10 most typical mistakes advertising sales managers make in their work

19.01.2018 10 most typical mistakes advertising sales managers make in their work

Most of these mistakes apply not only to advertising sales, but to sales in general. However there are a couple of very specific mistakes that can only occur when you are selling advertising services (or spaces).

1. Inability to tell between real and false reject. If the client rejects your offer saying they don’t have funds for it, it is not certainly true. They just can have doubts about necessity or effectiveness of the services you offer. Or maybe they have encountered an unfair ad seller before. A good sales manager will not be stopped by refusal. He will try to find out the real reason and oppose any contradictions the client might have (for example, dispel his ideas that “advertising is too expensive” or “it is not effective” and so on).

2. Stealing your competitors’ clients. Remember: these people are already working with an advertising agency and apparently they are happy with their services. But they haven’t had any business with your company and know nothing about you. So this way of client recruiting doesn’t usually prove effective.

3. Excessive promises. It is one thing to outline the prospects and tell about possible increase in sales and brand loyalty, but promising tremendous growth in income and massive influx of orders is something completely different. If your promises don’t come true, then the client will feel cheated and won’t buy your services again. Promise only something you can do.

4. Lack of knowledge about your own company specifics and available ad spaces. Sales managers must have a clear picture of a prospect advertiser of his company. In most cases the theme of advertisements goes in line with the theme of a magazine (newspaper, radio or TV channel and so on). Apart from this, the manager should know what type of advertising is most effective in one case or another. For example, small advertisement block, a couple of text lines or an article will show different efficiency levels in different newspapers.

5. Talking to those who don’t make decisions. Very often these talks lead to nothing: the person you are talking to is not a decision-maker in his company, and in most cases he won’t even try to pass your message over, especially when you are offering something as insignificant as advertising. 

6. Ingratitude. A company accepted your offer of advertising services? Great! But its representatives will be very glad to receive a word of gratitude from a sales manager, as he is going to get his commission from this deal.

7. Inability to contradict objections. Advertising sales manager doesn’t only sell an ad space on a billboard or in a newspaper. He is selling something a lot more important: a tool to attract new clients and to enhance brand loyalty. Having this in mind a sales manager will always find what to reply to clients’ objections.

8. Working just for show. Make a call – get rejected – put it down. This is not what we call sales. Sales managers are not here to gather rejections, so he should set up his mind on getting over them. You can always try to turn rejection into a constructive dialogue about the profits of your proposal. Even if you still get turned down in the end, the chances are high that the person will remember you and your company. It might play into your hands in future.

9. Avoiding those who have never advertised before. Such clients are usually very careful and attentive when selecting an advertising agency, but if you manage to win their trust, they will most certainly stay with you forever.

10. “Please, buy it” and other psychological mistakes. Sales managers shouldn’t beg clients to buy something from them, they are representing a successful company, which is confident in its future and has a steady level of income. Background knowledge in psychology is a must for an advertising sales manager.

These are the main mistakes that advertising sales managers might make in the course of their work. Avoid them, develop your selling skills, explore advertising market and target audience and your sales will be growing!