The Center for Sales Strategy Blog

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.

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.

The 2019 Media Sales Report studies the landscape over the past year, including the expectations for sales managers and the strategies employed by media sales professionals to assess their impact across five key topics:

• Compensation and Sales Team Size
• Training and Development
• Number of Appointments and Sales Process
• Sales Enablement
• Culture and Industry
• More!

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.

Corporate culture has arguably always been important, but in recent years it’s become a popular point of discussion. To some, it’s become a buzzword, with an overabundance of content and discussions surrounding it. However, our 2019 Media Sales Report revealed some telling information related to how salespeople and sales managers feel about the culture of their company and industry today. 

Company culture is becoming even more important as the modern workplace continues to evolve. This is proven throughout the report as the biggest takeaways are related to how prepared salespeople feel to face the future and how likely they’ll be to recommend their company as a great place to work.

Why is sales enablement important? Because buyers are more informed, and selling is more challenging than ever before. Our 2019 Media Sales Report found that some of the major challenges in sales today are that sales reps’ time is not actually spent selling and salespeople are simply not equipped with relevant materials.

Sales enablement is a strategy that aligns marketing, sales, and operations while lowering costs, increasing revenue, ensuring brand integrity, and ultimately closing more deals. Even the most talented sales reps can benefit from the right support, structure, and technology.

So, why did nearly 1 out of 4 sales managers feel that they don’t have the right sales collateral pieces to help their sellers in all stages of the sales process?

Want to know the secret to booking more first-time appointments with new prospects? It might surprise you!

In the recent Media Sales Report, we learned 93% of sales managers agree that salespeople should be averaging 4+ calls per week. However, 40% of sales managers believe that their salespeople are missing the mark at only 2 to 3 calls per week. 

Add to this the finding that 85% feel that appointments with prospects are harder to secure today than they were 5 years ago, and this leads us to the secret to booking more appointments.

All great sales managers will tell you that training and development are the cornerstones for building an exceptional sales team. The sales industry constantly changes and evolves as prospects learn and alter tactics to deal with enthusiastic salespeople. And, every salesperson needs to learn how to adapt to these changes and continue to grow in their field of knowledge.

This is why sales managers and salespeople share common ground when it comes to learning and developing new skills, but as the 2019 Media Sales Report found, there’s still room for improvement when it comes to performance.

Highly-talented salespeople are more in-demand than ever. In fact, of the top ten emerging high-growth jobs listed by LinkedIn, five of them are some form of sales role. One significant result from our recently published 2019 Media Sales Report is that salespeople in these roles (and other sales positions) don’t want to be paid on 100% salary. 

Salespeople have repeatedly told us they want the opportunity to make as much as they can. Research supported this with over 57% of the salespeople saying that they prefer a salary plus commission structure with 30% to 40% of their total compensation coming from salary.

Rethinking the sales organization is a big topic in the media industry. Knowing how to compensate is just scratching the surface of what we uncovered in this year’s Media Sales Report. While compensation is one way to motivate salespeople and bring them to your organization, non-financial elements also play a significant role when it comes to hiring, coaching, and development.