worked with Frank to put all my current clients and leads into Salesforce then began some IVS’s together for new industries. This work transitioned well into my work with Susan as we began creating emails and proof points and reaching out to new businesses.

Susan: I had a wonderful experience participating in the Mentor Program in 2018/2019, and when Toanya reached out to me in December to see if I’d be willing to step in as Frank’s replacement, I was thrilled. In the first year, I walked away from the experience feeling tremendous growth in my own work, and I was delighted at the prospect of continuing that growth.

When Kate and I connected, and I learned of her goals for the program, I immediately saw that they aligned with ideas I was exploring with my own team in Maine: creating efficiencies, brand alignment, and rethinking prospecting tools and strategies.

We immediately dove into prospecting, first with a focus on category-based research, targeting one industry at a time, followed by carefully crafting individualized reach-out e-mails using the Crafting Sales Emails for Mobile Readers webinar as a guide.

Kate: We picked banks and credit unions for our first industry and crafted a short email of introduction asking for a meeting and included a unique differentiator and proof points specific to that industry as to why sponsoring PBS would be beneficial for that business. We then moved onto the food industry; culinary schools, grocery stores, CSAs, agricultural groups. The response was positive and I was able to set up multiple meetings.

Susan: We were just finding some real momentum in early March, and then – like everyone else in the world – we had to pivot on a dime. At first, we focused on what was happening in our own markets and with our own clients and revenue. By mid-April, we began thinking about prospecting again, realizing that the methodology we were following (e-mail first, targeting specific well-researched industries) would work well in the pandemic environment (as opposed to wide-ranging initial reach outs that were conducted in-person or by phone). We had many discussions about appropriate industries to target, as well as those to avoid. Being mindful about how we were reaching out and to whom was a successful approach for Kate – and my team in Maine as well.

Kate: I felt the approach we were using helped with both renewals and generating new business during “pandemic summer”. I was able to reuse proof points over and over again as I thought of new businesses within industries we’d already discussed and new industries that were still spending marketing funds.

Susan: This year has really flown by! In reflecting on my work with Kate, particularly the tools and efficiencies we developed together, I am struck by how much of our work has translated into my work of my own team in Maine – especially as we reevaluated our approach to prospecting after the start of the pandemic.

This year, more than any other, I fully understood the value of CSPI. It is a powerful tool, and can become even more powerful with internalizing the methodology and adapting it to fit into client interactions that are authentic to your own style and your organization’s ethos. Having the opportunity to work with Kate led to this CSPI eureka moment for me, and I am confident it will inform my work for years to come!

Kate: The Mentor Program has been extremely helpful. I now have the tools to be more efficient in prospecting and contacting businesses. Having regular calls with Susan kept me motivated and boosted my confidence in my sales abilities particularly during this trying year. It was also useful to be part of the bigger Mentor/Mentee group and bounce ideas around with people from different markets and lots of PBS experience. I’ve been able to exceed my sales goals this year and will be able to use these prospecting tools to teach others as we grow our corporate sales team at PBS Utah.

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