The Center for Sales Strategy Blog

If 2021 saw everyone still reeling from the “year that shall not be named,” then 2022 seems to be one of continued adjustment.

For example, it’s clear that “hybrid work” means different things to different people. Nearly half of sales managers (49%) view their desired hybrid schedule as a 50/50 split between in-office and work-from-home.

In this new Media Sales Report, you’ll see that salespeople don’t feel the same way. Other trends from the previous year seem to persist or have worsened. Take recruitment; 65% of sales managers say that finding and hiring new talent is the hardest part of their job. That figure is up by more than 10% compared to last year.

And while you will see a contrast between sales managers and salespeople in terms of an optimistic outlook, the fact is that 87% of managers see a bright future ahead. If you'd like to read the full report, download it here.

• How can sales managers better communicate and express their optimistic industry outlook to engage and inspire their teams?   
• What can sales managers do to turn a less-than-ideal company culture into one that their salespeople would evangelize about? 
• What is causing such different perceptions of what the ideal hybrid model should be? 

This season on Improving Sales Performance, we’re analyzing the findings from our latest Media Sales Report. With data collected from surveys conducted in Q4 of last year, the responses from sales managers and salespeople alike will help us chart a solid path forward through the media sales landscape.     

In each episode, Matt will be joined by a rolling roster of outstanding experts from our team at The Center for Sales Strategy.   
 
Here, Matt is breaking down the Sales Process section of the Media Sales Report with VP/Senior Consultant, Alina McComas and Senior Consultant, Michael Mayer. 
 
Both Alina and Michael have such awesome takeaways on some top questions that arise from the report, like: 

• Why do you think appointments are becoming harder and harder to secure? 
• With 41% of salespeople telling us that finding qualified leads is only getting harder as well, what do you think is causing this? 
• What would you say to sales managers that are having a tough time with CRM adoption amongst their team?

Click here to listen to this episode on your preferred podcast platform or keep reading as we break down the conversation from this episode. 

This season on Improving Sales Performance, we’re analyzing the findings from our latest Media Sales Report. With data collected from surveys conducted in Q4 of last year, the responses from sales managers and salespeople alike will help us chart a solid path forward through the media sales landscape.     

In each episode, Matt will be joined by a rolling roster of outstanding experts from our team here at The Center for Sales Strategy.   
 
Here, Matt is breaking down the Learning & Development Section of the Media Sales Report with VP/Senior Consultant, Emily Estey  
 
Emily has such excellent takeaways on some top questions that arise from the report, like: 

• What advice would you give to sales managers leading salespeople who aren't receiving trainings frequently (on a weekly or monthly basis)?   
• How can sales managers have meaningful conversations with their sellers on a consistent basis? 
• What would you say to managers trying to engage and inspire team members that are underperforming in their eyes?

This season on Improving Sales Performance, we’re analyzing the findings from our latest Media Sales Report. With data collected from surveys conducted in Q4 of last year, the responses from sales managers and salespeople alike will help us chart a solid path forward through the media sales landscape.     

In each episode, Matt is joined by a rolling roster of outstanding experts from our team here at The Center for Sales Strategy.   
 
Here, Matt breaks down the Sales Department Section of the Media Sales Report with SVP/Senior Consultant Stephanie Downs and Senior Consultant Susan McCullin.  
 
Together, Stephanie and Susan give their insightful takes on some top questions that arise from the report, like: 

• Why does recruitment continue to be one of the hardest parts of a sales manager's job? 
• Why does the average size of sales teams seem to be shrinking? 
• With recruitment being a perpetual sore spot, how should sales managers maximize the performance of their small staff while also trying to find and hire new talent?

Brand new, hot off the press, the 2021 Media Sales Report is now available for all to download!

This series of Improving Sales Performance focuses on the analysis of the 2021 Media Sales Report conducted by The Center for Sales Strategy; unpacking the data from the surveys to help media sales teams use these insights to drive sales performance in the year ahead.

In the first episode of the series, Matt is joined by industry experts, Stephanie Downs, Trey Morris, and Beth Sunshine, to dig into the key takeaways from the 2021 Media Sales Report and discuss the future and outlook of the media sales industry based on the data in the report.

Tune in now or keep reading for a brief overview.

2020 was one for the history books. From the outbreak of COVID-19 to heightened tensions during an election year, the sanest approach seemed to be simply taking one day at a time. However, sales professionals are forever optimists, always looking ahead, and ready to take on the next challenge.

The 2020 Media Sales Report studies the landscape over the past year, including the expectations for sales managers and the strategies deployed by media salespeople to assess their effectiveness across six key topics:

• Sales Department Structure (Size and Compensation)
• Training and Development
• Appointments and Sales Process
• Sales Enablement
• Culture and Industry
• Impact of COVID-19

You can see some of the highlights for the survey in the infographic below. If you'd like to read the full report, download it here.

We just launched Season 2 of the Improving Sales Performance Series, which focuses on the data and analysis of the newly-released Media Sales Report. John Henley and Jim Hopes, managing partners at CSS, joined Matt Sunshine on the first episode of the season to discuss their key takeaways from the report, how sales management and leadership can use this data, and the feelings of the future and outlook of the media sales industry.

You can stream it now to hear their insight, advice, and initial thoughts after analyzing the data that was just published. Or keep reading for a brief overview.

In the recent CSS Media Sales Report, we discovered:

• Sales managers are expecting sellers to set twice as many appointments this year
• The majority of salespeople say it is harder to get an initial appointment with a new business prospect than in years past

It appears these two concepts are on divergent paths, that’s probably why the issues related with setting appointments have existed for such a long time. Here are some tips to help solve this longstanding problem.

Even though using social media to sell has been widely adopted in many industries, the 2019 Media Sales Report revealed that social selling is currently more hype than reality. Only 12% of sales managers surveyed saying their salespeople are using social media effectively to set appointments with prospects.

Research indicates that sales leaders still aren't convinced of social selling's value. And many salespeople simply don't know how to go about becoming a social seller. If you still need some encouragement when it comes to your social selling initiative, use these statistics for inspiration.