If you're like most magazine publishers, ad revenue is your lifeblood. So, naturally, it makes sense to think about the advertising sales management software you use to manage your business.
In this blog post, we'll review the top three reasons why the software your sales reps, production team, and accounting staff use to manage the day-to-day tasks that keep your publishing business running.
Reason #1: Advertising Sales Management Software Reporting Is Powerful
First, let's talk about ad sales reporting. If you're using a one-size-fits-all CRM or spreadsheets to manage your ad sales revenue, you're missing out on vital data. Simply put, compiling reports manually requires time and resources that you could be using to sell more ads. Not to mention, waiting on report creation delays your ability to adjust to changing business conditions.
Also, consider the power of the reports you're able to produce. If your software isn't tracking your historical sales and accounting data across all products—print, digital, programmatic, events, sponsorships, to name a few—then you're not getting a full picture of potential sales opportunities.
In brief, powerful business reporting is vital to any publisher's survival in 2020 and beyond. If you don't have access to the right reports—or they are time-consuming to produce—you're missing potentially valuable opportunities.
Reason #2: Communication Is Better During the Ad Sales Process
Now, let's consider the ad sales process itself. After an advertiser signs a contract, what happens to the job? If your answer involves a stressed out traffic manager, an endless stream of emails or Slack messages, or sticky notes (!), you need to reconsider your software.
There are a number of ways that advertising sales management software can do some heavy lifting with traffic management.
- First, it can control the way the ad job moves from sales, to production, to accounting without relying on repetitive manual steps.
- Further, good software will minimize the amount of times that sales contract details are entered. This translates to less errors across production and accounting.
- Finally, it can help automate advertiser approvals and store production assets. This makes recurring advertiser projects a breeze. No need to hunt down files on a server or rely on back-and-forth email for creative!
In conclusion, with ad sales management software, you can have a streamlined ad sales process with features to speed along production and accounting.
Reason #3: Managing Your Ad Sales Reps' Success Is Easier
There are two methods you can use to manage the daily routine of your sales reps. To be nice, let's call the first method "freestyle." Your reps start each day knowing they need to sell ads. However, they may lack clarity on a number of questions, such as:
- What ad products should I focus on selling today?
- What are my sales goals for the week? The month? The year?
- Which rep "owns" each account, and which accounts are up for grabs?
- How much can I discount each ad type?
- Has this prospect been contacted recently?
- Which ad types are still available for the next delivery period?
Now, imagine another scenario where ad sales management software helps you manage your reps' success. The answers to these questions and many others are built into your sales software, which adds clarity to their daily routine. Furthermore, quality software helps your publishing business accomplish it's sales goals. For example, selling more digital or limiting discounts to a certain percentage.
To summarize, ad sales management software helps you define expectations for our sales reps. It also allows your reps to measure their success against those expectations.
We Build Software to Help You Realize Your Ad Sales Potential
Ad Sales Genius is CRM and automation software built for media companies that sell advertising. If you're looking for ways to help your publishing or media business run leaner and meaner, it's time to talk to us. Fill out our free contact form below to schedule a free personalized demo of our ad sales software today!