Radio Sales Café

I recently sent a survey to the readers of my advertising, marketing, and sales blog. The results contained some surprises, and point to an opportunity for experiences media salespeople to help the next generation.

First, a few numbers:

• Not surprisingly, the majority of my readers work in media.  40.7% are in TV, 29.6% in radio.
• Most are involved in sales. About half – 48.1% – are salespeople/account executives. Another 25.9% are Sales Managers or Directors of Sales.
• The group is a little older than I'd expected. Three out of every four of my readers – 74. 1% — are over 45. Almost none  – 3.7% – are under 35.
• It’s an seasoned group. The vast majority – more than 70% – have been doing this for more than 10 years.
• The rookies aren't reading it. 18.5% have less than five years’ experience. 11% have been doing this for less than three years. 7.4% are in their first year.
  
  

How Media Sales Veterans Can Help The Next Generation

Sales is a tough business, with a tremendous amount of turnover. Most of the big media companies provide some training, and most managers do their best to provide guidance. But there is often not enough company provided training, and not enough hours in the day for a busy manager to provide enough guidance.

Think back to your first year. How much training did you get? Most of experienced sellers remember some variation on this: "They handed me the Yellow Pages, slapped me on the back, and told me to go get 'em!"

These days it's Google instead of the Yellow Pages, but the struggle is the same. A whole bunch of smart young AE's who might've been good ones wash out every year because they didn't get the training they needed.

The Account Executives who make it are the ones who take the opportunity to learn on their own. They just need to know where to look.

That’s where you  -- the experienced sellers who have picked up a few things on the way -- can help the young ones. Even if you don’t have the time to spend one-on-one, you can certainly point them toward some resources that can help:

Resources You Can Pass Along 

1. Here is a list of five essential books that every media salesperson should read. They are affordable even on a tight budget – a rookie can buy the entire set for around $100, and probably find some of them in the local public library.

2. Here is a list of five essential blogs. They are free.

Take a moment to send one (or all) of the links above to an inexperienced AE who can use the help.