How to Pick an Advertising Sales Rep

Craig Arthur lives Down Under and sent this in his email recently:

What Do Your Media Reps Really Know About Advertising?

It’s time to put them to the test.

Media sales teams traditionally have a high staff turnover. Media sales people traditionally have little if any training in how advertising works. Yet, these sales people go out everyday and advise business owners how to advertise. Is it any wonder most business owners wander the desert of frustration thinking, "Advertising is a rip-off."

If your advertising strategy is faulty, your money is wasted. So, before you take advertising advice from media sales reps, or anyone for that matter, (including well meaning family and friends) interview them as you would any potential employee / adviser.

So here are a few simple questions to get you started.

1. What advertising training does your station give you?
(I am not talking sales training. Sales training is to help the sales rep and the station sell more. Advertising training is to help you, the business owner, sell more.)
2. How often do they give you advertising training? (It should be monthly at the very least. Weekly would be better.)
3. Does your station track the campaigns of clients so you know what worked and what didn’t? (If not, why don't they?)
4. Do your managers advertise for new staff on your station? If not, where do they advertise and why? (You’ll find typically, radio and TV stations advertise in the paper. But don’t they tell you their media is better? Hmm!)
5. What advertising training / courses do you do on your own time? (This is an important one.)
6. What books and magazines do you read?
7. Do you subscribe to any e-newsletters on marketing and advertising?

8. .... You can add your own questions

Chances are most media reps will tell you about their experience in “sales” not advertising… Remember you are not looking for advice from someone expert in sales - what you actually need is someone with an expertise in making your advertising work. Oh… and you will be subjected to reams of info about their station and why it is better than all the other stations! Again, completely irrelevant to what you really need.

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