• by Cory Treffiletti , Featured Contributor, September 4, 2002

At least once per quarter, someone from the sales side asks me, “What makes a good sales rep?” Very, very rarely do any media people I know sit back and think, “What makes a good media buyer?” In our industry, as well as in other facets of our lives, it becomes important to re-evaluate how we do our jobs, and our industry probably doesn’t do this often enough.

Lately I have been trying to re-evaluate myself, and I think that a few other people are doing so as well. None of us are perfect and none of us have solved the equation, but we are improving each day. While the summer fades into the distance, as school comes into session once again, and football season is upon us, why not share my thoughts on how we can all work together a little bit better?

To be fair, I am going to provide some suggestions on how both sides can do a better job. Media Sellers and Media Buyers could both benefit from this discussion, so here are my opinions. I am curious about yours, as well.

Sales People

First and foremost for sales people: Listen first, pitch later. All too often I have listened to a pitch from a rep where he would tell me all the great and wonderful things about his site(s) and product(s) without having any real idea of what my clients are trying to achieve. Your site may be the ultimate destination for males 18-24 years old, but if my client is a cosmetic company or a server-side application that targets Enterprise corporations, there is no value for me. Since I am not thinking about your audience now, you probably won’t stand out in my mind later, and that is of no long-term benefit to you, either.

Have an agenda, but be flexible. It’s fine to come to a meeting with 3-5 key points that you want to get across, but if I latch on to something and start to divert away from your agenda, be comfortable with this. Once we see that you’re trying too hard to get your points across, we know that you don’t have our clients’ best interests at heart.

Be creative. I know that we can be VERY difficult to get a hold of. I know that we can be in a hurry and may not be able to sit and give you the time that you deserve, but we’re a product of the needs of our clients. If we are in a rush, there is probably a reason. Sometimes a face-to-face meeting may not be necessary, and the obligatory bi-weekly cold call is definitely not a great tactic. There are other ways to stay top-of-mind for a media buyer. A hand-written note in the mail to say hello can be more effective that a wasted phone call every month that amounts to 37 seconds and 1 annoyed buyer.

Be realistic about what you’re selling. I respect a sales person who can honestly sit in a meeting and tell me, “You know what, we don’t have anything that’s a fit for your client right now, but do you mind if I check back in a month to see if there has been a change in strategy?” Honesty goes a long way towards building a stronger relationship with us and I always have a better attitude towards a rep that is honest rather than one who is trying to push for dollars no matter what the costs.

A good sales person makes a personal connection with their client.

A good sales person does not try too hard. The best sales people are personable and honest. A bad sales person will call all the time but have nothing to say.

Now, on the other side of the coin…

Media People

Most important of all, don’t waste people’s time. Some media people will get a “holier-than-thou” attitude when they are dealing with reps, for no reason. Yes, you control the dollars, but at the end of the day you are simply a middleman. It is our job to add value to the relationship between client and sales rep. If you pretend to be more important than your sales people, no one will deal with you and you cannot add value. Don’t send out RFP’s for the sake of an exercise. Don’t make sales people jump through hoops knowing that the client won’t buy it. Don’t play games with the sales rep, because that damages the relationship and they won’t be willing to go the extra mile to help you down the road.

Answer the phone at least part of the time. I’ve heard of “phantom-media-buyers” and “missing-media-planners” who don’t ever answer the phone and whom people don’t believe actually exist within an agency. We are definitely a busy bunch, but you have to try to be accessible. Believe it or not, some of the sales people have some great ideas and if you don’t listen at least some of the time, you may be missing something important. If you can’t always answer the phone, at least try to call people back in a timely manner.

Learn about traditional advertising. Many of the online media professionals today are people who came to the advertising industry straight out of college with their Psychology degrees in tow. Not many of these people originally thought they would be advertising or marketing professionals in their careers, but they stuck with it and may have become rather good and well respected at what they do (some aren’t so good but are still here anyways). In either case, everyone would benefit from a little more understanding about the fundamental concepts behind advertising. Once again, Media Planners and Buyers are supposed to add value to the relationship. If you don’t have the background for your field, the depth of your value is limited and so is your value in the relationship.

A good media person will revaluate their strategy on a regular basis.

A good media person will treat their sales people with the respect they deserve.

Remember that this business is still about relationships. At the end of the day we are trading exposure to an audience and this exposure is a commodity. There is no true standout online who can profess to own an audience that cannot be reached by some other vehicle, so the true value becomes that of the relationships between Clients, Buyers and Sellers. The Buyer-Seller relationship is the most important and we need to be reminded of this from time to time. I know I do.

What did I miss? What other advice would you give to the Sellers and the Buyers who read this list? The Spin is yours…