Head of advertising sales department. Main responsibilities and requirements

The head of advertising sales department is a very important person in every advertising agency or social media service provider. He is in charge of the department that performs one the main function of the agency, i.e. searching for potential clients, holding preliminary discussions and as a result signing contracts for advertising services. Income and well-being of entire company and of its employees in particular depends directly on how effectively the sales department works.

So what are main responsibilities of the head of sales department?

Responsibilities of the head of advertising sales department  

Of course responsibilities mentioned below are not easy, but if you find the right person for the position, he will fulfill them without any difficulties:

Creating and maintaining client database by cooperating with advertising agencies and with advertisers directly; Conducting preliminary discussions and making presentations; Maintaining stable inflow of orders; Preparing necessary documents with the help of legal department; Coordinating and monitoring work of sales managers; Preparing price-lists; Preparing materials for presentations (together with designers); Preparing reports and financial accounts on completed advertising campaigns (for advertisers and for internal use); Media planning, creating a line of advertising products; Developing advertising and marketing plans, devising marketing policy; Controlling observation of laws and regulations regarding advertising business; Supervising of all employees of the department; Organization of exhibitions and other advertising events; Developing strategies and plans for conducting all advertising events etc.,

The list of responsibilities of the head of sales department also depends on work specifics of the agency, and whether there are any other executives (for example, if there is an advertising and PR manager in the agency, then part of responsibilities mentioned above will be attributed to him).  

Requirements to applicants for the position  

It goes without saying that only an experienced and knowledgeable person can be in the running for this position. Here are basic requirements of the employers to applicants for this job: 

Work experience in advertising field – from 3-5 years; Contacts in business circles (highly desirable); Keen interest in the job and motivation for success; Knowledge of Internet advertising market, nowadays it is getting more and more relevant; Experience in direct sales of any goods or services, preferably of advertising services; Experience in negotiations with executives of the companies; Experience in client recruiting; Skills in order-conducting: from signing the contract to delivery of agreed services; Experience in making presentations etc.

Who is head of sales department subordinate to? As it was already mentioned, he is subordinate either to the advertising director (if there is one), or to the head of the company, depending on the structure of the company.

Professional head of sales department has a remarkable level of self-organization, good communication, management and selling skills. Such head of department will prevent any possibility of a sales manager stealing client database when leaving the company. Out of all people he must understand the importance of maintaining CRM with the help of special software – this can save the company from many problems and complications.