Securing appointments has always been a sales challenge, but in media sales today, it’s reached a breaking point. The 6th Annual Media Sales Report shows that booking meetings, advancing deals, and closing business require more persistence, better tools, and sharper strategies than ever before.
Here’s what the data from the Setting Appointments & Sales Process section tells us—and what sales leaders must do now to keep their pipelines full.
Booking Appointments is the Top Bottleneck
75% of salespeople say it’s harder than ever to book meetings, and an even greater percentage of managers (85%) agree. For many sellers, it takes 5–9 attempts just to land a first appointment, and 14% struggle to get meetings at all.
Action for Sales Leaders:
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Build persistence into your prospecting playbook—5+ touchpoints should be standard, not exceptional.
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Train sellers to combine channels (calls, email, LinkedIn, video) for maximum impact.
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Monitor activity metrics to ensure follow-up sequences are being executed fully.
Proposal Volume is Too Low
Most sellers (57%) submit only 1–2 proposals per week. But 76% of managers believe this number is too low to sustain a healthy pipeline.
Action for Sales Leaders:
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Set minimum proposal benchmarks tied to your team’s close rates and revenue goals.
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Use CRM reporting to spot proposal bottlenecks and coach for earlier qualification.
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Create urgency by setting proposal deadlines and tracking turnaround times.
Communication Tools Are Stuck in the Past
Phone calls and email remain the dominant outreach methods—but 93% of sellers aren’t using 1:1 video messaging, one of the most personal and engaging ways to connect with prospects. LinkedIn is underutilized too, with only 15% using it “all the time.”
Action for Sales Leaders:
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Train sellers on how to create effective, short, personalized video messages.
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Make LinkedIn outreach part of every prospecting cadence.
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Audit outreach patterns monthly to ensure channel diversity.
CRM and AI Tools Are Underused
While CRM access is high (88% of sellers, 83% of managers), 28% of sellers and 45% of managers admit they don’t use it effectively. AI adoption is even more limited—50% of sellers never or only occasionally use AI for tasks like prospecting, automating follow-ups, or generating ideas.
Action for Sales Leaders:
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Train your team on how to use CRM and AI tools in the context of their daily workflow.
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Establish a standard CRM usage policy and track compliance weekly.
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Identify high-impact AI applications—like automated follow-up emails or lead scoring—and pilot them with your team.
Sales Cycles Require Better Process Discipline
For most sellers (61%), the sales cycle from discovery to close is 1 week to 1 month. But nearly a third (31%) face longer cycles of 1–3 months, adding pressure to maintain consistent activity and pipeline coverage.
Action for Sales Leaders:
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Use sales cycle data to set clear expectations for deal progression.
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Identify where deals stall and coach sellers on moving them forward.
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Encourage multi-threading—building multiple relationships in the same account—to speed up decision-making.
Final Thought: Appointment Setting is a Skill—and a System
The data shows that securing appointments isn’t just harder—it’s slower, less consistent, and overly reliant on outdated methods. Sellers need structured, multi-channel outreach strategies, stronger proposal discipline, and better use of the tools already at their disposal.
Leaders who modernize their approach will not only book more meetings—they’ll accelerate the entire sales process.
Download the Full Report:
For more insights on how leading media sales teams are adapting their processes, prospecting smarter, and leveraging technology, download the complete 2025 Media Sales Report here:
👉 Download the Full Report
