Multiplatform Sales Can't Be Afterthought

My typical work week involves not only the day-to-day demands of the industry, but also flying back and forth across the country visiting at least one, if not several, of LIN Media's television stations. Keeping my finger on the pulse of our company and our advertisers is critical, especially as we face unprecedented change and opportunity to grow and evolve.

Television is still the dominant media and only growing stronger. However, gone are the days when the sales department would only be responsible for selling TV commercial spots. The digital revolution has opened many doors for both local media and advertisers. As a result, it is essential to provide multiplatform solutions that meet the needs of our clients on many different levels.

Clearly, most local media companies have expanded their focus to include non-traditional advertising, restructuring their sales organizations in the process. A common pitfall is putting the cart before the horse and developing Web and mobile offerings without a well-thought-out sales strategy. The focus for many companies was to accelerate the convergence of TV and digital platforms without regard to the meaningful steps that must come first.

LIN was one of the early adopters of the multiplatform business model. However, evolving the current sales process did not happen overnight. We recognized the need to have the right person in a leadership role growing our digital business. To that end, we hired a senior VP at the corporate level to develop our digital strategy. We also recognized that in order for our sales force to be true multiplatform marketing representatives, they would need to understand the value and uses of each platform, as well as the benefits to advertisers.

Right from the start, we committed to training early and often. First, we added Internet sales directors in each of our markets. That person was directly responsible for the generation of revenue on our web properties, in addition to training and consulting our existing account executives.

Next, we focused on transforming the sales culture so our television and digital sales teams work together as a cohesive unit. It was critical to provide our sales teams with the tools and resources necessary to talk authoritatively about all of our TV and digital media offerings, including on-air spot advertising, display advertising, video, e-mail marketing, mobile display and pre-roll, SMS text marketing and search engine optimization and marketing.

Several times a year, our local and national sales managers, as well as our Internet, news and promotions directors, come together for training sessions, educating each other and learning how to leverage all combinations of our market-leading news, top-rated syndicated programs, new and unique local programming, local commercial production and digital marketing solutions to develop customized campaigns based on how our audiences consume media.

In addition, we developed more tools for monitoring our sales process in each of our local markets. We clearly communicate our goals and provide account executives with the necessary resources to generate leads, call sheets, reporting tools, and sales materials.

It is safe to say that all of the successful salespeople I've met throughout the years have a competitive streak in them that drives their success. I believe it's important to harness that motivation and ambition in a fun and productive way.

For example, we recently held our second annual company-wide sales competition as a way to generate revenue from new and existing accounts. Each of our markets implemented a well-thought out local sales strategy focused on both television and new media and competed against their peers in other LIN markets. The results were outstanding. From two days of sales, we secured nearly 400 new clients and over $2 million in sales.

While a well-trained sales force is critical to the success of a multiplatform business strategy, the assets are just as important and local media is sitting on some of the most lucrative assets -- data metrics.

User data is what advertisers want and our online advertising business, RMM, provides the technology and expertise to optimize advertising campaign metrics and provide measurable results. All of our stations are now marketing RMM's innovative geo-targeted products, including custom display, vertical display, search and e-mail marketing solutions in categories such as travel and tourism, business-to-business, financial, automotive, health care, and education.

Contrary to many operations that are still insecure about selling Internet options, LIN Media's sales teams have the proper training to understand -- and promote -- the benefits of the technology for advertisers.

In summary, training cannot be overlooked and training cannot be an after-thought. A one-day "quick-fix" seminar is merely window-dressing for a corporate brochure. A well-thought-out sales training program is what actually delivers meaningful results.

Through collective learning, the sharing of best practices and our ability to listen and connect with advertisers and viewers, we were able to successfully transform the culture at our television stations where one team sells advertising inventory across all of our platforms in order to fulfill the dynamic needs of our advertisers.