• by Ari Rosenberg , Op-Ed Contributor, December 1, 2004

Sales people are different. Very different from people who don't sell, and different from each other. The ones that seem to have the most fun selling media these days are the ones blessed with super creativity. The Internet has provided a blank canvas for this kind of media sales artist.

Back when I wore paisley suspenders, we negotiated counter cards from publishers as creative added value to help our clients reach out and touch their target audience ("This ad as seen in Country Living").

Today, co-branded micro sites are just some of the outlets used by this creatively blessed segment of the media sales force to increase the value of a campaign. Super creativity however, is a blessing and a curse. Most blessed with this strength are often weak in other key attributes to successful selling. The three most important attributes a media salesperson should strive for, in order, are: to be super organized; to consistently put forth a super effort; and be super organized. If all three areas are excelled in (okay two), and you then mix in super creativity, you have what Buddy Ryan said at his first press conference as the newly named head football coach of the Philadelphia Eagles at the time: "You got a winner in town."

Another well-known coach, Phil Jackson once told his Michael Jordan led Chicago Bulls, "You can't control if you win or lose, you can only control your effort."

As a media sales person, effort is what you put forth every day. You are either entertaining your clients, or your management, and both are equally tiring. But what contributes to your anxiety, and zaps your energy, is a lack of organization. And I don't mean a cleaned up desk kind of organized.

I mean super organization as in if your president wanted to mail a letter to your top 10 account's presidents and then follow up with a phone call, getting that information does not cost you time and sweat.

In a perfect world, names, addresses, phone numbers (direct dials), and a summary paragraph of that client's spending history with you along with a jpeg of their creative would be sent over in 10 minutes. But you don't sell in a perfect world. So how can you perfect it? Get organized beyond your wildest dreams.

My sales teams were asked to create sales binders with an account review of their top 10 account opportunities. The reviews had to have contact information of the entire roster of key executives (including the president), driving directions, and floor numbers, as well as a list of restaurants in the area.

They had to include entertainment plans for these accounts, including a schedule of lunches to be sent over to the agency team at least once a month. The client's products were listed, along with a summary of their marketing objectives and their media spending history (i.e., which sites were getting the business). Finally, each review had to contain a creative integrated idea that made strategic sense for that client and what internal resources they need to execute it.

This exercise, when taken seriously, is like any exercise. If done right, you feel so great you have that "I can't believe it took this long to figure out" kind of feeling. The strength you as a salesperson will receive from this workout is that of structure.

You have, literally in your hands, a well thought out plan you wish to execute for each account. And at the very least, the binder is alphabetized so you can read the names of all of your accounts until one strikes your fancy on a particularly slow day.

Most importantly however, an organized sales strategy binder can help those media salespeople not blessed with super creativity, harvest this attribute on their behalf.

Organizing data on your top accounts can only help you when trying to educate and empower your sales marketing counterparts and your management to help create a higher value integrated program to sell. This organized approach works much better than an e-mail telling your director of marketing: "Hey, I need a big idea for Nike." If you want to succeed selling media, get super organized, put forth a super effort (or find out what is holding you back from doing so), and get... well, you get the picture.