Advertising Sales Tips

Contemporary ever-changing economic conditions; corporate distrust and sagging shopper-confidence puts tremendous pressure on the sales divisions of all media. Media companies and their sales teams are facing concentrated rivalry for accounts, falling margins and longer advertiser sales cycles. To flourish in the face of harsh conditions we’ve put together these tips for selling advertising in these times – strategies for Sales Managers in uncertain circumstances.

Get Back to Basics:

As any coach knows during a decline in performance, the best line of attack he or she can take with their team is to go back to basics. Look at each phase of your sales process. Do your lead creating activities bring quality, interested clients or unqualified punters? Do you have a lead generation process? Does your sales team really appreciate your advertisers through comprehensive needs assessments? Are your features and benefits tied to explicit challenges facing your advertisers today? Can you and your team close sales effectively in an efficient and timely manner?

Sort the Wheat from the Chaff:

Thoroughly scrutinize all of your accounts. There may be advertisers there who are high maintenance using up your precious time and resources yet securing you little profit. Concentrate on your customers that value your company and its service and of course who are profitable.

Become Leaner’n Meaner:

In prosperous times, advertising contracts come easy so your top performer may have really been an order taker. Today’s market requires professional advertising sales personnel.

Appraise your under achievers, sustain and coach them. If they can’t be trained inessential sales abilities or are unenthusiastic about the current circumstance, it’s time to let them go.

Use Meetings:

Hold frequent coaching sessions with your sales force. Utilize this time to role-play skills, share best practices, have fun and work at inspiring your team.

Look into your Pricing Structure:

Slashing inventory prices in order to compete with mounting competitive force is a certain way to end your lifespan. Sensibly, find where to alter prices and find ways to link unit rate to longer-term relationships. Case in point: a 2-year $20,000 contract is much healthier for you and your client than a $3,000 quarter by quarter agreement. Develop a long-term relationship with your advertisers. During tough, competitive or confusing times, the media company that makes money and endures is the one that changes its sales tactic to meet market circumstance.

Sell without regret.

Michael Tate: Sales Director International – NRS Media 

A foundation employee during its initial five year start-up phase Michael Tate has returned to NRS Media after 15 years of working internationally to take up tenure as the company’s Sales Director in its International office.

Michael has a vast knowledge of effective media use, advertising and advertising sales management built over the last 25 years working with some of the world’s largest TV and radio groups.

He is a highly sought after key-note speaker and advertising sales trainer at major industry bodies like the Radio Advertising Bureau, the Texas Broadcasters Association, and the Oregon Association of Broadcasters. Tate has successfully worked with advertising sales managers, their staff and clients in 12 countries including the USA, UK, Canada, Ireland, Norway, Malaysia, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Philippines and Australia.

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