Good Ad Rep - Bad Ad Rep

Many of you either own your own business or work in a marketing capacity in your company. If this is the case, you’ve probably been contacted in the past by sales reps from online publishers wanting your ad dollars. As an online agency specializing in media campaigns, we here at Web Ad.vantage have dealt with all kinds of sales reps, and over the years we’ve developed certain expectations based upon a sales rep’s communication, attitude, and knowledge, amongst other things.

This week we’re sharing our assessments with you so you’ll know what to look for and who to avoid. Working with a good sales rep, as opposed to a bad one, can be a mitigating factor between a successful online advertising campaign, and a disaster. Let’s show you why.

COMMUNICATION

The Good Ad Rep:
Demonstrates superior communication and follow-up on a continuous basis, making sure that he always correctly sets your expectations from the sales process, to deadlines and performance. He will listen to what you say, and doesn’t push you to do something you don’t want to do. He is attentive, trying his best to take care of problems as they surface, alerting you to them as they occur (rather than you having to figure them out for yourself), and even telling you what to avoid so there are fewer problems in the first place.

The Bad Ad Rep:
Fails to follow-up at all. Why should he, once you sign the dotted line to commit your money? If you do contact him with an issue he shows a lack of urgency, perhaps not responding at all. He makes all sorts of promises he can’t keep and doesn’t end up delivering.

ATTITUDE

The Good Ad Rep:
Wants your business, and plans on having you as a repeat customer. He treats you like you’re the only customer he has, and doesn’t complain to you about his job. His commitment to work and willingness to go the extra mile to win your business, will make him a trusted “go-to” resource and a genuine pleasure to work with.

The Bad Ad Rep:
Takes things personally and is always on the defensive. Excuses are common - they’re busy, they’re sick, they hate their job, they’re all being laid off, etc. You practically have to threaten them to get any attention.

KNOWLEDGE

The Good Ad Rep:
From the beginning you feel confident that the person on the other end of the phone knows what he is talking about. He can answer most of your questions without hesitation. You trust his opinion about what works and what doesn’t, because you know he’s “been there, done that.” And, he can back up his theoretical knowledge with pertinent client case studies.

The Bad Ad Rep:
Can’t (or won’t) answer your questions. His common response is, “I’ll have to get back to you.” He doesn’t have information on his site’s demographics or traffic at his fingertips, and he takes far too long to send you basic information. Forget asking tough questions altogether — you’ll never get an answer.

CAMPAIGN PARAMETERS

Defining, planning, trafficking and tracking your campaign are all components of executing an online media buy. You want to be able to trust in the ability of your ad rep to help you negotiate all the complications and curve balls that may come your way.

The Good Ad Rep:
Takes a vested interest in the positive performance of your campaign from Day One, making suggestions to improve your buy, your placement, your delivery, etc. He watches your campaign like a hawk, and once it’s launched, doesn’t hesitate in proposing ways to improve its performance. If it takes more impressions or re-working the creative, he’s ready, willing and able.

The Bad Ad Rep:
Will run only the exact required amount of impressions and discourages you from making creative changes mid-campaign. He never calls to update you on the campaign and never gives recommendations — perhaps it’s because he’s too busy trying to close his next deal.

TIMELINESS & FOLLOW-UP

The Good Ad Rep:
He will get back to you when he says, and if he doesn’t have an answer he’ll let you know that he’s working on it. He responds to your emails or phone calls promptly, which shows you that he’s being attentive and supportive. He creates the feeling that he’s there for you.

The Bad Ad Rep:
Expect to be leaving a lot of unanswered voicemails and emails and to feel under the gun to make deadlines you were never informed about.

FAILED CAMPAIGNS

Not every campaign is going to be a whopping success. A good ad rep, however, will work with you to try to stop the bleeding.

The Good Ad Rep:
If a campaign goes south, he does what he can to make the campaign right, be it adding impressions, pulling the plug before the entire campaign is served or even offering some kind of credit. He has confidence in his product and wants to preserve your business, and he tells you so.

The Bad Ad Rep:
Generally blames the creative for poor campaign performance. He’ll make excuses, argue, be on the defensive, or even say nothing at all, except, “Sorry it didn’t work out. Maybe you can try something different the next time.” Mr. Sales Rep — there won’t BE a next time.

PERSONALITY

Let’s face it — people buy from people they like. Even in a faceless, voiceless communication method like email, personality can shine through and it certainly has an effect on the way we do business.

The Good Ad Rep:
He’s not you’re typical door-to-door salesman. He’s friendly, professional, courteous, and conscientious of your busy schedule. He’s the kind of person you want to stay in touch with, just in case an applicable media buying opportunity with his site comes up — and you don’t mind if he stays in touch with you either.

The Bad Ad Rep:
He’s aggressive, pushy, and annoying. You don’t want to talk to him unless you absolutely have to. When you ask him to email, instead he calls…and keeps calling and calling and calling.

Back in the Internet boom days, online publishers were livin’ large. Ad budgets were bloated and most reps literally had more business than they could handle. The glut of opportunity led some to develop bad habits in how they dealt with their clients. As we’ve shown, many of the traits that make up a “good ad rep” are no more than common sense and courtesy.

Now that the market has tightened, we have seen some increased responsiveness in reps, but not to the degree we’d expect. And with extensive layoffs and closures, there’s less continuity with ad sales reps — you might have worked very hard to build a relationship with a great ad rep, only to find him gone the next time you call.

That’s fair warning: before you advertise, do your due diligence and try to ascertain whether the publisher is going to be around long-term. Be sure to build more than one relationship within the organization (getting the name of your rep’s supervisor at the beginning is a good start), so that if your rep is removed, your entire campaign won’t fall apart.

Happy buying!

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