• by Ari Rosenberg , Op-Ed Contributor, January 10, 2005

Inside the commission plans for most publishers is a kicker of some sort for breaking "new business." New business is defined as an account that has never run, or has not run within the past 12 months.

This incentive has been part of the industry for years. It worked well in the days of annual planning because it directed sales reps to pursue new business at a time when renewing business was as easy and as smooth as the martinis they were drinking at lunch.

Today however, most publishers would readily admit renewing business is far more critical, yet the commission language that says otherwise still exists. The lesson here is that if you treat renewal business any less than new business, it will become lost business.

But with that said there is nothing like the excitement and euphoria of breaking a new piece of business. Ask any media sales rep their favorite sale and they can name it off the top of their head. The answer always includes "it was new business."

I have had my fair share of new business wins. But the one that comes to the top of my head is when we broke Taco Bell at Ign.com. I was so excited I brought in $300 worth of Taco Bell for the entire company to help celebrate our big win.

Winning new business feels so special because a number of special things need to occur for it to happen. In my experience, there have always been two common ingredients present when a new account is broken.

The first is that the sales rep had the account won in their mind. So regardless of how many campaigns they failed to earn, they just kept going at it as if they were politely correcting a mistake until they finally prevailed.

This conviction is fueled by the ease in which they can answer the following three questions: why is your property so right for this account? Why does this product or service match up so well with the needs of your readers? Why is your property an effective vehicle to transmit this message?

The sales rep on Taco Bell knew our readers were ideal for double stuffed burritos, and that our site was an ideal environment to communicate with them. But we failed to earn a number of campaigns initially. Undeterred, he communicated this message frequently enough until voila! Everyone at our company was elbow deep in soft shell tacos.

Not every account is an ideal match, and hence winnable. That's why it is essential that the sales rep determine which accounts they will win versus which accounts their management dictates they should win, or accounts they fear they can't win. This is a subtle, but important difference.

The second common ingredient always present in a new business win is "the hook."

This is creatively driven and when it hits, it can raise your property over any competitor and far above previous objections.

Here is an example of a great "hook."

One of my directors had determined we were right for the U.S. Air Force account. Despite a year and a half of losses, his conviction remained surprisingly strong and the hook that finally landed the business was brilliant.

The campaign's creative messaging at the time was something like "U.S. Air Force: come experience that of the chosen few." He proposed the Air Force sponsor a week in which our site unlocked a popular video game strategy guide previously accessed only by our paying subscribers.

Bang. The idea matched up perfectly with the creative message and he hooked the first of several campaign wins for us.

Many sales reps out there mistakenly believe they can win any piece of business if they perform like "rock stars" and earn the adulation of their media buying audience. In actuality, the client's product is the real rock star and the job of the sales rep is more like a promoter coming up with the hook to pull in the audience they represent.