Most publishers agree that taking control of ad sales is a constant learning process. Mike Dragosavich, owner and publisher at Spotlight Media, says that sales is the hardest thing he’s had to tackle.

Through trial and error, he’s determined 3 tips for hiring ad sales reps that can help publishers and sales managers attract and retain talent. And now, we’re going to share them with you.

Tip #1: Focus on Hiring Ad Sales Reps Who Actually Love Sales

This is simple advice, but it’s an easy one to whiff. You want sales reps who read about sales in their spare time. They need to be in a place in their life where they can put 100% of their energy into their role every single day. At the end of the day, you can’t train someone to love sales.

Mike says his interview process confronts this question head-on with the following string of questions, “Do you read sales books? Do you love sales? Do you love negotiating? If you don’t you are going to hate this.”

Moreover, someone who loves sales sees the benefit of a job that allows them to increase their value on a daily basis. That’s a driving motivator that separates the great sales reps from the rest.

Tip #2: Train Often. Like Daily Often.

Mike believes that everyone can benefit from getting better at sales from a technical standpoint. The end result is an increase in confidence—which takes the edge off an inherently high-pressure job. To this end, Mike believes “when you’re confident, problems aren’t problems and pressure isn’t stress.”

How does a sales team achieve that level of confidence? Frequent training. Recently, Spotlight’s sales team trained for 45 minutes daily over a span of six months. And now, they’re taking full advantage of virtual opportunities that have cropped up since COVID hit.

Finally, a heightened technical understanding makes the sales process feel more tactical and less like a grind. And, perhaps most importantly, it levels the playing field between him and his team. Mike says, “[Thanks to training], they’re into the technologies and new communication styles. Did you Cardone that? Did you Dohrn that? Now we’re all talking strategy, and they like talking strategy. We’re having a mutual conversation about sales, we’re on the same page. We’re all in.”

Tip #3: Market your business and treat your employees right.

When faced with the question about why a motivated salesperson in a crowded job market would choose a print publication, Mike is very clear. “We’re on a mission to educate people that we’re more than that. We’re not just a print company.”

To this end, it’s vital to remember that the most important advocates of your business are your current employees. If you want more sales reps, you need to make sure your current sales reps are happy. They’ll be the ones telling their friends at the bar about how cool their job is!

If you’re trying to recruit the best candidates and build retention, it starts with company culture. And with culture, you have to lead by example.

Hiring Ad Sales Reps Is a Process That You Can Refine

When it comes down to it, sometimes hiring ad sales reps is often a combination of great timing and good luck. Remember to hire people who genuinely want to succeed in their job, and focus on providing them with the training and the environment they need to achieve success.

Which leaves us with one last statement from Mike that quite nicely sums up his sentiments on retaining ad sales reps. “If everybody is on the same page, and they’re learning the same strategies, you’ll have yourself a great sales team.”

https://adsalesgenius.com/3-tips-for-hiring-ad-sales-reps/