I think we all agree that media sales is a game of relationships. Meaning, it is almost always easier to close a deal when we know our client. I think we all would further agree that sales is a game of math. Meaning, that if we have a lot of activity in our pipeline we are usually going to see better success. The point of argument with management comes when sales people think they shouldn’t have to make a ton of calls because the media business is all about relationships. I like to coach my clients on a gentle combination of math skills and relationship skills. Being able to understand that you need both to be a successful media sales person. If you rely solely on building relationships to make your goal, the time required to close the deal grows significantly. In the same regard if you only make hundreds of phone calls and don’t weave into those phone calls relationship building activities you will also see a long sales cycle because you are seen as “just another ad sales person”. So, is there a short cut that allows you to make a ton of calls and also build fast relationships? Not exactly, but there are some ways to streamline the process.
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I think we all agree that media sales is a game of relationships. Meaning, it is almost always easier to close a deal when we know our client. I think we all would further agree that sales is a game of math. Meaning, that if we have a lot of activity in our pipeline we are usually going to see better success. The point of argument with management comes when sales people think they shouldn’t have to make a ton of calls because the media business is all about relationships. I like to coach my clients on a gentle combination of math skills and relationship skills. Being able to understand that you need both to be a successful media sales person. If you rely solely on building relationships to make your goal, the time required to close the deal grows significantly. In the same regard if you only make hundreds of phone calls and don’t weave into those phone calls relationship building activities you will also see a long sales cycle because you are seen as “just another ad sales person”. So, is there a short cut that allows you to make a ton of calls and also build fast relationships? Not exactly, but there are some ways to streamline the process. 
