Look up!

Upper-level execs hold the most significant influence and authority over major decisions, especially advertising-related ones. They can say, ‘Yes.’ They control the money. They have the ultimate power to spend it and can allocate how much.”

E&P columnist Jeff Sleete is a 50+ year broadcast industry veteran

When you make a sales call on a company, on whom should you focus? Ideally, look up — to the upper echelons — to the owners, presidents, executive vice presidents, general managers, group managers and division managers. Some others to focus on are the folks with a “Chief” in their titles — like CEO, COO, CFO, CTO, CRO and CMO. These are the levels where you really want to focus.

Why?

These folks know where they want their businesses headed. They are deeply involved in strategy and welcome solutions that line up with their company's overall goals and objectives. They have the greatest input on what translates to a benefit for their business.

Upper-level execs hold the most significant influence and authority over major decisions, especially advertising-related ones. They can say, “Yes.”

They control the money. They have the ultimate power to spend it and can allocate how much.

Sadly, far too much presentation time is not spent with higher-level execs in media. Media sellers lavish 90% of sales efforts at people with less than 10% of the stroke.

I know from 50+ years in the media business that if I were to scour the percentages of presentations in the last year at most media outlets …

1. The percentage made to agency people at the super-clerk levels
2. the percentage made to other agency executives
3. the percentage made to brand/advertising managers or corporate “flack catchers” or the advertiser’s media director
4. the percentage to top executives

… I would find too few calls on (c) and practically none on (d).

In every market, there are hundreds of key executives a media seller or their management has never seen.

Sure, agency super clerks must be given service — especially if they request it. But the dumbest local media seller out there, when pressed, knows the difference in potential between the folks who call in for pricing metrics and your largest market retailer, who says, “Don't call me.”

If you want to be a real success at media sales, by grabbing significant ad money, you must make calls further up the food chain.

You need to see top people at the important advertisers with evidence that you can sell significant, selective marketing targets better than the other media with which you compete.

Though top execs are busy and discerning people, with a little creativity, you can get in with them. And you will find them a lot easier to talk to than some of the clerks you are dealing with. In the end they are just people. They have mortgages, kids and go to soccer games on Saturdays like everyone else.

This generally takes more work, such as a special campaign of letters, small gifts or gimmicks. A t-shirt got me an appointment with the CEO of a $2 billion chain department store. A champagne bottle, already iced, did it with a supermarket president.

Then, of course, when you see them, you must talk about their business — not your business. You will win the sale if you’re prepared, direct and value-focused.

Jeff Sleete is a 50+ year broadcast industry veteran — sales manager/GM/corporate sales head. He most enjoys helping sales departments position themselves as “mavens” (experts) of business to be more successful at selling advertising. Fundamentally, Jeff is a salesman. Through his media sales consultancy, Sleete Sales Script, he provides a daily road map for sellers of any media outlet type to be more consultative in their approach to their clients and set themselves apart from all their competition. Learn more about Jeff at https://www.sleetesales.com/. Or reach him at jeff@sleetesales.com.