The Value Of Teamwork p. 13

By: M.L. Stein

Circulation executive says members of his department
can contribute to an advertising sales call
A CIRCULATION EXECUTIVE, with the leader of his newspaper's advertising department at his side, recently urged advertising and circulation department managers to "tear down the walls" that separate them and become true partners to boost sales.
The two departments' marketing plans should complement each other and "quite frankly, they should be driven by advertising," Larry Martin, vice president/circulation of Tucson Newspapers Inc., told newspaper advertising directors.
Conceding that some circulation departments have been tainted by corruption, "mystery" and unprofessionalism, thereby losing the trust of advertising staffers, Martin stressed that now is a new era in which ad departments "must trust circulation, remove the barriers that still exist but demand integrity and growth."
The 1990s, Martin said, call for credible circulation numbers and progress that includes the ability to identify and target subscribers "and an understanding that we are both serving the same customers. After all, advertisers are readers, readers are buyers, buyers are advertisers."
Speaking at the 68th annual sales conference of the California Newspaper Advertising Executives Association at La Quinta, Martin said the team cooperation that he has developed at TNI with Terry Egger, vice president/advertising, may serve as an example to other newspapers. The company publishes the Arizona Daily Star and Tucson Citizen.
TNI's "Action Team," headed by Martin and Egger, reduced churn from 120% in 1990 to 74% in 1993 and increased circulation and advertising, Martin said.
One change was assigning circulation people to accompany advertising reps on sales calls.
"I can contribute to a sales call," he declared. "Give us the opportunity. Circulation has grown up. We are more intelligent and we're here to assist you ? to fill in the gap in marketing."
Martin said building a working partnership between circulation and advertising requires a commitment from top management and giving one person in each department "the ability to cross departmental boundaries."
At TNI, the two departments cooperated successfully in marketing an "Extra" card, which gives subscribers discounts at advertising retailers, he said. "It was a win-win situation."
A partnership between the two departments, he added, can address such key questions as:
? How much circulation growth is needed to justify rate increases?
? Where is the highest penetration needed?
? What is the designated market worth of circulation outside the paper's retail trading zone?
? Who are the key circulation wholesalers, and how important is alternate delivery?
? How important is the circulation database?
"We must have a team effort in all this," Martin said. "It does no good for circulation to grow if we don't fulfill the needs of advertising. That's the way we work in Tucson. It may not be a mutual-admiration society but we do indeed work within a mutual respect of each other.
"After all, if the Berlin Wall came down, surely we can do the same on a newspaper."
The value of teamwork also was highlighted by two other CNAEA speakers, who discussed another element: employee self-esteem.
Christine Brow, telemarketing director at the Orange County Register, said the success of her operation has resulted from creation of a "performance culture," in which good performance is recognized and rewarded.
She pointed out that phone salespeople, because of their closed-in environment, are likely to feel inferior to outside sales reps, who can leave the office and meet customers face to face. The number of refusals may contribute further to their lack of self-respect, Brow said.
For that reason, the pay of Register telemarketers is "in line" with that of other sales department employees and image-enhancement is part of their training. The workers receive a 60% base pay and 40% in commissions plus other perks for superior work. They also are made aware that the job may lead to a career because the telemarketing department is a hierarchy, containing senior reps, team leaders, supervisors and managers.
"The reps must feel and believe they are professionals," Brow said. "By empowering the individual, you build a sense of team and unity."
At the same time, Register phone sellers are told that they must meet minimum performance standards as they are taught such skills as program and package selling, cold calling and closing sales, Brow said.
She added that management has a heavy responsibility for a winning telemarketing system.
"Management must manage and be accountable," Brow said. "You can expect what you inspect."
Arte Maren, president of The Advisory, a business training company in Burbank, Calif., also believes that rewards are important in increasing productivity, but he cautioned against handing them out too freely.
"Bonuses and perks can be dangerous if not given for the right reasons," he said. They should be awarded for effort "above and beyond the call of duty," he explained. "The trap is that employees can become addicted to bonuses, and employers can be carried away to the point of awarding workers who are merely doing their job."