2012-4b-1

The Arizona Daily Wildcat Training Program The University of Arizona

The Arizona Daily Wildcat’s training program seeks to prepare employees for the professional field following college. Our goals are to demonstrate the value of our core products, emphasize the importance of customer satisfaction and build confidence in our Account Executives to achieve success post-graduation. In order to accomplish our goals, we train over a five day work week that includes the following breakdown and individual day goals.

Day 1: Part I: Goal: To inform our Account Executives on their job responsibilities, the structure of our office and our available core products.

Main Topics: 

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General Information about the Daily Wildcat o Employment Responsibilities o Dress Code o Polices & Procedures o Advertising Acceptability o Tour of the office o Introductions to fellow staff members and co-workers Publication Details o Distribution o Special Sections o Separation between newsroom and advertising staff New Hire Paperwork

Day 1: Part II: Goal: To educate our Account Executives on and how to present all of our available rates and various pricing structures. To demonstrate the process of placing an ad and how to fill out appropriate paperwork correctly. To make our Account Executives as confident and knowledgeable of our products as possible. To send each new employee home with real life practice problems allowing them to have questions the next day.

Main Topics: 

Placing An AD o Rate Card Information o What is PCI stand for? o Rate Calculations o Discounts o Insertion Orders & Contracts o Deadlines

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Online Training o Paperwork o Impressions o Available Ad Spaces o Average impressions per week o Acceptable artwork files Other Paperwork o Accounting – payment forms o Production – Blue Sheet, Pink Sheet, Yellow Sheet o Placement Book Practice Sheet – Assign problems

Day 2: Goal: To finalize the Account Executive’s understanding of the rates and calculations of our core products. To educate on the special sections we offer and how to present each product. To demonstrate the technical tools available to them to be successful. For example, the ad tracking system we use, the fileserver, ect. To tutor on how to manage the work load of this position and class course load and be successful.

Main Topics: Go over practice problems – answer any more questions concerning rates 

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Special Sections o Special rate o Deadlines for space & artwork changes Spadia o Rates & Sizes Sponsorship Packages o Individual Package Details o Special Insertion Order Outdoor Advertising o Pricing o Spec Dimensions Technical Training o AdPro o Email o Z:Drive Commission & Bonus Plan Time Management Training o Two days to call on entire account list o Role Plays on “How to make calls” o Set up weekly schedule with 50/50 between inside the office and outside

Day 3: Goal: To educate on how to sell our products on value, how to overcome objections, how to prospect by role plays with veteran Account Executives. To show the importance of organization through call sheets and necessary follow up.

Main Topics:      

Prospecting 101 Value Selling Asking the right questions in order to make an ad effective Call Sheets Creating leads Role Plays

Day 4: Goal: To allow our new Account Executives the opportunity to be coached and mentored by a veteran Account Executive on initial in-house calls and daily activity.

Main Topics: 

First round of shadowing o AE will coach on making first calls o New AE will be taken out on at least two outside appointments

Day5: Goal: To allow our new Account Executives the opportunity to be coached and mentored by a veteran Account Executive while out prospecting new business. 

Second round of shadowing o Four-legged prospect calls o Out in the field all day

At the end of the five days we measure the success of our training program by calculating the following statistics. The total number of clients contacted and by what means (email, phone, in-person). We keep track of this by collecting daily call sheets at the end of each day. The total amount of revenue booked for the semester. The total number of new contracts signed. And lastly we evaluate the satisfaction our Account Executives express after a week on the job by holding individual meetings.

Training Program (Pg 1 of 5) Our training process begins well in advance of the Student Account Executive’s official beginning day in their sales territory. For the benefit of our customers, and our bottom line, we want to experience as little “downtime” as possible in a sales territory.

Central Michigan Life

We keep a running log of the current staff’s graduation dates, and prepare a hiring plan according to the number of openings we will have available in the next two semesters. If we only have one opening, we will hire closer to an actual start date, as we have more one-to-one time with that student. When we have more than one opening, (which is usually every semester), we will fill the positions 8-10 weeks out.

In a typical Fall Semester, we will begin with help wanted ads in September, interviews in October and hire at the beginning of November. The new hires will be trained for the months of November and December and will start in their territories the first week of January with the start of Spring Semester.

In the spring semester, we start the process all over again with employment ads beginning in January, interviews in February and hires made before students leave for Spring break (1st week of March). When the students return from Spring break, they start the training process through March, April and early May. Our first step after hiring, is to set up training dates with each incoming sales person. Each new sales trainee is assigned to one of our 3 Advertising Managers and a Senior Account Executive. The training process is overseen by the advertising manager, and the senior account executive is who they shadow during the process.

The training will begin with review of the CM LIFE Advertising Department Handbook. Each section is carefully studied, and practiced, so the new employee will be as familiar with the operation, policies, procedures and paperwork as possible. This is an ongoing process for the rest of the training period.

The second step is a complete tour of the facility, with introductions to staff members and their roles in the organization. When possible, we also tour the printer’s facility so the Student can grasp the entire process involved in getting a daily newspaper produced.

436 Moore Hall, Central Michigan University, Mount Pleasant, MI 48859 PHONE: (989) 774-3493 FAX: (989) 774-7804 EMAIL: advertising@cm-life.com

Training Program

(Pg 2 of 5)

In addition, the new “trainees” are required to attend our weekly sales meeting, to get acquainted with staff rapport, student and professional staff managers,.

While job shadowing, the “senior” sales member has the “trainee” handle all procedures related to processing ads and customer service issues. The “trainees” will thumbnail the ads, handle the scheduling of the ads, proof the ads with the customers, and clear the ads for press. They will learn about deadlines, special sections, handling objections, bad credit and collection.

Central Michigan Life

During this shadowing process, new account executives are given their official Central Michigan Life notebooks. These notebooks contain everything a rep should need when talking with their customers. (Rate cards, publication schedules, distribution lists, special section calendars, special section flyers, weekly and monthly specials, cheat sheets for pricing, competitive media information, etc.) The new rep learns through the senior rep how to best use this notebook when working daily with customers.

When the new representative feels they are ready, they can choose to start making calls on their own. This is usually reviewed upon with the rep, the senior rep and the sales manager. We will have them start with cold calls or new customers. This gives them an opportunity to practice their skills, while waiting for their account lists to become ready. During this time, we will also introduce the NAA Planbook and the Fair Housing Guide to the new account executives. A brief review is done, but it is up to the new rep to review them on their own and utilize them as necessary.

About one to two weeks before semester end, the new account executive will begin the process of meeting their new accounts. This is done by face to face introductions from the departing representative. This gives the customer an important adjustment opportunity and can review things directly with the old rep and the new one.

The new account reps are then given their team and individual goals for the first month of the new semester. All new account executives are on a probationary period their first semester. Their progress is charted by call sheets, spec ad production, achievement toward goals, teamwork, commitment to the job, peer attitudes and reviews with selected customers. It is a constant monitoring process.

The student advertising managers handle every aspect of the training process. This provides continuity to the program, and great leadership experience for the student managers. The adviser oversees the process, and handles questions and offers suggestions. There is constant feedback between the new hires, the senior staff, the professional staff, the student managers and the adviser.

Alumni and professional feedback is provided ongoing through the semester and summer. We have informal sessions with visiting Alumni, and most of our sales staff intern with CM LIFE/CMU alumni at public relations firms, advertising agencies, newspapers and other media/pr positions throughout Michigan during the summer months. The lessons learned through our training program are not only reinforced, but supported by professionals in the state of Michigan.

436 Moore Hall, Central Michigan University, Mount Pleasant, MI 48859 PHONE: (989) 774-3493 FAX: (989) 774-7804 EMAIL: advertising@cm-life.com

Annual Training Schedule

(Pg 3 of 5)

AUGUST Week 3-4 - Determine number of positions to fill for next semester. Design house help wanted ads.

SEPTEMBER. Week 1-4 - Ads run in newspaper for Account Executives.

Week 3-4 - Classroom presentations in Journalism, Advertising, Marketing Courses for positions at Central

Michigan Life

OCTOBER. Week 1-2 - Interviews are conducted with all applicants.

Week 3-4 - Second interviews are conducted with top applicants. Hires made.

NOVEMBER. Week 1. - Introduction to Central Michigan Life.

Week 2 -4 - New Hires are assigned a Senior Account Executive to shadow.

Week 3 - New Hires are giventheir own Central Michigan Life sales notebook, NAA Planbook and other

marketing aids. Sales representative starts attending weekly sales meetings and are assigned to a “team” and manager.

Week 4 - New representative given “test” account list.

DECEMBER. Week 1. - New account lists assigned. January team and individual goals given. Probationary period begins.

Central Michigan Life

END OF SEMESTER. JANUARY Week 1 - Determine number of positions to fill for next semester. Design house help wanted ads.

Week 2-4 - Ads run in newspaper for Account Executives.

Week 3-4 - Classroom presentations in Journalism, Advertising, Marketing Courses for positions at Central

Michigan Life

FEBRUARY. Week 1-2 - Interviews are conducted with all applicants.

Week 3-4 - Second interviews are conducted with top applicants. Hires made.

SPRING BREAK. MARCH. Week 3 -. - Introduction to Central Michigan Life.

Week 4 - New Hires are assigned a Senior Account Executive to shadow.

APRIL. Week 1 - New Hires continue to shadow Senior Account Executive.

Week 1 - New Hires are giventheir own Central Michigan Life sales notebook, NAA Planbook and other

marketing aids. Sales representative starts attending weekly sales meetings and are assigned to a “team” and manager.

Week 2 - New representative given “test” account list.

Week 3 - New account lists assigned. August/September team and individual goals given. Probationary period begins.

END OF SEMESTER.

Summer Internships Begin.

436 Moore Hall, Central Michigan University, Mount Pleasant, MI 48859 PHONE: (989) 774-3493 FAX: (989) 774-7804 EMAIL: advertising@cm-life.com

Measuring Results & Meeting Expectations

(Pg 4 of 5)

As mentioned previously, the student advertising mangers and adviser constantly monitor, to assist the advertising representatives in areas where they may be struggling or where training might have been missed. We strive to make sure we have provided the best possible training, guidance and fairness in helping the new hires learn their duties and meet their job requirements.

After the training process, and as they begin work in their territories, the new hires are given the following guidelines to help them focus on the priorities and know where the bar is set in the department. Each account executive signs an agreement to strive towards the professionalism expected in the job.

CENTRAL MICHIGAN LIFE STAFF GUIDELINES:

Central Michigan Life

The following actions will result in a write-up and a 30 day probation period. If improvements are not made within the 30 day probation period, further actions will be taken, up to and including termination of employment.

1) Missing manifest (deadline) without prior notice.

2) Excessive absence and tardiness (3 strikes) for any individual, sales or team meeting.

3) Ads not turned into the “ready for press” box before leaving for the day.

4) Ads turned in or killed after deadline without prior approval.

5) Three or more excessive absences and/or tardiness.

6) Not offering substantial effort towards monthly or team goals and job description requirements.

7) Not following the proper dress code after 3 warnings.

WARNING CARDS: Warning cards are issued noting the date of the warning, the date of the end of probation period, reasons for the action including supporting documentation and the advisers, advertising managers, and account executives signatures.

At the end of the probationary period, if the account executive is not making progress towards meeting the expectations of the position, the account executive is released from the position.

436 Moore Hall, Central Michigan University, Mount Pleasant, MI 48859 PHONE: (989) 774-3493 FAX: (989) 774-7804 EMAIL: advertising@cm-life.com

Daily Sales Report Daily Sales Report CM Life AdvertisingIn Person On Phone Time

(Pg 5 of 5)

_________ _______ DATE: ______

_________ Ad Rep: ____________ Purpose of Call

Results of Call

Name of Advertiser

CM Life Advertising Daily Sales Report In Pers

Name of Advertiser

on

CM Life Ad vertising

Name of Ad

vertiser

On Phone

Time

Daily Sales Report On Ph

In Person

one

Time

Ad Rep: ____________ _________

_______ DATE: ______ _________

Purpose of Call

Ad Rep: __ ________

Results of Call

Purpose of

Call

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DATE: ____ ________

Results of Ca

Central Michigan Life

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436 Moore Hall, Central Michigan University, Mount Pleasant, MI 48859 PHONE: (989) 774-3493 FAX: (989) 774-7804 EMAIL: advertising@cm-life.com

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Best Training Program – The Daily Collegian – Penn State University Overview: The Daily Collegian has been at Penn State for 125 years and publishes five days a week, 20,000 copies a day. We are an independent student-run newspaper that does not receive any funding from the University (Penn State does buy a large subscription that allows the students to get the paper for free, but we pay almost equivalent rent for our space). 85% of our $1.7 million budget comes from advertising. We have approximately 85 students on the business side of the paper and being that we are an independent paper, they do not receive academic credit for being on staff. Students join to better themselves, and consequently we get a great group of people who want to be successful and who want to continue the success of the paper.

Goals: We have two primary goals during the course of our training program. The first goal is to give the students a professional, quality experience that will lead to future success in whatever field they enter. The second goal is for our staff members to use the training to consult successfully with clients, ultimately delivering Penn State’s 42,000 students to their businesses.

Training: The Process Informational Sessions: After campus-wide recruiting, we hold at least two informational sessions in the third week of each fall, spring and summer semester for students interested in becoming involved with The Daily Collegian Business Division. To promote this we place house advertisements in our paper, flier student mailboxes, and send information out on college listservs. We recruit based upon the demand for new employees; this depends on graduation, coops, or study abroad of current staff members. At least three of our five departments recruit every semester, specifically Sales, Business Operations and Creative. The other two, Promotions and Layout, usually recruit once a year, as they are smaller departments.

Interview Process: During the Informational Sessions the prospective trainees fill out applications according to their desired department. This allows the department managers to get a feel for the applicants, and to determine any strengths or weaknesses they may have. Throughout the following week all of the managers interview every applicant, and that Friday afternoon the Board of Managers comes together to decide the best candidates for each department. Our Business Advisor, Candy Heckard, sends out an acceptance email that evening. The training program starts that next Monday, and continues for the remainder of the semester.

Selection and Training: Training illustrates all phases of our sales operation. While most training programs are only a week long, we believe a semester of training is crucial to the success and retention of our trainees. This gives them the opportunity to assimilate to the fastpaced environment of our office, as well as the time to develop their skills, whether in sales or design. The confidence this builds is key as selling requires constant vigilance and a passion for success. In fall 2011 we trained 13 account executives, 10 business operations reps and 4 creative specialists for positions that began in January 2012. In the year 2011 as a whole, we trained a total of 47 students. Training lasts for ten weeks, with sessions being twice a week. We also require three one-hour office periods a week for hands-on training. We do not sugarcoat the time commitment during recruiting, and by the end of training we have a very committed staff with a low turnover rate.

Range of subjects covered:  Product knowledge  Effective use of marketing information  Advertising sales  Selling Color  Customer Service skills  Dealing with difficult clients  Creative ad design  Role playing  Selling skills  Selling sponsorships for various spots  Code of Ethics

 Preparing advertising campaigns  Selling multiple products and special promotions  Handling National Advertisers  Cold calling  Selling web advertising  Working alongside News  Closing the sale  Adapting our products to different audiences  Consulting with the Creative Department on sales calls  Selling guaranteed placement

With all this, we are always sure to emphasize how important the trainees are to the future of the paper and encourage them to interview for leadership positions for the following year.

Measuring results: With such an extensive, long-term program we must continually measure progress and knowledge retention. Trainees have regular quizzes ranging from basic Daily Collegian info, to calculating complex advertising combo rates. Other more interactive forms of assessing progress include a scavenger hunt team relay and “Collegian Jeopardy.” We also assess our account executives through role-plays at the end of the semester as a way for them to apply the skills they have learned to real selling situations they will likely face. This provides an excellent way for our trainees to gain feedback, as the sales managers are able to critique performances and give notes. The training class is also informed from day one of the comprehensive final that they must pass in order to be accepted onto the staff. We have three versions of the final – a different version for ad sales, business operations and creative. Finally, through the course of training we have a weekly Trainee of the Week award called SPAM – Super Positive Attitude and Motivation. Results from all these progress measurements are used when assigning clients for the following semester and for advancing trainees into staff positions.

Professional standards: One of our primary goals is to instill professional standards into our sales staff members, and this begins at the training level. By stressing ethical business practices, a consultative selling approach, and listening skills, we are helping their professionalism grow, and preparing them for success in future jobs. Throughout the course of training, our incoming staff members are immersed in day-to-day business practices as they shadow their mentor, a current staff member of the department they’re training for. By the time they get on staff, our trainees know they are responsible for attendance, weekly meetings and making cold calls. They are also held accountable for their clients (through strict quota monitoring), among other things.

Other departments are held to equivalent standards of professionalism. Our alumni network is very strong for a reason; Collegian graduates know the quality of the training program and that our students are ready to enter the workplace running. We are constantly getting calls with job opportunities, and after the practices they have learned through our training program, our staff members are more than prepared to excel in whatever business environment they join.

Fall 2011 Training Schedule

Recruiting Week: Wednesday, Sept. 14 and Monday, Sept. 19 Intro meetings at 5:45 p.m. each day Interviews – Begin Thursday, Sept. 15 List sent to all applicants on Friday, Sept. 23 at 4 p.m. Plan for a meeting to determine accepted trainees at around 2 p.m. that Friday. Have interviews completed by 1:30 p.m.

Training sessions: Week of Sept. 26 – Intro Week Monday, Sept. 26 – BOM introduction, get schedules, basic rules. Icebreaker. (BOM, Candy) Wednesday, Sept. 28 – Intro publications, types of ads, basics, give out schedules, mentors. (Candy) Week of Oct. 3 – Policies Week Monday, Oct. 3 - Editor in Chief/Managing Editor, General Manager intro. Pricing and sizing ads, measuring and pricing exercise. (Candy) Wednesday, Oct. 5 – Code of Ethics, Advertising policies (Candy) Week of Oct. 10 – Operations Week Monday, Oct. 10 – Biz Ops Night: forms, classifieds, spec requests, office operations (Biz Ops) Wednesday, Oct. 12 – Split Night: Biz Ops: Forms, procedures. Sales: IOs, color, changes, corrections, etc.

Creative: IOs, web insertions, color, spec requests.

Week of Oct. 17 – Client Relations Week Monday, Oct. 17 – Island Exile Exercise, Selling Skills (Candy and Mike) Wednesday, Oct. 19 – Split Night: Biz Ops: Handling angry clients. Sales: Building Rapport, Objections.

Creative: Activity with display and web advertising, visiting clients with account executives.

Week of Oct. 24 – Advertising Sales Week Monday, Oct. 24 – Sales of all types of ads and how they differ. National, national direct, sponsorships (Sales) Wednesday, Oct. 26 – Split Night: BizOps: Activity with display and web advertising, understanding re:Fuel advertising details. Sales: Ad plans. Creative: design sponsorship ads, web ads.

Week of Oct. 31 – Mid Term - Procedures Monday, Oct. 31 – Review – (Department Managers) Wednesday, Nov. 2 – Exam of Procedures Week of Nov. 7 – Promotions, Layout, Creative Monday, Nov. 7 – Layout and Promotions give presentations Wednesday, Nov. 9 – Creative presentation Week of Nov. 14 – Fun Week!

Monday, Nov. 14 – Scavenger Hunt night! (BOM) Wednesday, Nov. 16 – Jeopardy (Prep for Final) (Biz Ops) Week of Nov. 28 Monday, Nov. 28 – Final Wednesday, Nov. 30 – Role-plays (First Night) Week of Dec. 5 Monday, Dec. 5 – Role-plays (Second Night) After Christmas Break – All trainees integrate into departments and transition into positions.

Trainee Assignment List #2:

Assigned Wednesday, Oct. 12, 2011 Due: Monday, Oct. 24 (beginning of training)

Remember there is an absolute correlation between the trainees who go above and beyond in training and those who do well their first semester on staff and progress to management positions. As with the last checklist, if there is a person/department specified, then you must learn the task from them and get them to sign it, otherwise you may go to a manager or specialist in any department. ______ Know the Late Copy (LC) and Waiting for Payment (WFP) Procedures (layout) ______ Brainworks and Bizworks: (What are programs? Who uses them?) (sales manager) ______ Understand all rates (display, DC, monthly discount, web, magazine, video sponsorships, front page, national – all positions) (sales) ______ Demonstrates ability to talk about advertisements with clients (sales manager) ______ Ability to locate important information in the rate card ______ Awareness of deadlines (including any upcoming special deadlines) ______ Understand how to open and close discussion about an ad ______ Kills and changes - understand the procedure (sales manager) ______ ______ Fill out an insertion order (work with an AE and have a sales manager sign it -- sales manager and AE need to sign this checklist) ______ ______ Fill out a web insertion order (work with an AE and have a sales manager sign it -- sales manager and AE need to sign this checklist) _______ Demonstrates knowledge of premium placement (crossword, Sudoku, horoscope, Bananagrams, front page, and guaranteed placement. ______ ______ Understands advantages, benefits of ad plans (work with an AE on an ad plan – sales manager and AE need to sign this checklist) _____ Demonstrates answering the phone, taking messages and transferring calls. (BizOps) ______ Demonstrates knowledge of what makes a client a local client and the difference between local and national rates Additional: Sales Trainees: Go on at least one sales call with your mentor and hand the route report to Candy. You must go on a minimum of five sales calls by the end of training.

Biz Ops: You need to go on one sales call.

Creative: You need to go on two sales calls with AEs. Must also be accompanied by a creative specialist or creative rep as well as an AE on the sales call.

The pictures above feature some of our interactive activities that we do throughout the course of training to motivate our trainees and assess their knowledge. In the top left corner are the winners of Jeopardy from fall 2011, which is the preparatory game we play with the trainees the session before their final exam. It is a fun way for them to study items that are sure to appear on their test and also helps us assess their readiness for full-time staff positions. The top right corner is a picture of one of our S.P.A.M. winners, which is awarded to one trainee each week that demonstrates a great attitude and willingness to learn during training hours. The bottom left hand corner shows another interactive training session we do called “Are You Smarter Than a BizOp Rep?� which not only aids in teaching the new trainees for the Business Operations department, but also serves as a refresher for our current representatives. Finally, the bottom right hand corner is an example of a certificate given out to one trainee from each department at the end of the training semester, who is crowned the top trainee of that department. Each of the activities depicted above provides motivation for our trainees to excel as well as a fun means of friendly competition. We have found that by combining hands on experience with a fun learning atmosphere that our trainees become not only capable and hard working Collegian employees, but also well-rounded students who are prepared for the real world.

Gonzaga University Bulletin’s Sales Training Program Overview This training program was originally developed in the Fall of 2006 and has undergone major revisions in Fall 2009 and Fall 2011. The program is based around a semester long training model that delivers content in 1-3 hour segments each week for a semester. New student trainees are hired in the Fall, trained in the Spring and begin full time work as account executives at the end of Spring/beginning of Summer. The training is conducted by the advertising advisor, the current advertising manager and the incoming advertising manager.

The training has three learning phases: 1. Introduction: Introduces new account executives to the office, the newspaper and to the selling process 2. Sales: Account executives learn about the sales process, Gonzaga Bulletin products, customer service, artwork and other sales topics. This phase is characterized by lots of role playing and sales simulations.

3. Logistics: Account executives learn how to process contracts, use the sales database, etc.

The training uses the following learning delivery methods: 1. Readings and Discussion a. Each account executive is provided three sources for reading material i. Media Selling by Charles Warner ii. Cold Calling Techniques (that really work) by Stephan Schiffman iii. A thirty page comprehensive binder created by our office b. Readings are assigned throughout each phase and guide discussions and learning 2. Role Playing/Simulations a. This forms the heart of the training program. Throughout each phase of the sales cycle, each account executive runs through dozens of scenarios to learn to effectively generate leads, cold call, listen for needs, creation solutions for clients, handle objections, close sales and provide excellent customer service. b. The simulations become increasingly complex and challenging over time.

3. Feedback a. Students receive continuous and immediate feedback on their performance, especially during the simulations. b. Students are asked to provide continuous feedback to ensure the learning process is effective for them.

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Advantages Embodied competence: A semester long approach ensures that students do not simply understand sales concepts, but have trained their mind, voice and body to respond to a variety of situations.

Challenge and Support: This approach honors student development by providing the challenge of new content and constant feedback with the support of a less risky environment. This leads to comprehensive and more effective learning.

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Better Service for Clients: By the time students take on a client list or cold calling, they are already very well trained, which minimizes mistakes and increases the quality of the experience for the client, leading to higher satisfaction and retention.

Identify Early Problems: If an account executive struggles with a particular aspect of sales, the problem can be identified early and corrected through training, rather than on the job.

Rich Learning Experience: This approach recognizes that student workers are both “student” and “worker.” By providing a wealth of resources, knowledge and support, students learn skills and abilities that will help them in their job and in their future careers.

Leadership Opportunities for Students: All students involved in the training facilitation process develop teaching, leading and training skills.

Limitations Time Intensive: The initial time investment is considerable. However, we have found that this is more than compensated for by having highly trained students who are more effective and have fewer questions and fewer mistakes down the line.

Lack of Flexibility: This approach does not lend itself well to taking a student and getting them trained and out selling in a short period of time. For our department, this has been offset thus far by a 100% employee retention rate.

Expense: Purchasing the reading materials and paying training stipends to our students requires initial expenses. This is more than compensated for by increased sales.

Success The training program has been incredibly successful for our newspaper since its creation. Along with anecdotal information, we have a few metrics that have helped us gauge the success of this process.

- In the first year after the training’s implementation, sales increased by 28.6% and set an all-time record. o During this year, first year students who attended the previous semester’s training program vastly outperformed their more experienced peers.

- From the academic year before the training program was implemented to the 2010-2011 academic year, sales have increased by 107%.

Calendar

INTRODUCTORY PHASE Introductions to the Team and the Office Give a chance for everyone to introduce themselves and get to know one another. After some form of icebreakers, facilitate a social styles workshop. Review the University’s mission statement as well as some major documents from the Student Publications Office.

Activities: - Icebreakers and social styles Reading: - Binder: Gonzaga Mission/vision statement, Student Publications Mission Statement, Sales Mission statement, Organizational Chart Introductions to Sales This session will review the major elements of selling, the AESKOPP system and types of selling.

Reading: - Warner: pages 14-41 (Introduction to Sales) Ethics: This session will focus on ethical practices in the field of sales. It will focus on both what “not to do” and what “to do.”

Readings - Warner: pages 42-53 (Ethics) Activities - Each member shares a “statement of ethics” from a company or organization that inspires them.

Personal Effectiveness in Sales This session will explore introductory material on how to be personally successful in sales. Topics will include attitude, goal setting, Emotional Intelligence, communication and influence.

Readings - Warner: pages 63-70 (Attitudes) - Warner: pages 70-75 (Goal setting) - Warner: pages 77-86 (Emotional Intelligence) - Warner: pages 88-108 (Effective Communication) - Warner: pages 110-121 (Influence) Videos - Watch clips from “Traveling Salesman” from Season 3 of “The Office” o Contrast the styles of “Michael and Andy” and “Jim and Dwight” o Watch the video in conjunction with the Warner reading on effective communication.

THE SALES PROCESS Prospecting: This session will emphasize the importance of lead generation and prospecting while also showing practical steps to accomplishing these two objectives.

Readings - Warner: pages 149-155 (Prospecting) - Schiffman: pages xiii-31 (Intro to Cold Calling, Finding your numbers, prospecting) - Binder: Prospecting Activities - Review the “Inlander” weekly newspaper for ad ideas - Time Management In Sales Presentation Cold Calling: This session will focus on effectively cold calling leads to get appointments.

Readings - Schiffman: pages 32-54 (Cold Call Script) - Schiffman: pages 55-85 (Common objections, the ledge, third party referrals) - Schiffman: pages 86-114 (Leaving messages, follow up calls) Video - Back to the Drawing Board Video: How to appropriately use e-mail, phone and in person communication Activities - Review Leads:

o Each person shares their five leads and explains why they chose them. o Give feedback on the leads and remove any leads that are already taken or are bad choices - Cold Call Simulations o Have each trainee select a lead to work on simulating a cold call. A trainer will play the role of the client o Practice cold call script, common objections, gatekeepers, referrals, leaving messages and follow up calls.

Product Overview: This session will review all the products offered by Gonzaga Student Publications that can be sold to clients.

Readings - Media Kit - Binder: Product Overview Activities - Product Quiz o Create a quiz to test their knowledge of the products Identifying Challenges and Generating Solutions: This session overviews client meetings and how to actively listen, identify challenges for the customer and generate solutions based on Gonzaga products.

Readings - Warner: pages 155-164 (Identifying problems) - Warner: pages 165-181 (Generating Solutions and Presenting) - Binder: Artwork Guidelines and working with designers Activities - Meeting simulations o Build on cold call simulations and follow up with first meetings. o Practice active listening, questioning, etc o Follow up with solution generation - Presentation Simulations o Build on meeting simulations o Give feedback on style, conciseness and quality of information - Artwork: Show examples of good and bad designs Negotiating and Closing This session overviews the final steps of the initial sales process.

Readings - Warner: pages 214-268 (negotiating and closing) Activities - Negotiating and closing simulations o Build on presentation simulations Customer Service and Renewals This session overviews the steps of retaining clients, building trust and receiving renewal sales.

Readings - Warner: pages 273-282 (servicing) - Binder: Customer service at Gonzaga and renewal sales Activities

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Customer Service Simulations o Learn how to continue building a relationship, address complaints and develop trust - Renewal Sales o Practice renewing sales with existing clients o Perform a satisfaction survey and create new approaches to address changing needs.

LOGISTICS AND TRANSITIONS Logistics This session reviews how office logistics work to get an advertising campaign translated into a reality. It covers billing, artwork, layout, the sales database and basic office protocol.

Readings - Binder: Logistics - Binder: Database Activities - Shadow Support Staff - Database Training - Shadow Sales Staff The Show Trainees now take their training and put it into reality. At this point they should have an extensive leads list and will start cold calling and meeting with these clients.

Activities - Sell! o Trainees begin a normal routine of selling. o They are not given an account list, but should have an extensive list of new leads.

- Reflect o Use meeting times to reflect on the sales process and fine tune the approach. o Celebrate success as each person completes their first sale.

Transition Trainees will participate in a client draft at the end of the semester to get their starting client lists. They will then talk with current account executives about the clients and, if possible, accompany current executives on final meetings.

Activities - Draft o Trainees research clients available for the next fall and select them in a draft. o This choices form their client list for the summer/fall.

- Transition o Trainees interview current account executives about the clients they drafted o Account executives give introductory calls or letters for the trainees

4b. Best Training Program CNBAM 2012 Mackenzie Davis, Sales Productivity Director The Minnesota Daily

Daily Dozen 2011 Training Program The launch of The Daily Dozen sales recruitment and training program in 2009 was the beginning of an entirely new way for The Minnesota Daily to hire and train new Marketing Consultants. The program began as a means to increase the amount of qualified applicants for the sales team and has since grown into a successful program, increasing the applicant pool for the marketing consultant position from 25 in spring 2010 to 70 in spring 2011. It provided a structured and thorough training program for new Marketing Consultants and because of its success, the Daily Dozen will continue to be used in years to come as The Minnesota Daily’s central spring recruitment and training tool.

The overarching concept for the Marketing Consultant training, as developed by The Daily Dozen, is to train and test all qualified candidates before they are hired, rather than after.

This is to screen candidates before they are trusted with the responsibility of managing an existing client base. The qualified applicant pool for the 2011 Daily Dozen, a group of 23 individuals, was narrowed down to twelve applicants after a round of phone interviews. Since we were only looking to hire eight new marketing consultants this past spring, we invited the remaining twelve applicants to attend two full-day training sessions. The sessions were guided by the Sales Productivity Director, Retail Sales Manager and Classified Sales Manager and overseen by the Business Operations Officer.

The two-day training started off basic, giving applicants the tools they would need to demonstrate their sales skills in accordance with The Minnesota Daily’s sales department. Each qualified applicant was given a personalized training manual equipped with everything from product descriptions and media kits to instructions on how to write contracts and tips to begin prospecting. The history of The Minnesota Daily and basic concepts were covered first, such as the difference between classified and retail sales, sizing of ads and the difference between broadsheet and tabloid style. Going a little deeper into the elements of a sale, The Sales Productivity Director gave a presentation on the 7 Steps of the Sale and the importance of each step in the Minnesota Daily’s sales process. We then covered a general overview of all of the Minnesota Daily’s products in a walkthrough of our Media Kit. This included a “features and benefits” exercise where reps learn the importance of stressing not only the features of our products, but specifically the benefits they have for our clients. This allowed managers to see which applicants were able to think creatively on the spot and opened the session up to a more conversational atmosphere where applicants were encouraged to speak up and actively participate.

We challenged the applicants with an activity that addressed overcoming client objections that also acted as an icebreaker to learn each other’s names. Each person was given an example of a common objection, and taking turns, they called on someone else by name who countered the objection to the best of their ability. This person then continued by reading their own objection to another individual, and repeated the process until all objections were gone and everyone had gone. This activity helps new and old sales representatives be more comfortable in speaking with their clients and gives them the skills and language needed to continue the sales process after an opposition is made during a meeting or phone call.

At this point in training, applicants had the knowledge needed to demonstrate their ability to make a sales pitch and perform other duties of a Marketing Consultant. To put their

skills to the test, we divided applicants into teams of two and assigned them specific clients in the Dinkytown area for which they were asked to prepare a mock sale pitch. Each team was given 30 minutes to research their client and was expected to pitch one or more of the Minnesota Daily’s products to the sales managers (acting as business owners) in front of the rest of the applicant pool. The managers actively participated in the conversation, throwing relevant objections at the teams which they were expected to overcome. After each mock pitch, the floor was opened up to feedback and discussion from the rest of the applicants, and managers provided suggestions and comments for each group as well. This gave the managers an idea of: 1) How applicants interact and react in situations with indefinite conversation and outcomes 2) How applicants handle objection, and 3) If applicants did the proper research and knew the proper facts in order to successfully win a new client.

To close the first day of training, applicants were invited, along with the rest of the business department, to a meet-and-greet event at a restaurant on campus where food and drinks were provided. This allowed applicants to interact with other members of the Daily and sparked conversation outside of a professional setting where managers could get to know each individual on a more personal basis and observe how them in a social setting. The event was not only a perfect forum for growing a passion of The Minnesota Daily among each applicant but also created a greater appreciation and desire for the Marketing Consultant position.

The following day of training included less information-giving and more evaluation of the twelve qualified applicants. We began the day with a presentation by the Star Tribune’s Nationals Sales Manager, Jeanne Shedivy, who discussed the importance of customer relationship building and the vitality of following-up with clients. After the guest speaker, applicants were asked to give another mock pitch, but this time for a concept more abstract than just buying an advertising placement. Applicants were again divided into groups of two and each given a scenario in which they would be challenged to come up with a strategy to sell a somewhat undesirable product or concept to an uninformed audience (example: Sell the concept of the desert to a traveler from another planet.) These mock pitches were given in pairs to the sales managers in a separate conference room and were evaluated on their ability to qualify the client’s need for the “product,” counter objections, and creative tactics. We concluded the twoday training with individual interviews of all twelve candidates, asking a range of questions on the materials covered in the sessions as well as other situational and behavioral questions pertaining to the position.

The Minnesota Daily has taken elements of The Daily Dozen program and condensed them into a process of hiring and training when turnover of Marketing Consultants occurs randomly throughout the year. Guest speakers and workshops that focus on closing sales, overcoming objections, features & benefits, and prospecting are incorporated into weekly sales meetings. This model creates a continuous cycle of training that encourages growth within the company and continued expansion of sales knowledge for all Marketing Consultants. Aside from the official spring Daily Dozen program, all new Marketing Consultants start at a “new business desk,” which means they have no existing client base to work with right away. We always keep two Marketing Consultants in a “new business desk” in case of unexpected turnover, who work closely with managers to prospect and can be ready to transition into a Retail, Classified, University, or National Marketing Consultant desk at any time. This has proven to help with our clients’ frustration with the high turnover and constantly changing Marketing Consultants.

The 2011 Daily Dozen Marketing Consultants that were chosen led the Minnesota Daily to achieve over 100% of budgeted revenue for summer and fall 2011, generating $61,300 in the summer months and $310,700 throughout the fall. Additionally, of the eight applicants that were hired, six still remain employed, leading to a much lower turnover rate than in the past and has increased interest for managerial positions among the sales department.

2011 Daily Dozen Training Itinerary Monday, May 16, 2011: Training Day 1 10:00 am to 10:30 am

Introductions & Icebreakers

10:30 am to 11 am

Distribute packets & personalized training binders & give tour of the office

11:00 am to 11:15 am

Begin Powerpoint: Daily History & Overview of Sales Department structure

11:15 am to 12:00 pm

Elements of a Sale Glengarry Video 7 Steps of the Sale workshop with Adam and Mackenzie Little Red Book of Selling

12:00 pm to 1 pm

Lunch

1:15 pm to 2:00 pm

Media Kit Walkthrough: Introduce all products & Features and benefits exercise

2:00 pm to 2:30 pm

Objections Activity

2:30 pm to 3:00 pm

Introduce and begin Mock Pitches with partner Groups of two research assigned business & prepare mock pitch

3:00 pm to 3:45 pm

Begin presenting mock pitches to group Managers act as owner of assigned business and offer real-life objections that partners are expected to overcome on the spot in a professional manner.

3:45 pm to 4:00 pm

Wrap up and Q&A

8:00 pm

Evening reception at Stub and Herbs with appetizers and drinks (optional)

Wednesday, May 17, 2011: Training Day 2 12 pm to 12:15 pm

Team Building Exercise/Icebreaker

12:15 pm to 12:45 pm

Finish remaining mock pitches

12:45 pm to 1:15 pm

Guest Speaker: Jean Shedivy on Customer Relationship Building & Follow-Up

1:15 pm to 1:30 pm

Break up into “abstract idea” groups & prepare pitch (example: “Sell a traveler on the experience of going to the desert for a trip.”

1:30 pm to 2:30 pm

Present “abstract idea” pitch in pairs, evaluated on ability to overcome objections and build personal relationship with “customer”

2:30 to 2:45

Wrap up & explanation of individual interviews

2:30 pm to 4:00 pm

Individual Interviews with managers in upstairs conference room Reps are dismissed after personal interview. While they wait for their individual interview, they will be expected to read over training material so they are familiar with products and prices.

Friday, May 19, 2011: Office Orientation, Sales Meeting & “Day One” of Work 11 am to 11:30 am

Official Orientation with Human Resources

11:30 am to 12 pm

Set up and train new reps in essential office functions: MyDaily accounts, Ad Pro accounts, timecards, Outlook, Shoretel, Voicemail & email signatures.

12:00 pm to 12:30 pm

Ad Pro Orientation: scheduling ads, signing contracts, collecting payments, submitting ad artwork, filling out work orders… etc.

12:30 pm to 1:30 pm

Attend mandatory weekly sales meeting with the rest of the sales team and take a quiz on sales functions and the Daily’s products. Meetings feature a guest speaker typically every other week on topics including customer relations, following up, sales tactics, industry practices…etc.

1:30 pm to 2:30 pm

Reps receive client list & spend the rest of the day researching background and history of clients and transitioning with former marketing consultant.

Ongoing

For the first few weeks, new marketing consultants will begin setting up client meetings accompanied by managers or old sales reps, learning products and prospecting new clients. Evaluation of new reps is based off of performance at client meetings as observed by managers, quiz results at sales meetings, ability to meet individual monthly sales goals and various contest rankings.

Training Program

Mustang Daily- Californa Polytechnic State University From the moment a new advertising account executive walks through the doors of the Mustang Daily, they were welcomed into a fun but at the same time challenging environment. They are challenged to become the best account executive they can be from the start. California Polytechnic State University San Luis Obispo’s nationally-recognized motto is “Learn by Doing”. The Mustang Daily training philosophy embraces that motto from day one.

The Mustang Daily is part of the Journalism Department at Cal Poly. Most of our editorial staff are Journalism majors, preparing for careers in that field. However, the advertising staff is comprised of students coming from a variety of majors without any prior training or education in advertising. It is imperative to have a very in depth and effective training program to prepare these students to successfully handle the challenge of selling newspaper, online and radio advertising space in a short period of time. And our techniques have proved to be successful over recent years with graduating reps landing full-time positions with publications such as Wall Street Journal, San Jose Mercury, San Luis Obispo Tribune, Orange County Register and San Diego Union Tribune.

The Mustang Daily’s training includes these major components: • All Day Classroom Style • Mid-Year New Hire Training • Ongoing Training • Goal Setting & Assessment • Team Building with Editorial All Day Classroom Style At the start of school year, all of the account executives get together for an entire day of training; you could call it an “advertising boot camp”. Each account executive receives a binder with essential information, such as: sales flyers, interoffice documents, sales tips, and other office documents, and as a group, we go through the binder. We play multiple games and sales scenarios during training, which allows training to be hands on.

The all day classroom style training is great because it helps all account executives in numerous ways. The newer account executives are able to learn and develop sales techniques and procedures, while the returning account executive are able to brush up and refine their sales skills.

Also, during the all day training, all member of the advertising department (the graphic designers, the business managers and the marketing team) participate. This allows the entire advertising team to come together and learn how vital everyone is to the success of the Mustang Daily. The all day training creates an efficient team atmosphere from the start.

Mid-Year New Hire Training Occasionally we hire throughout the year and we always want the new hires to be brought up to speed into a welcoming environment. With our new hires, we start out by pairing them up with experienced account executive. The experienced account executive trains, teaches and encourages the new account executive to go out and visit clients and be confident on sales calls. This allows the new hires to understand the fundamentals of the office, sales techniques, client management and office etiquette.

New hires that are brought into the Mustang Daily midyear, also receive a training binder with information, sales tips, sales flyers and other necessary office documents. The experienced account executives go through the binder with the new hires and help train, explain and clarify how sales methods can be utilized.

Ongoing Training We believe ongoing training is essential to becoming and staying successful at the Mustang Daily. We make a commitment to provide our team (account executives, designers & business staff) with many tools and tips to develop their skills and be prepared for the real world. These tips range from overcoming objections to building lasting relationships with clients to designing an effective ad. The training we present is done in a fun matter, such as a trivia game, team battles, group competition, team adventures, table discussions and more. These games and activities allow training to be much more appealing, entertaining and engaging for all. The ongoing training is visited in our weekly meetings.

Goal Setting & Assessment At the end of each academic quarter, we assess two ways: 1) one-on-one with account executives and 2) evaluations.

The one-on-ones with account executives are completed every 10 weeks. Each account executive and their manager sit down together and discuss the past 10 weeks. The evaluations provide the account executives with feed back and ensures them that they are performing the daily activities necessary to being successful in this position. The evaluations help the account executives see where they are excelling and where improvements can be made.

At the end of each quarter, all employees of the advertising staff of the Mustang Daily complete an evaluation. The evaluation provides feedback for the advertising managers, production manager and advertising coordinator, with positive suggestions for improving. The evaluations are used to learn from the advertising account executives and graphic designers, not just learning from the management staff.

Team Building with Editorial At the Mustang Daily, we believe it is critical for advertising and editorial to get along, and this year, we had a picnic at a local park to do just that. A few days prior to the start of school, the entire staff of the Mustang Daily- editorial, advertising & advisers spent an afternoon together chowing down on BBQ food, playing icebreakers and the competing with one another with an intense game of ultimate frisbee. The picnic allowed for all members of the Mustang Daily to meet, get to know one another and breakdown the wall between advertising and editorial.

We continuously work together to keep the relationship strong between the two departments with weekly meetings, holiday parties, office competitions and more.

All of these events and activities help everyone to get to know one another on a personal level and allow for positive work environment throughout the school year.

All of these types of training are vital to the success of the Mustang Daily. We take pride in sitting down with new and returning employees and actively teach them, this allows the entire office to be educated and confident, when it comes to their position at the Mustang Daily.

805.756.1143 advertising@mustangdaily.net www.mustangdaily.net

All Day Classroom Style Training Training Schedule Inlcudes: Learning Goals & Objectives Expectations & Staff Guidelines

• Pay

• Duties

• “Three Strike Rule”

• Warning Cards

• Drug & Alcohol Policy

• 3 Month Evaluations

• Issues/Problems

• Office Hours

"Advertising Boot Camp".

Office Procedures & Office Etiquette

• Call Sheets

• Phone & Email Etiquette

• Dress Code

• Checking Mailboxes, Personal Space

& Equipment Usage

• Master List Working with Business

• Insertion Orders (importance!)

• Filing IOs

• Contracts

• Accounting Forms

• How to Schedule

• Black List Accounts

• Billing Cycle

• Prepay Discount

• National Accounts Media Kit/The Products

• Special Editions Discount

• Guarantee Placement The Sales Call & Planning Out Your Schedule

• Cold Calling & Prospecting

• Preparing & Client Research

• Needs Analysis

• Pitching & When to Pitch

• Objections

• Up Selling

• Selling Value

• Closing the Sale

• Following Up

Assistant graphic design manager, Jaclyn, teaches the account executives how to effectively create ads, work efficently with the design team and how to use the design programs.

Working with Designers

• Contacting Designers

• Make Order Forms

• Creating Effective Ads

• Campaigns

• Spec Ads

• Finalizing Ads Working with Marketing

• Attending Events

• Newsletter

• Testimonials

Assesting Goals 3 Month Evaluations

We believe that for training to be effective, we need to know what is working and what is not working.

All of the following evaluations are way we assess goals.

The forms allow for us to see how we're doing as a team, individually and how our training program is working.

We are always looking for new ways to improve and inventive ways to train, teach and motivate our staff to be the best they can be.

Winter Training Evaluation

Was training beneficial to you on Sunday, if so, what was the most beneficial thing you learned?

Where do you feel you need more training? What do feel are some of you weak trait(s)?

What was your favorite activity we played or did?

What do you believe would make you a more efficient ad rep?

When it comes to training, what is most effective for you? (for example: sales scenarios, one on ones, meetings, letters, etc?)

Grade Training A B C D

What motivates you? (money, incentives, food, etc?)

This year we will be implementing 3 month evaluations. The purpose of these evaluations is to ensure that all Account Executives are performing the daily activities necessary to being successful in this position.

Every three months each individual Account Executive will be evaluated on the following: • • • • • • • • • •

Number of weekly face-to-faces Attendance of office hours Attendance of weekly meetings Attendance of marketing events Attitude in office Following up with clients Turning in weekly call sheet Monthly goals Special edition goals Coming into office daily

Evaluations will help Account Executives see where they are excelling and where improvements can be made.

Evaluations will be held with Account Executive, their manager and Advertising Coordinator.

Spring Quarter MANAGER Evaluation

Manager Name: ___________________________________________

What is one (or more) thing(s) that your manager does well to help you sell?

What could your manager do better to help you sell?

If you were the manager, what might have you done differently to help you and your team succeed?

What are ideas you have to increase team bonding and team sales?

What do you feel you need more training on (if anything)?

What was your favorite memory this year the Mustang Daily?

What are your future personal goals at the Mustang Daily? And how do you plan on achieving them?

Any additional comments:

Grade your manager: A B C D E F

805.756.1143 advertising@mustangdaily.net www.mustangdaily.net

Team Building with Editorial

Both advertising and editorial come together to enjoy a pot luck dinner and ultimate frisbee game prior to the 2011-2012 school year.

To celebrate the Mustang Daily’s successes, both advertising and editorial solidify their relationship by enjoy each others’ company at the holiday party in December of 2011.

Advertising and editorial unite to conquor 93.1 KCPR (the student run radion station) in a game of softball in the spring of 2011. The game allowed the group to think on their feet and work as a team.

Best Training Program Fall 2011 began under abnormal circumstances. We had only one returning sales staffer from the previous semester, one returning from the summer months, and a group of fresh-faced newbies.

I was also new to the sales aspect of marketing. As a marketing major, I have taken courses on the appropriate ways to sell products business to business, yet I had never got down to the nitty-gritty business of actually using this knowledge.

My new approach to the position of Marketing Director allowed me to learn from the experience of my predecessors and to improve upon their tactics. I saw with my production experience that the previous sales teams had a lack of understanding in building relationships, as well as not enough knowledge on our different media departments or our products.

Our sales training began during our pre-semester Student Niner Media workshops.

Workshops are an annual event where returning staff gets to meet with new staff prospects that have been recruited throughout the summer months during orientation. The first task for the marketing recruits was a game of Jeopardy. The game included categories on campus facts, sales, production, circulation, and promotions. The teams competed to see who knew the most knowledge. This tactic helped me gauge how much product knowledge the staff had starting out and where knowledge gaps were present. All of our marketing teams (sales, promotions, production, and circulation) are required to learn about what each of the others does. This knowledge encourages harmony with our department and creates smoother interactions with clients.

Training consists of several main topics: general sales, cold calling, the interview, paperwork, handling objections, and closing the sale. The general sales section involves training on our various products as well as some basic tips. These tips are there to instill confidence in the account executive and allow them a few more tricks up their sleeve when communicating with the client. During this section, I introduce our rate card and take much care in making sure that the reps are familiar with our various advertising opportunities as well as how to calculate a pricing strategy for the client’s budget.

Cold calling is the biggest and most common challenge for a new salesperson. Since this can be difficult to master, we take particular care to ensure that the account executive has enough knowledge so nerves do not get in the way of making the sale. This portion of our program emphasizes doing background research on clients before contacting, methods for breaking the ice, dealing with call-reluctance, and general phone tactics and etiquette. Once all the topics are covered we spent our time in role-play scenarios.

The interview segment stresses the importance of listening. The account executives take a test to realize how easy it is to not hear something as accurately as they think they do. Since 90% of sales is listening and responding to customer needs, I view this section very highly. Following the interview segment is paperwork. Since we use a variety of forms in our offices this is an important activity. The account executives are walked step by step through filling out insertion orders and production requests. Then they are given sales scenarios and tested on how well they fill their forms out.

The final two sections of our manual deal with two of the greatest challenges faced by a salesperson: handling objections and closing the sale. Businesses will throw out any objection possible when it comes to advertising. Training for this section relies on creating a features and benefits matrix as a group. This activity requires the team to really reflect on their product knowledge from earlier in training. Once the matrix is formed we play a game that has cards that

feature a variety of objections. Each account executive draws a card and has to give their response to the objection listed. This game creates a wonderful opportunity for teamwork, as the staff will have to opportunity to contribute different response options for each card. I stressed during this practice that there are no wrong answer but ensure that together the team can come up with the best possible response. During the objection section we also discuss how to determine the true root of a client’s objection.

Closing the sale is the final section of training. I chose to let the new account executives get their feet wet by trying to sell before reviewing this section with them. Waiting allowed for me to monitor their skill sets and selling tactics first hand. From here, I was able to teach the staff about closing the sale and tailor it to what would benefit them best. We stressed issues like making sure they are speaking to the decision maker and creating a sense of urgency or importance for the client.

Throughout the semester we revisit our handbook and initial training often. Continuing their sales education has been beneficial and I have seen all of the team grow significantly in their phone skills, as well as personal sales tactics since the beginning of their careers.

MediaMarketing

Sales Training Schedule Fall 2011 Welcome to Niner Media!

Congratulations, we are so happy that you are here.

This is an outline of your Account Executive training. It is very important that you attend ALL training sessions. The information covered will be crucial to your success as an Account Executive.

We look forward to working with you.

For additional information, feel free to contact the Marketing Director, Sarah, at 704.687.7146 or mktdirector@uncc.edu

MediaMarketing

DAY 1

DAY 2

DAY 3

Session 1: Niner Media

• Ice Breakers and Introduction Activities

• Tour of Offices

All offices and personnel/how they all fit into the

big picture

-Main Office

-NinerOnline

-Sanskrit Literary Arts Magazine

-Radio Free Charlotte

-Niner Times

-Paper Morgue

-Media Marketing

• Media Marketing

Overview of all aspects of marketing

-Sales

-Promotions

-Production

-Circulation

• Questions and answers

• Overview of Employment Policies and Paperwork

• Knowledge Testing

Jeopardy game

-Circulation, Promotions, Production, Sales

-Campus Knowledge Session 2: General Sales

• Rate Card

• Basic Sales Tips Session 3: Cold Calling

• Research

• Prospecting

• Ice Breakers

•. Call-reluctance

• Phone etiquette

• Scenarios Session 4: Interview

• Listening Session 5: Paperwork

• Insertion Orders

• Production Requests

• Scenarios Session 6: Handling Objections

• Features and benefits

• Objection card game Session 7: Closing the Sale

• Tips

• Story sharing

TRAINING PROGRAM Training within the business division at The Pitt News begins in the spring, long before our seniors have graduated. New sales representatives are introduced to the paper’s big picture: our history, our mission, what responsibilities rest with each department, who our customers are, how we market ourselves to our readers and our advertisers. The combined experience of our current business manager, sales manager and senior account executives serves as our initial springboard into a new year. For two full days in April, newly hired reps shadow current employees in the field and receive an additional day’s classroom training to familiarize themselves with the newspaper’s vocabulary and our product line. Veteran reps lend insight and perspective to incoming reps, and when fall comes, new reps have a higher comfort level because of time spent with experienced students.

After getting a good solid look at our organization, new employees have all summer to review our comprehensive training manual. We find that after spring training and reading through the manual, reps who might have been blindsided by the responsibilities of their jobs in the fall have a chance to change their minds about joining us, while we still have the opportunity to hire replacements; although we may lose one or two reps over the summer, we save time and money by investing in people who are willing to invest the necessary time and energy that the job requires.

Formal training commences well before the fall term begins. After a review of the newspaper’s big picture, we begin breaking it down into manageable pieces. Sessions revolve around the sales cycle. In both classroom lecture style and interactive exercises, reps follow an account from prospecting through closing the sale and from original ad design through billing and collection. Reps practice filling out insertion orders, compete for prizes in trivia contests and participate in team-building sessions. Every aspect of the business is covered within three business days, with the understanding that each session presented will be featured again in a future sales meeting or in a one-on-one environment with management.

Reps receive territory assignments during fall formal training. Managers and professional staff members spend time with sales representatives individually, analyzing accounts’ histories and profiles and getting out into territories to meet advertisers. We begin on an account management level, meeting our active advertisers and establishing rapport with them, before moving into the development of new business. Reps who were with us over the summer months help in the hands-on training as well, which creates a smooth transition for our clients.

Part of our training program involves a speakers’ series, where we invite members of Pittsburgh’s advertising community to host our sales meeting and present some aspect of the sales industry to our business staff. Management from the Pittsburgh Post Gazette, the Pittsburgh Tribune Review, Pittsburgh City Paper, Pittsburgh Business Times and Pittsburgh Magazine speak to us about objections, prospecting for new business, presentation skills and general sales skills. Students get to hear first hand how the business world operates outside of our academic confines, and since several of our speakers are alumni of The Pitt News’ business division, students have the opportunity to see how their current jobs might carry them into sales careers after graduation.

Training is a continual process at The Pitt News. Every week in our sales meeting, our professional staff and our student managers lead sessions on sales, the newspaper industry and our own operations so that by the end of a full year, account executives have a complete understanding of our business. Most weekly sessions are extensions of formal training; once sales reps have been on the job for a while, they are able to apply lessons from formal training, but they are also more likely to have reality-based questions and situations which are better addressed in the sales meeting forum. Comprehensive training programs include a balanced blend of formal classroom sessions and field experience. The Pitt News’ training program incorporates weekly training on issues that have directly affected our reps during the previous week, and supplements those sessions with reading materials, videos, audio tapes and management assistance.

Sales reps that plan to stay on for another year become senior account executives and are expected to contribute to the training process that begins once again in the spring. Those who are promoted to management are placed immediately into the shadows of current managers, who train them in the office and in off-site meetings for the duration of second semester. The Business Manager, Sales Manager and Inside Sales Manager have individual meetings throughout the spring and summer with both the Advertising Adviser and the General Manager.

These meetings serve as the foundation for management training. Sessions include discussions on interview/recruiting skills, time management, delegation, strategizing, training the staff, compensation plans, budget, setting quotas and goals, new product launches, creating a new media kit, and marketing plans.

As a result of our training program and team atmosphere, our team has been complimented by several of our advertisers as being “extremely professional compared to other local media sales reps”. Reps themselves express their satisfaction in our program when given an opportunity to evaluate the formal training session. Analysis of the training survey results in our annual redesign of the training program according to students’ suggestions and comments.

We are proud to watch the growth of a new sales employee, and prouder still to see them accept job offers from prominent companies after their careers here…and we hope they’ll someday come back to speak, to be part of the ongoing training process here at The Pitt News.

THE PITT NEWS’ WEEKLY SALES MEETINGS--TRAINING SESSIONS January August Role Play: Knowing Your Market Managing the Welcome Back The Value of Teamwork Training the New Staff Objections and Open-ended Questions Transitioning Accounts to New Staff Guest Speaker: Bill Cotter, (V.P.Advertising Pgh Trib Review) September I Don’t Know Where to Begin February Role Play with All Kinds of Customers Contract Policy Guest Speaker: Paul Klatzkin, Creating a Proposal (Ad Director, City Paper) The Formal Presentation Review Contract/Payment Policies Guest Speaker: Natalie McMurtrie, Learning your Product(Acct Exec, Pgh Business Times) The Paper, The Media Kit, The Market March Personal Integrity Keeping the Momentum Going Summer Discount Packages Selling into the New Student Guide April Wrapping up your Relationships Your Resume Training the Summer/New Reps May Selling the New Student Guide Saturating your Territory The Value of Summer Issues Account Management June When your Customer Just Says No Prospecting, and the Sales Funnel Communicating-Verbal, Written, Body Common Objections July Leaving Voice Mails/ Gatekeepers When you Hit a Sales Slump Production Training Selling the Welcome Back Issue

October Production-Review of Technical Requirements. PhotoShop Overview Our Bottom Line- In-Depth Look at our Billing/Slow Pay/Collections policies Guest Speaker: Amanda Johnson, (Acct. Exec. Virginia Pilot) Online Advertising Review and Sales Techniques November Role Play: the semester’s worst calls Radio: How to approach heavy radio advertisers Being a Consultant Voice Mail and Gatekeepers December Getting organized for next semester Guest Speaker: Randall Brant, (VP Advertising, Pittsburgh Post Gazette)

THE PITT NEWS ABBREVIATED VERSION OF FALL FORMAL TRAINING DAY 1 Introductions History Organization Chart-Job Expectations and Descriptions Understanding Newspapers (Video on Advertising) Icebreaker Exercise Tour of Office-The Departments of The Pitt News Our Product Line: Print/Online/Special Sections/Inserts/Classified Our Market-Our Readers Our Rate Card-How to read it and explain it to your customers Production and Insertion Vocabulary Forms you need to know: Insertion Orders/Commission Reports/Kills/Design Orders/Daily Logs Who Wants to Win $25-Trivia game on stuff that’s really not Trivia‌ Reports: Monthly Contract/Sales Update/Account Master/Commission How to Make Money: Compensation Plan/Incentives/Bonuses Q&A

DAY 2 Office Basics: The Copier, passwords to email, the fax, payroll sign-up, your files in our system, letterhead, templates for proposals. Open production lab hour: playing with Macs and finding the essentials in the system Your Territory: Managing it/Saturating it/Spending time in it/The typical work day Building Rapport with your Customers: Asking the right questions/Finding out what your customer really wants/Delivering the paper on a regular basis/Up-selling and Cross-selling your customers Prospecting The Sales Funnel, and how to keep it full Our internal Prospecting system: how to claim a new prospect Basic requirements on monthly prospecting/reporting Time in the Field with Veterans and Managers: Scoping out your territory for the first time What to take with you when you go into your territory Meeting your biggest customers

The Pitt News Training Survey Please let us know what you think of our Formal Training Sessions. Rate each session with 1 being not effective and 5 being very effective.

Production Overview 1 How The Pitt News Works (editorial/production/advertising flow)1 Paperwork (Insertion Orders etc.)

1 Account Management 1 Sales:Objections/Presentations/ Proposals/Prospecting 1

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5

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

5 5 5

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3

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5

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Reports Overview (Monthly Contract/Slow Pay) 1 2

3

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5

Time spent in your territory with Management/veteran sales reps

3

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Games: Bingo/Family Feud/ 1 Minute Self-Talk /Who wants to win $25 1

1

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What was your favorite part of formal training sessions? Why? __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ ____________ What was your least favorite part of formal training and why? __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ ____________

Training Program “The key to wisdom is this ‐‐ constant and frequent questioning ... for by doubting we are led to question and by questioning we arrive at the truth”. – Peter Abelard This quote has been the focal point for our sales training in 2011. It’s easy to try to move past the basics when salespeople get comfortable, but over the past year, we’ve learned that we were missing opportunities when we weren’t focused on the basic rule of success in sales: OVERCOMING OBJECTIONS. We’ve taken the approach as we always have, that education is constant.

This year, the focus has simply been on providing an outline of what the “basics” of sales are, and provided motivational support behind that concept, with the launch of “Student Media Ninjas”, our team of sales assassins.

ENTER THE TRAINING DOJO OF MEDIA NINJAS: Training begins the moment you accept the challenge to enter our “Shark Tank”.

Last year we introduced this concept of the “Shark Tank”, where trainees get an informational session about the sales job, an hour training on the products they are allowed to sell, and they hit the streets with support flyers and contracts in hand. They are not allowed to sell our “low hanging fruit” – the newspaper. They must first sell a special section or online product before they become a full‐fledged “Sales Assassin” and become an account executive. This approach has increased our trainee retention, and it easily weeds out those who decided sales is not for them. For those who make a sale, they are introduced to the milestones (the basics) of sales techniques. The overview of our Sales Assassin training program outlines what every achievement means, and how they can earn additional ninja stars. (See Ninja Star Overview).

MAKE THEM PART OF THE TEAM: We do a lot of cross‐training with our sales staff. We start off our year with an entire department training session that includes our sales staff, our designers, our layout team, social media team, marketing staff and support staff. They complete teamwork and collaboration exercises demonstrating the need for teamwork, collaboration, individual contribution, and good communication practices.

ENGAGE THEM: This year’s training sessions received incredible feedback from the students. What did I do differently?

ENTERTAINMENT & INTERACTION. Get them up & involved, get them communicating with each other, and entertain them with humorous or inspirational movie clips. When they were involved, they were engaged.

To get them warmed up and awake for our early morning sessions, or even to begin our afternoons after a break, I would get them all to stand up and participate in an exercise like follow the leader, but pulled this guy, a YouTube sensation) and have them follow along by doing “double dream hands”, or later “double dream feet”. (If you don’t know what I’m talking about, click here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dm7yAWpX1Mc) We also got a little more “goofy” with our getting to know your team members exercises, instead of the usual go around the table and say something fun about yourself, we played a few games. One of their favorites was I gave them all name tags on their foreheads & they had to figure out who they were. They could only ask each person 3 yes or no questions and had to move on to ask someone else. So they had to interact outside of their comfort zone or team. They had to guess who they were – whether it was a famous TV celebrity or a childhood fictional character… there is always lots of laughter. Sometimes we will end our training with something fun like a team competition – like advertising “jeopardy” or the Logo board game.

To keep them entertained, I tried to weave in a few movie clips or informative clips related to the material so that they didn’t hear all their managers just say what they have heard before, into every presentation. If we were talking about bad sales examples – I’d throw in some Tommy Boy clips. If we were discussing closing the customer at a higher level, I’d throw some Boiler Room or Glenn Gary, Glenn Ross clips. If we discussed motivation, I’ve found a few good ones to encourage, inspire, or “pump them up”.

We also did a lot more exercises that involved interaction, and less “lecture”. It gave people an opportunity to work with or meet someone they may not usually interact with in the office, which encourages more communication between teams when the training is over. One of our most popular cross‐training, mixed team interaction exercises was splitting teams up equally – same number of designers, marketing people, and sales people per team. The teams were given the same client and had to develop a 3‐ad campaign for the client. One ad had to be fully designed & the other 2 sketched out. Additionally, they were assigned an in‐house campaign to develop the same way. The teams had one hour to research, develop concepts and complete a multiple ad campaign for the paying client, and the house client. Each team presented their ideas, and had to vote for a winning campaign that was not their own. They really enjoyed getting the chance to DO what they will actually do in their jobs, on a quick deadline, and we got amazing new ideas to take to our client!!

With our new training program design, all participants seem equally happy, motivated, and inspired to get things moving!

You know you’ve hit a home run when your students are saying things like, “Man, this is so much fun!” , and you see them actually put the lessons into practice in the office. I think we are on to something

Training Program

PG 2

REWARD THEM: We reward our sales staff with ninja stars, when they accomplish particular sales objectives. This outlines all the goals a salesperson should strive to achieve, and sets the bar for expectations. They are aware that new stars can be earned for meeting new challenges, and that multiple stars can be earned. This non‐monetary incentive has been an incredible motivator for our team – one that even I didn’t anticipate being so successful. We even have “ritual” with robes, private ceremony and all to welcome new members into our society of sales assassins, much like a fraternal organization. The students seem to get pretty pumped about earning stars so they can be a part of ritual. What thrills them even more, is the excitement of earning real ninja stars – it’s a physical trophy they can display at their work space to show off their accomplishments.

REINFORCE LESSONS LEARNED: To reinforce our direction of maintaining continuous training and consistent interaction, in our weekly team sales group meeting, we host the Weekly Objection. A typical client objection is read out loud. Each sales rep has four minutes to write down what they would say to overcome the objection. The responses are all anonymously read and the team votes thumbs up, thumbs down or in the middle to help determine which are the best. A winner is voted on by the group, and the winning objection is place up in our OBJECTION board, that features the client objection, and the sales rep’s name, date, and how they overcame the objection. There was a particular objection that was practically the most common that the team seemed to struggle with. So to encourage repetition and familiarity and practice overcoming it, we did the same objection three weeks in a row. It was a good reminder, that sometimes you have to reinforce the “basics” on an ongoing basis.

TEACH NEW SKILLS: Weekly we cover new training topics in our group sales meeting, so that we are constantly teaching our staff new skills and developing those talents. And of course we have our usual 4‐day intensive boot camps, on topics relevant to skill development.

See attached Training Schedules.

DEVELOP STUDENT MANAGERS: Our student managers are responsible for developing training manuals for their staff, and a users manual for their own position, to prepare the next incoming manager. We don’t promote managers without sending them through “Management Bootcamp”.

There we teach them using lecture, movie clips and role play to ensure the information is absorbed, and the information is easy to recall later when needed. We also take this time to discuss what changes or improvements can be made to our processes, policies and practices at that time. The key lesson is in learning how to deliver effective and timely feedback through role‐play.

We cover a range of real‐life scenarios related to managing your peers, diversity, poor sales performance, inappropriate office attire, not meeting office minimums, inappropriate social media use, inter‐office dating and unprofessional office behavior. Our goal is to prepare them for future professional situations. Our track record is pretty high, as we place nearly 95% of all students post‐graduation interested in a related field, and they credit LSU Student Media for preparing them for their career. Our students are always offered positions in the Gannet Talent & Development Program as well as other reputable national and regional media companies as well, because we have prepared them so well for that next step.

MANAGER’S BOOTCAMP: May 17, 2011 TIME TOPIC 9:00 am

Welcome & Introductions

9: 15 am

Pre‐Employment Packet – review, discuss, make changes

10:00 am

Hiring & Staffing, Interviews

11:15 – 12:00p

Lunch Break

12:00 – 1:00 p

Motivating & Inspiring Your Team

12:30 – 1:30 pm

Delegation & Leadership Tools

1:30 – 3:00 pm

Effectively Delivering Feedback – timing, frequency, delivery

3:00 – 3:45 pm

Role Play Office Situations

MANAGER’S BOOTCAMP: May 18, 2011 TIME TOPIC 9:00 am New Hire Schedule & Information Sessions 9:30 am Marketing interns & Gumbo sales Recruitment Workshop 10:00 am Changes to pre‐employment message from yesterday What do we do that works?

What doesn’t work?

What haven’t we tried yet?

What’s our plan?

New Employee CHECKLISTS – create templates Your Weekly Staff Meeting Workshop 11:15 ‐ 12:00 pm Weekly Training Topic Discuss deadlines Share leads & assign prospects End with a WIN for the week What else will you incorporate?

Create your templates/outlines LUNCH BREAK 12:00 – 1:00 pm 1:00 – 1:45 pm

Team contests for the summer & fall semester

1:45 – 3:00 pm

Daily Expectations for staff Evaluations – frequency Individual meetings/One‐on‐One’s Criteria for selecting & announcing Employee of the Month Review Homework assignments

3:00 pm

Training Program – Schedules SALES TRAINING: May 16, 2011 TIME 9:00 am 9: 15 am 10:00 am 10:30 – 11:15 am

SALES TRAINING: Dec 13, 2011 LEADER Kodi Jaynie Bob Ritter

11:15 – 12:30 pm

TOPIC Welcome & Introductions: name, yr, major, job Design Workshop Welcome Address Sales A‐Z Make it in sales – Kodi 6 ways to make people like you to handling $20K ‐ Scott Nuggets – Kodi Get the appointment, the C.N.A., the presentation ‐ Scott Close the sale, Keep In Touch, double your billing – Amber LUNCH BREAK

12:30 – 1:15 pm

LSU Audience‐Based Selling & More

12:45 – 1:15 1:15 – 2:00 2:00 – 3:00 pm

Frequency & TOMA Using the Phone to Get the Appointment Overcoming Objections & Role Play

Kodi, Chelsea, Amber, Annabel Annabel Scott Amber

1:10 – 1:20 pm 1:20 – 1:50 pm

1:50 – 2:30 pm 2:30 – 2:45 pm

2:45 – 2:50 pm 2:50 – 3:00 pm 3:00 – 3:10 pm 3:10 – 3:15 pm 3:15 pm – 3:30 pm 3:30 – 3:50 pm 3:50 – 4:15 pm

TOPIC Getting to know your co‐workers Employer Expectations Work days, vacation, sick days, citations, being ON TIME (If you’re not early, you’re late!)

Appointment Setting, Cold Calling, Drop‐Ins Sales is a Numbers Game Weekly Sales Reports Calls, Drop offs vs. F2F Appts Motivation, Organization & Time Management One on One Meetings Mileage reports – hit minimums, earn gas $ Driver’s Safety Course Sales Pacing Charts Hit Lists Summer Reveille, Freshman Orientation Guide Shop Baton Rouge New TV Sponsorships Dining Deals Entertainment Deals College Explorer Features & Benefits

TOPIC

LEADER

9am

Communication Exercise

Kodi

2 or 3 even teams ‐ “Broken Email” http://www.teampedia.net/wiki/index.php?title=Broken_Email

9:20 am 9:35am 9:45 am

10:10 am

10:15 am

LEADER Kodi

TIME

9a

Scott H & Chelsea Scott C & Annabel

Chelsea Chelsea & Annabel

9:45 a

Scott H & Annabel Kodi Chelsea 10:05 a

Kodi Annabel

10:10 – 11:10 am 11:10 a

SALES TRAINING: Dec 12, 2011 LEADER

9:30 am 10:55 am

11:05 am

11:10 am

11:15 am – 12:45 pm

12:45 – 1p

Getting Started: Who is our audience of readers/listeners College Explorer Who is the LSU Audience?

What does LSU SM Deliver that’s unique?

Why choose our products?

Crafting Your Opening Statement Individual Work & Share Groups of 2 or 3… rework & share as individuals again as an elevator speech Remember, you can do anything – you are training to be NINJAS! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A55wDcKc0JQ&feature=endscreen&NR=1

Kodi Annabel

Becky

Kodi

Share yesterday’s Opening Statements & critique each other Sales by the Numbers Shark Tank – your papers, Define & sign papers Discuss products

Kodi Will & Annabel

TOPIC Let’s get moving together – a Warm Up http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dm7yAWpX1Mc Sales A‐Z (PART TWO) Make the Presentation (Annabel) How much do I ask for? (Kodi) Closing the Sale, Replacement Words (Annabel) Always Be Closing (Kodi) Types of Closes, Quit Wasting Time (Will) Keep in touch x 3 (Annabel) Lagniappe, Build Your List (Kodi) Turning in your weekly call sheets Sales Pacing Charts posted Mileage Report Hit minimums for an entire month – earn gas money!

Driver’s Safety Course 23 Business Etiquette Tips from USF Hit lists One on One Meetings 50 reasons to advertise Features vs. Benefits

LEADER

Keep in Touch Program Group share by veterans With prospects With established clients The biggest mistakes I made early on in trying to sell were…

Group Share by veterans Learn from the mistakes of others.

Pick yourself up after falling and find success http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v3sy630dY_k&feature=related CLASS SCHEDULES – TEAM MEETINGS

Annabel

Becky

Annabel & William William

SALES TRAINING: Dec 15, 2011

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5L1tr0PIx20&feature=related

Organization Chart Sales Rep – what does that mean?

Professionalism Dress Code Confidential Information Client info, spending, etc.

Personal info, cell #’s, etc Handshake “How To” Weekly Call Sheet Drop off’s vs. Phone Calls Face to Face Meeting the Minimums: Consequences, Daily Sign‐in Sheet Citations

Communicate with your TEAM after the sale (2 THINGS – insertion, production) Production Request – Client Folders vs. CFO Insertion Orders vs. Contracts Deadlines – see charts Communicate with your CLIENTS after the sale Weekly Tearsheets Monthly Invoices: Blue form vs. white sheet, Folding Team Building exercise – PUZZLE!!!!

Becky

SALES TRAINING: Dec 14, 2011

Scott H Kodi

TOPIC WELCOME & Introductions Let people introduce themselves: name – year – major – job Let’s loosen up:

Annabel

Sales A‐Z (PART ONE)

11:30 a

TIME 9:00 am

Communicate with FELLOW SALES REPS Account List, Team Meetings, Sign‐In Sheet Communicate with your CLIENTS before the sale Forms, Payment, Credit, Receipts

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zacF1pZR1Fg&feature=fvwp&NR=1

10:30 am 11:15 am – 12 pm

SALES TRAINING: May 19, 2011 TIME 12:45 pm 1:00 pm

TIME

Kodi

TIME 9a

TOPIC Wake up! It’s the last day of training, let’s get going!

LEADER

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z6iPlmIeD3Y&feature=related

Annabel

9:05 a 9:20 a

50 Reasons to Advertise Competitive Media & LSU 9:20 a ‐ Newspaper vs. Newsweekly

Jason Scott C

Who is Tiger Weekly?/Baton Rouge Dig? Why choose Reveille?

9:40 a ‐ Magazine

William

Becky

Who is 225/City Social/ In‐Register? Why choose Special Sections or Legacy?

9:55 a ‐ Radio

Will

Who is Eagle/WFMF/104 the X/103 Gen X/LPB? Why choose KLSU?

Kodi

Rules for Underwriting Know When to Say NO – Underwriting Controversies 10:15 a – TV

Kodi

Who is the competition? LPB? Ch 4/19? Why choose Tiger TV?

10:30 a – The Internet

Jason Scott C

Who is 2theadvocate/Daily Report? Why choose lsureveille.com or klsu.fm?

10:45 am 11:00 am 11:15 am Kodi

Yellow Pages, Outdoor, Mobile, Social Media Events & Living Expo Transit Ads This job is going to get hard… don’t give up!

Choose to move past failure!

Danielle Kodi Kodi

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hzBCI13rJmA&feature=related

11:45 a

What motivates YOU? What are you going to let stop you from being successful? http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&feature=fvwp&v=Obo6xCAHIG8

Annabel

Training Program – Ninja Stars WHITE STAR “IN TRAINING”

YELLOW STAR “SALES ASSASSIN”

White indicates that a person is "innocent", & has no knowledge of sales Congratulations! You’ve accepted the challenge to jump in the SHARK TANK. Your training begins now.

The color yellow indicates that the person is getting to know the basic techniques; this is compared to a plant growing its roots.

Once a recruit makes a sale, they make it out of the Shark Tank, and have earned the distinction of Sales Assassin, because they have “killed” (or made) their first sale.

Must first earn a yellow star. The color green indicates that a

student is growing as a sales professional. The color of the star GREEN STAR is compared to a plant growing its leaves.

“OBJECTION ASSASSIN” Once a sales rep has overcome an objection in a LIVE objection session in a sales meeting without any written, oral or other assistance, a GREEN STAR is earned.

BLUE STAR “CATEGORY” ASSASSIN SPECIALIST

The color blue indicates that a sales student is reaching higher, like a plant that is growing towards the sky. *Multiple stars can be earned, one for each category.

A sales rep earns a blue star once they have sold: Into each print category: Reveille, Special Sections, Shop Baton Rouge, and Legacy : “Print Assassin Specialist” All guides and both Shop publications : “Special Pubs Assassin” Each online section of lsureville.com: Front page, sports or puzzle page, news or opinion or entertainment page, and a run of site (any category can be substituted with a text link ad to earn the star) : “Online Assassin Specialist”

RED STAR CONTRACT KILLER ASSASSIN

BLACK STAR MULTI-DISCIPLINE ASSASSIN

BLACK STAR Master’s DEGREE “The flaming star”

BLACK STAR doctoral DEGREE “The Zen star”

The color red indicates danger. The student must practice the control of his/her skills. The color red also warns an opponent.

A sales rep can earn a red star once they get a client to commit to a 1551+ level contract or above.

Black is the opposite of white and means the maturity of the student in the art. It also is an indication of being impenetrable for fear and darkness. The student must take command of their skills across multiple disciplines.

A sales rep earns a black star if they sign a single client into each of these categories: A reveille contract/insertion, A special publication, and Reveille online.

The flame indicates that the person is passionate (on fire), and has mastered many disciplines of the sales craft.

A sales rep earns a “flaming” black star if: Print Media - $40,000 in sales The yin-yang symbol indicates that the person is perfectly balanced in the skill of sales mastery. It symbolizes a master salesman’s achievement of balancing all things: prospecting, cold-calling, analyzing customer needs, preparing presentations, that meet those needs, overcoming objections, closing the sale and building relationships with clients.

A sales rep earns a “flaming” black star if: Print Media - $95,000 in sales

ENGAGE THEM – Training Exercises

Team Push‐Up

Back 2 Back Drawing Exercises

REINFORCE LESSONS LEARNED – The Objection Board

Best Training Program When most people imagine sales departments, they imagine narrow-minded consumerists that only worry about bringing home the bacon and beating others at the rat race. I suppose people see these perceptions of salespeople in movies and on TV; I believe these popular sources are why most people are baffled to walk into The State News advertising department. Imagine this: Twenty-five account executives buzzing with creative energy, drive, and optimism. Hear the phones ringing, the friendly banter, the laughter, and the slapping of high fives. It’s this kind of energy that has fueled our staff toward success. We’re a department that thrives on competition, communication and teamwork. Our success was not built in a day and it did not appear out of thin air. Our success is rooted in our training program, which focuses on practice, coaching, motivation and retention.

Practice Sales training that is based on tips and techniques doesn't pass the test of time. We incorporate these things into our training program because they are necessary but we focus our training program on the execution of these techniques. Our training is effective because it transfers knowledge into applicable selling skills. In our four week training program, we combine training through hard material and situational role play. Newly hired account executives work through our training manual and sales tips provided by the management staff while simultaneously using the knowledge from the training in activities and role-plays.

The activities and games help reinforce the selling strategies and techniques that trainees have learned. We role play different scenarios so the trainees can get comfortable setting up meetings, making cold calls, performing a needs assessment, making and presenting sales plans, and overcoming common objections to print advertising. Veteran account executives, managers and even outside connections donate time to act as clients for the new account executives to practice with; these role-plays build confidence through consistent practice within the office.

Coaching In accompaniment to training, new account executives are paired up with a Living Training Manual (L.T.M.). An L.T.M. is a more experienced veteran that stands out as a leader within the office. New account executives shadow their L.T.M. and look to them for answers to questions and selling tips. This part of our training program allows L.T.M.s to share their knowledge too, instead of having the managers as the only ones who conduct training.

The best part of the L.T.M. program is its ability to teach old dogs new tricks. New AEs are encouraged to ask as many questions as possible, often challenging their L.T.M’s knowledge.

This has forced our veterans to stay on track and make sure they have a grip on the bigger picture.

Motivation Ultimately, without motivation there can be no learning at all. Thus, we strive to ensure that our new hires come into the office with as much support and motivation that is necessary to fuel them toward success. L.T.M.s help drive motivation by cheering on their new hire and guiding them as needed. L.T.M.s create a fun playfulness in the office because they often engage in friendly competition with one another and boast about the accomplishments of their new hire; this encourages the new hires to work hard because they are being recognized for their work.

Furthermore, to drive individual progress we have developed an advancement program.

By accomplishing tasks related to cold calling, establishing client relationships, and creating sales among other criteria, account executives can increase their commission rates (please see supplementary material titled 驶Advance Card始).

We conduct weekly staff meetings to encourage office morale, food is usually provided and games are incorporated. Games usually involve team-building activities that teach problem solving skills, selling strategies, and public speaking. Our staff meetings are the best time for the department to come together and for new hires to starting integrating into the office.

Outside of our weekly meetings, account executives meet in small teams of five. Each team has a leader that encourages sales, helps account executives overcome current objections and difficulties, keep record of weekly goals to fuel our advancement process, build morale and offer additional aid to account executives in training. These teams regularly compete against each other in sales competitions. These competitions allow individual sales and achievements to add to the team's total points. The winning team usually enjoys a free lunch or meal of their choice. Team competitions are not only popular among the staff, but drive them to individually succeed, work as a team, help others make sales and generate revenue. Every team competition held thus far has resulted in an increase of sales revenue over the previous year.

Retention It is impossible to remember everything we learn; thus, it is important to extend our training program to continued development and retention. To streamline our continued education within the entire department, at our weekly staff meetings we include a weekly sales tip or a recap on specific training sessions to keep everyone on their feet. Additionally, at team meetings, our team leaders not only encourage morale but also help aid in training retention. Team leaders helps account executives overcome current objections and difficulties. Team meetings open up discussion for account executives to discuss any difficulties they have been facing and then come up with new ways to overcome that difficulty and close the sale.

The Results Our four-week training program has sent rookie account executives into the sales world as account executives with experience already under their belt. Since adding our role-play and application portion of training we've found that new account executives start off feeling more confident and driven. Our best way of measuring the success of our training program is through our advancement program.

We currently have a very young office; in March 2011 we hired nine new students and in October we hired another twelve students. From the March hire, four of the account executives have already advanced to the second level of advancement and the rest are very close to advancing. From the October hiring group, nine out of the twelve rookies have recruited a new advertiser in their first 2 months of sales.

Overall, The State News has never seen such a driven staff. I have never seen a group of so many opinionated, driven individuals put their unique skills together to create an unstoppable sales force. Each obstacle overcome is a team success and celebrated thus. I do believe that this environment and nature of our staff is created in the very roots of our training program that focuses on retention and consistent development but which depends on encouragement, motivation and teamwork.

The Oh Sh*# Guidebook People forget, plain and simple. With an advertising staff selling over 20 customized products, it’s no surprise that every once in a while an account executive, veteran or rookie, will forget a thing or two.

To triumph over these moments of forgetfulness, The State News has created a tool that is stocked full of information that is organized and to the point. The Oh Sh*# Guidebook is 20 pages filled with information ranging from a daily checklist to the skinny on each of our products, including liner abbreviations, and how to schedule sponsorships and web ads. Below is a breakdown of the table of contents: Page 1 – The Daily Checklist, Deadline Map and Phone Help – The daily checklist and deadline map allow AEs to prioritize what they’ve got to do before leaving for the day – How to use the phones: Ensures wrong extensions and transfers don’t happen.

Page 2 – The Quick Facts Sheet – Addresses, phone numbers, websites, emails, circulation info, sections of the paper, professional staff members Pages 3&4 – Updated schedules & Contact Sheets for AEs and Managers Page 5 & 6– Liner Cheat Sheet – An updated list of abbreviations, an example greeting, ad checklist and instructions on how to change a liner after it has been scheduled.

Page 7-13 – The Display Cheat Sheets – A quick reference for the range of products that The State News offers – The product nitty-gritty for each medium, deadlines, and what to do once a sale is made Page 14 – Changing the Paper Past Deadline – Nobody likes missing deadlines, but it’s happened at least once to everyone. This is a step-by-step process to making changes to the paper after deadlines have passed.

Page 15 – Reserving Special Pages – This page breaks down the rules and walks the AE through scheduling a specific page request or our Religious Directory.

Page 16 – Helping out Other AEs – When an AE is handling a co-worker's accounts, it can be nerve racking. This page is dedicated to proper steps in communication and process for the situation.

Page 17 – Handling Cash & Other Payment Policies Page 18-19 – Why You Should Never Be Bored at Work – Tips on prospecting clients and miscellaneous ideas for new projects, such as “how to create a sales plan” or “play around with campaign ideas.”

Page 20 – Helpful Reports in SmartPublisher – A breakdown how to run a variety of reports that help AEs prospect old clients.

Training Calendar New Account Executives: Upon hire, employees under go 4 weeks of training in which the following tactics are used: • Week 1: 2 sessions, 3 hours in length each ◦ Learning to love our product: market survey data, newspaper terminology, responsibilities, expectations, opportunities ◦ Classified Liners: How to do it, customer service, guidelines, make good policy, scams ▪ Assignment 1: Classified liner worksheet with computer practice & shadowing classified call-ins • Week 2: 2 sessions, 3 hours each in length ◦ Presentation: Overcoming Common Objections to Classifieds ▪ Exercise: Practice taking liners over the phone. AEs learn how to deal with customers, apply knowledge from presentation to overcome possible problems and how to look out for scams ◦ Welcome to retail: terminology, deadlines, advertising options, selling strategy and how to schedule ads ▪ Exercise: Scheduling display & the nitty-gritty of SmartPublisher ▪ Exercise: How to overcome display objections. New hires split into teams, each team is confronted with objection.

▪ Assignment 2: Display retail worksheet with computer practice ◦ Test 1: Newspaper terminology, Market Survey Data & classified liner protocol tested to measure progress. Once passed, AEs may take classifieds.

• Week 3: 10 in-office hours + 2 training sessions, 3 hours in length ◦ How to sell: prospecting, persistence, cold calls & dealing with advertisers ▪ What to take on a sales call, how to go about it ◦ Presentation: Winning New Business in 20 Seconds (New Hires learn how to set up a meeting with a prospect by using their elevator pitch) ◦ The Life Cycle of an Ad: walk through where an ad is born and how it reaches print. ◦ Presentation: S.P.I.N. Selling ▪ Assignment 3: S.P.I.N. Selling activity. New hires meet with a former AE who has graduated and role play; the new hire executes what they have learned from the S.P.I.N. Selling presentation.

• Week 4: 10 in-office hours + 2 training sessions 3 hours in length ◦ Web & Preprint Inserts: terminology, selling strategy, deadlines ◦ Presentation: Hot Buttons, From No to YES! (New hires learn to recognize the type of client they are working with and how to cater to the specific needs of a business owner). ◦ Assignment 4: Create a sales plan for the business created in the role play from assignment 3. Present the sales plan to the advertising manager. ◦ Test 2: Retail, web and insert terminology, objections, rates, selling strategies. Once passed, AEs begin full AE office hours with full responsibilities and begin the advancement program.

TCU Daily Skiff CNBAM Best Training program

Training for Skiff advertising representatives begins when they are hired for the position. Each ad rep is given a rate card and media kit to study before returning for training the following semester. As the “face” of the Skiff in the community, it is imperative that we prepare our students properly.

Training begins one to two weeks before the first publication date for the semester. Ad reps spend two or three days in extensive training in all media we sell – the TCU Daily Skiff, tcu360.com, Image magazine, NewsNow, and KTCU. Training starts with the basic terminology, and moves through to sales techniques and relationship building with clients. Training includes practice sessions on completing insertion orders, making cold calls, and role‐playing on sales calls.

Brainstorming sessions help foster open discussion on different ideas for clients.

Topics covered include who to contact for specific events, specific categories of clients and times they should advertise, ways to keep current with events affecting advertising at the Skiff, and sources for information about our clients’ businesses.

Ad reps are also thoroughly trained on their role as a liaison between the client and our student ad designers. Attention to detail and organizational priorities are emphasized as key factors to achieving success in this job.

After time is given to assimilate the information covered, sales reps discuss their account list with the ad manager or business manager. This discussion covers account history, ideas for advertising campaigns, and general information about the business. Knowledge of a clients’ business is critical to successful ad sales.

Advertising reps then begin supervised calls to set appointments with advertisers.

At mid‐semester, the ad manager and business manager complete evaluations of all ad reps. Ad reps complete a self‐evaluation form that is then compared with the ones completed by the managers. The evaluation covers selling, office procedures, follow‐up, and team skills. The ad manager meets with the ad rep to discuss strengths and weaknesses identified.

The most integral facet of ad rep training is the weekly sales meeting. At each sales meeting, ad reps are made aware of special promotions, congratulated on recent achievements, and updated on progress towards goals and quotas. Upcoming events on campus and upcoming advertiser events are compared to coordinate advertising opportunities. Contests and bonus opportunities are discussed with reps. Weekly meetings are used to pass along new information from sources such as the CNBAM Advertising Sales Resource Guide, the NAA plan book, Web sites, the Fort Worth Star Telegram and Dallas Morning News (our local papers), and other handouts. Speakers are occasionally brought in to discuss refresher topics for ad reps. These speakers are from the local professional community, and may be in sales, design, or training. Former ad reps are also brought in to discuss how to maximize future opportunities while working at the Skiff and get the most of the experience. During the week, additional memos and sales materials are circulated

in the ad rep mailboxes for reading. The Business Manager has a supply of sales‐ oriented books that ad reps may check out for supplemental reading.

Two bulletin boards and a calendar are also updated continuously. Current sales for the pay period, current sales for the semester, quotas, deadlines, upcoming events, contest updates and new ideas are here to keep ad reps informed.

At the end of the semester, ad reps are asked to complete a job evaluation.

This evaluation provides feedback for the ad manager, with possible suggestions for improvement in the advertising office. This allows us to complete the semester by learning from the ad reps, not just them learning from the management staff.

Additionally, ad designers are brought in before the beginning of the semester. Their training consists primarily of office procedures and workflow, since they are hired with prior experience in the design programs. Details and spell‐check are emphasized in addition to the flow of communication with ad reps and the ad manager. Ad designers are updated continuously with information from trade magazines and Web sites. Software training is enhanced by bringing in vendor reps and software trainers from the university. Designers are included in sales meetings once a month, or more frequently as needed.

The student ad manager is offered training in peer management from the Human Resources department. The ad manager for the next fall semester attends the CNBAM Student Ad Manager Workshop in Chicago each year to prepare for the job.

In the spring, student media staff that will be returning in the fall are offered the opportunity to attend the CNBAM convention, budget allowing. Students who attend the convention are required to present the information from the convention at one or more weekly sales meetings and prepare a written summary of the convention.

Our goal in training our ad reps is not only to make them successful at TCU Student Media but also to adequately prepare them for post‐graduation employment. Whatever professional field they pursue, preparation and training in communication and work skills learned at the Skiff will serve them well both while working at the Skiff and beyond.

Skiff Advertising Training- Day 1 Thursday, August 11, 2011

Skiff Advertising Training – Day 2 Friday, August 12, 2011

9:00 a.m. – 9:30 a.m.

Introduction • Meet and greet; breakfast

9:00 a.m. – 9:15 a.m.

Breakfast and Review

9:30 a.m. – 10:00 a.m.

In The Office • Tour of the office • Important information (office/fax phone numbers, copier password, e-mail password) 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

Everything Newspaper • Mechanics of newspaper, magazine, radio • Terminology • History of the Skiff • So Why Advertise in the Newspaper?

• Tcu360.com o Terminology o How is online different from print?

1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m.

Computer System / Ad Design • Usernames and Passwords • Ad Server • Maintenance • Production Requests • Proofs / EPS system • Email and Email Etiquette 2:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.

Organization and Time Management • Organizing Sales Materials • CRM Overview • Using a Planner • Office Hours • Tardies and Absences • Communication with Courtney and Bitsy • Balancing Skiff, School, and Life • Account Book and Respecting Other Ad Reps Accounts 3:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.

Review • Questions • Scavenger Hunt • Pop Quiz • Trainee Questions and Joanie/ Bitsy’s Answers

Name: _________________

9:15 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

So What Does Student Media Have to Offer?

• Rates, Sizes, Color • Special Sections • Discounts • Insertion orders • Payment • Quota System 1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m.

Building and Maintaining a Business Relationship • Initial Contact • Professional Demeanor At All Times • At the Meeting • Day to Day Account Service • Communication • Follow Up • End of the Semester 2:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.

Effective Prospecting • New Business Leads • Organization • Phone Etiquette • Reasons to Call • Set Appointments- Don’t Sell Over the Phone/Email • Persistence • Phone Blitzes • Make It a Daily Habit

3:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.

Review

Skiff Advertising Training – Day 3 Monday, August 15, 2011 9:00 a.m. – 9:15 a.m.

Breakfast and Review 9:30 a.m. – 10:00 a.m.

Review account lists individually with ad manager and Business manager 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.

Supervised calls and appointment setting

Ad Rep Evaluations Rate the ad rep with numbers 1-5. 1 means the ad rep never does this, 3 means sometimes, 5 means always. You may use the back of the page for additional comments.

1 Never

2

3 Sometimes

4

5 Always

Selling 1. Is the ad rep consistently selling? Are they increasing sales from the start of a pay period to the end?

2. Does the rep attempt to sell all products available?

3. Does the ad rep make face-to-face sales calls?

4. Does the ad rep look for and sign up new accounts?

5. Does the ad rep consistently make quota?

Follow-up 6. Does the ad rep make sure ads are ready for press? Are production requests up in a timely manner?

7. Does the ad rep collect payment from accounts in a timely manner?

8. Does the ad rep make sure the account has seen their ad in the paper?

9. Does the ad rep handle problems quickly and professionally?

Office 10. Does the ad rep make good use of their office hours?

11. Is it evident the ad rep works more than their office hours?

12. Does the ad rep work as a team with other ad reps? Do they help other ad reps?

13. Does the ad rep maintain a positive attitude?

____________________ Ad Rep Signature

____________________ Ad Manager Signature

Ad Office Evaluation TCU Daily Skiff

Name___________________ Date________

What has helped you most from working at the TCU Daily Skiff?

What did you like most about your work experience here?

What didn’t meet your expectations?

Are there changes would you like to see made in the advertising department?

What procedure/policy should we definitely keep?

Any other comments you/d like to make or suggestions to give?

Advertising Training Program When students at The Breeze complete the newspaper’s intensive advertising-training program, they are not just prepared for selling campus-newspaper ads. They are also poised to make sales presentations to major regional companies, and they are seasoned enough to obtain post-graduation jobs at top-of-the-line companies.

The goal, then, of The Breeze’s training program is to use both classroom-style training and real-life experiences to build students’ portfolios as they prepare to graduate. It works: Every one of our sales and design graduates in 2011 had jobs or internships in hand by summer’s end. Many have returned or written to tell us that The Breeze’s training, especially its focus on practical experiences, was a major factor in their hiring.

Here is how we do it.

Hiring Process After hiring our managers in February, the advertising adviser works with the managers-elect to implement a two-week preliminary training in March of the new execs and designers. In this “crash course,” the sales staff is trained in closing the sale, sales skills, people skills, product knowledge, market knowledge, design concepts, online sales, magazine sales, telephone skills, handling objections and competition, making a needs assessment and making major account presentations. During the rest of the spring semester, the new hires do hands-on work with the outgoing staff to make a smooth transition to take over existing accounts.

The management staff, meanwhile, is trained in coaching, motivating the sales staff, interviewing and handling special situations. They also learn their role in helping the staff to obtain their goals, not just to “ be in charge.” I mention this, not lightly, as I have observed in 40 years of real-life work experience that the workplace is full of managers who think their only mission is to give orders, hire and fire and have no accountability for the failures of their work force.

Major Sales Presentation Training The entire sales and design staff return to The Breeze two weeks before the semester begins for fall training, which consists of intensive major accounts training in which they learn the intricacies of making sales presentations to real-time major and national accounts and to prepare themselves to travel to the accounts to make business presentations for preprints and ROP. After the training, each sales executive creates and presents a mock sales pitch to a real-life client.

A panel of judges – including Breeze staff and outside marketing professionals – evaluate the presentations and select teams who will then take the presentations to the actual clients.

The best team goes to its presentation first and returns to The Breeze to train the others to improve their skills for succeeding presentations.

The three teams traveled to the following two major companies during Fall 2011 to make these face-to face presentations:  Best Buy - a major national retailer in electronics, based in Minneapolis, Minn. Best Buy dedicated 10 sales divisions to hear our sales reps. Follow-up was made in December, and preprint discussions for January preprint drops was being considered as of this writing.  Kroger Company - a major grocery chain in Roanoke, Va., that has a store near campus.

This is our second attempt, and follow-up is to be made in January. Kroger stated they are interested in ROP and are looking at a 2012 schedule to include The Breeze in their market buy.

The teams received positive feedback. The Best Buy toastmasters division critiqued the team, saying they were more prepared and professional than papers even such as the Chicago Tribune and Washington Post, and that they were pleasantly surprised. At Kroger, the team was highly praised for the information that they presented.

In addition to the face-to-face meetings, students will send electronic presentations to places such as Wal-Mart, Bed Bath and Beyond, K Mart, Rite Aid, Target, Books-a-Million, Radio Shack, Home

Depot, Lowe’s, Food Lion, Kohl’s, Belk, Big Lots, Advance Auto, Ross, Staples, JC Penney and several restaurant chains.

Other Fall Training In addition to the major-presentation training, sessions are held on other aspects of local sales, management and design. This is in conjunction with training for the editorial staff. Speakers come from major news outlets, some traveling several hours by car to be with us. The keynote speaker was a longtime publisher of a community weekly newspaper in northern Virginia who is preparing to launch an online media venture.

Management Training New managers are instructed in how to set goals for each year, and they work with the outgoing staff to make reasonable projections for the incoming staff. The advertising adviser shows them how to do an effective budget, taking into consideration the projection of the account, the rate increase and the expectation for growth. Managers also receive management training, on interviewing, hiring, firing, coaching, handling special problems and many other management skills.

Throughout the year management works with the advertising adviser and general manager to lead the staff to achieve the goals and objectives through management reviews and performance and revenue oversight. The staff is constantly set to a performance standard, which is monitored and for which they have to be accountable in weekly flashes and monthly projections.

Outcomes Measurements The Breeze measures the outcomes of its training programs through the expectations placed on sales execs and designers. Commissions are based on demonstrating competency in achieving goals based on what the students learn in training. Extra points are rewarded for professional dress, quantity of cold calls per issue, attitude, ad count, achieving revenue and team goals, new contracts and accounts, and errors and omissions.

The design team is rewarded for performance on omissions, errors, best ad of the month, working with sales staff and creating spec ads, all items covered in training throughout the year.

Management incentive programs include incentives for professional attitude, cold calling with sales staff, dress code, working with the ad adviser and general manager, and achieving goals. A bonus program is also in place for achieving the annual goals.

These performance measures ensure that what is taught during training is consistently used in the field.

The outcomes of the training are also measured through The Breeze’s exit survey of students who have worked for The Breeze. Many surveyed say their work and training at The Breeze has provided them with “much improved” skills in leading others, cold calling, overcoming sales objections, marketing and layout/design.

These results, paired with the high employment rates of Breeze graduates, shows that The Breeze’s training program is indeed one of the best in the nation.

covering campus 2011-2012

Serving James Madison University Since 1922

fall training

August 15-24, 2011

MONDAY

Welcome Back!

Our back-to-school training program is one of our great traditions at The Breeze, and last year it received national recognition as one of the best in the country (for the second year in a row!).

You get two weeks of uninterrupted time to learn skills that will help you succeed and to plan for the year ahead.

During the first week of training, we have sessions every day, and we have a few during the second week. Please be on time.

Many of our speakers are from outside the area, and we can show appreciation by being punctual.

Your afternoons the first week are mostly open for you to plan for the coming year. Brainstorm story ideas, assign stories, call advertising clients, work on spec ads and do whatever you can to get a good start to the year.

During Week 2, we have fewer sessions. That means you have a full week of uninterrupted time to continue your planning and work.

Best wishes!

August 15

Noon Opening Lunch Welcome back. Get reacquainted during lunch.

Lawrence “Lou” Emerson, a former Breezer and current media entrepreneur, will open our year with advice from the field.

Allegheny Room (Festival Conference Center)

2:00 p.m.

All Advertising Staff: Staff orientation, including what’s new this year, policies and other information.

Festival Conference Room 4 Newsroom: Q&A with Lou Emerson. Join speaker Lou Emerson for information on being a better journalist.

Festival Conference Room 7

3:00 p.m.

All Advertising Staff: Q&A with Lou Emerson. Speaker Lou Emerson will share his advertising advice, and you can ask questions about selling in a small market.

Festival Conference Room 4 Newsroom: Initial staff meeting.

Festival Conference Room 7

4:00 p.m.

All Staff: Opening Staff Meeting. We’ll discuss production schedules, policies and more. Also, each department will tell the other what they do.

Allegheny Room

Opening Speaker | Lawrence K. “Lou” Emerson Lawrence Emerson claims he decided to get serious about journalism while working in a Harrisonburg muffler and tailpipe factory (Walker Manufacturing) the summer before his senior year at JMU. While in college, he worked as a photographer and then as photo editor of The Breeze and as the first photo editor and the second editor of Curio magazine.

After graduating in 1979 with a B.A. in communication arts (journalism concentration) and a minor in French, he worked for daily and weekly newspapers in the region before taking an editing job in Warrenton, 45 miles west of D.C. There, his white German shepherd Gonzo “introduced” Emerson to Ellen Fox, his future wife and business partner.

In 1989, the Emersons launched The Fauquier Citizen, a weekly devoted to in-depth storytelling and strong visuals. Fourteen years later, they founded The Culpeper Citizen in a neighboring county. The small publishing company grew to 30 full-time employees and consistently won state and national awards for aggressive journalism. The Emersons sold the newspapers to their arch rival in January 2006.

As he prepares for a new journalism venture, Emerson remains active as a consultant to small newspapers and as a seminar leader for the Virginia Press Association. His day typically starts with a two-mile walk, accompanied by Cosmo and Zelda, the Emersons’ latest white shepherds.

TUESDAY August 16

9:00 a.m.

All Staff: How Not To Get Sued. Legal adviser Roger Soenksen will go over the basics of media law.

He’ll also discuss ethics, those sticky situations journalists get into.

Harrison 118

10:30 a.m.

All Staff: Once We’re Done, Then What? Meet at The Breeze offices to walk downtown to the Daily News-Record, 231 S. Liberty St., for a tour of the press. You’ll learn how your work goes from computer screen to printed paper. DN-R General Manager Peter Yates will discuss trends in media.

Breeze Offices

Noon Lunch: Lunch is on your own today.

2:00 p.m.

Newsroom: Coaching Writers. Some tips on working with writers so you get the stories you need and so your writers don’t keep making the same mistakes.

Harrison 112 Ad Managers: Management Training with Cesi Myers.

Cesi’s Office

4:30 p.m.

Ad Execs: Ad check-in at the ads office.

WEDNESDAY August 17

9:00 a.m.

All Staff: Dealing With Difficult People. Whether it be a cranky customer or an annoying coworker, you need to be able to work with them.

Harrison 118

10:00 a.m.

All Staff: Conflict Resolution. Sure, we always agree. But just in case... Here are some tips on resolving disagreements.

Harrison 118

11:00 a.m.

All Staff: Time Management. Running a section, selling ads, designing, getting things coordinated... it can all be a little overwhelming sometimes. Add that to your other responsibilities as students, and it can be tough. We’ll discuss some some strategies to stay sane.

Harrison 118

12:00 p.m.

Lunch: Boxed lunches available at The Breeze.

2:00 p.m.

Ad Execs: Campus Cash. We’re launching a new coupon site, and you’ll learn about how it works and how you can sell space on it.

Harrison 118

THURSDAY August 18

9:00 a.m.

Newsroom: Story Ideas. Michelle Hite, editor of Madison magazine, will share some tips on coming up with story ideas, especially for stories you do every year.

Harrison 112 Ad Execs: Major Account Sales. Cesi Myers will take you through the sales process for major accounts.

Harrison 118 Ad Designers: Elements of Effective Ads. Joel West, a graphic designer with Found Media, will share insights about creating effective advertising.

Harrison 241 (SMAD computer lab)

10:00 a.m.

Newsroom: Social Media. Kyle Colemen, a marketing manager in Harrisonburg, will talk about how you can use social media to promote stories and The Breeze in general.

Harrison 112 Ad Execs: Major Account Sales, Cont’d. Cesi Myers will take you through the sales process for major accounts.

Harrison 118 Ad Designers: Type and Images. How to effectively use typography and images together to produce well-received advertising. Joel West.

Harrison 241 (SMAD Computer Lab)

11:00 a.m.

Ad Execs: Cold Calls. Former newspaper exec Karl Spain will help you get over the fear of cold calls, and he’ll explain how they can be used to generate more sales.

Harrison 118

Noon Lunch: At The Breeze.

4:30 p.m.

Ad Execs: Ad check-in at the ads office.

FRIDAY August 19

9:00 a.m.

Advertising Staff: Classifieds. Learn how to use the new Classifieds system.

Harrison 118

10:00 a.m.

Newsroom: Multimedia. Meg Martin, the online editor of the Roanoke Times, will talk about ways you can make the Web site more robust. She will discuss recent trends and ways we can be part of those trends.

Harrison 118 Ad Execs: On-the-ground sales with an expert.

Noon Lunch: Available at The Breeze.

4:30 p.m.

Ad Execs: Ad check-in at the ads office.

MONDAY August 22

9:00 a.m.

Advertising Execs: Overcoming Objections. Cesi Myers has heard them all. Here’s how to get over them.

Harrison Hall 112

10:00 a.m.

Newsroom: Getting It Right. Editorial adviser Mike Grundmann will discuss the finer points of copyediting and making sure you catch errors before they’re printed.

Harrison Hall 118

Noon Lunch: Boxed lunches available at The Breeze offices.

4:30 p.m.

Ad Execs: Ad check-in at the ads office.

TUESDAY August 23

10:00 a.m.

Video Training: All newsroom staff can learn to produce videos for the Web site. Featuring Synthesis Media of northern Virginia. You will produce several pieces that we can use right away. All day.

Harrison Hall 112 Advertising Execs: Campus Cash on-the-ground sales for some of you.

4:30 p.m.

Ad Execs: Ad check-in at the ads office.

WEDNESDAY August 24

11:00 a.m.

Newsroom Staff: Learn about the Freedom of Information Act from Megan Rhyne, executive director of the Virginia Coalition for Open Government.

Breeze Newsroom

The Daily Pennsylvanian Business Training Program

T

he Daily Pennsylvanian’s Business Training Program is based on the concept of continual education. The program focuses on educating by providing broad-based general training, detailed hands-on training, and ongoing continuing training — all designed to provide students the realworld business experience of running a professional newspaper while developing their business skills and providing our customers with exceptional customer service.

The unique aspect about our program compared to most others is the wide range of newspaper operational areas covered. We pride ourselves in our diverse placement of student staff and student managers in six business departments: finance, credit, advertising, ad production, front office (counter sales and ad traffic), and marketing. This specialization in each department provides an opportunity for students with interests in areas other than sales to gain valuable experience. Yet each staff member is also integrated into the newspaper’s operations by being introduced to all aspects of the business.

The training program is accomplished in three stages. The first consists of a general training session. Here, all new staff members go through General Business Training together in order to establish a common background, an understanding of our business, and a network of fellow staff members. During this session, we familiarize the new staff with the fundamental principles and operations of our paper, our history, and their role in the organization. We cover the tools of survival at the paper, from the mechanics of using our phones and copiers to accessing the various computer systems. We carefully trace all the steps in the “life” of an ad, from inception through payment, and how each department participates in pieces of that operation. The sessions mix lecture-style presentations with interactive topics, since we have found that active participation strengthens retention of the training material.

The second stage of training is specialized Departmental Training, where each student department manager establishes an individualized training program tailored to that particular department. New staff members participate in two weeks of sessions with the managers and professional staff advisers of their department. During this time, the new staff members gain the specific skills required for productive work in their departments, plus a detailed picture of their role and the department’s role within the paper. Once they are able to understand their position and responsibilities, they are able to work independently of direct supervision as full-fledged and productive staff members.

The advertising and marketing departments are combined into a Marketing/Advertising Internship. For the first semester, interns are given extensive sales and marketing training. They are required to so some selling (prospecting) and some marketing (flyering, testing the online readership survey). At the end of the first semester, interns are asked to decide whether they want to be Advertising Specialists or Marketing Specialists. Both specializations require the intern to do some level of both sales and marketing.

The final phase — which is never-ending — is the ongoing education and cross-training that is dispersed throughout each student’s career at The Daily Pennsylvanian. Training of additional skills, techniques, and procedures is provided through weekly or biweekly department meetings.

Cross-training is especially important for departments which are directly interrelated; this type of training increases communication and understanding, resulting in more efficient operations and a more cohesive business staff.

During the course of the semester, the staff is evaluated by the managers and given the opportunity to provide feedback on their experiences at the newspaper. By evaluating their performance, we are able to assess the effectiveness of their training.

In addition to this staff-level training, we also have a Management Training Program, which is designed to go beyond the one-on-one assistance our professional advisers provide. This program gives student managers the knowledge and expertise they need to run their departments, and enhances the managerial experience they get at the newspaper. Two all-day off-site retreats presented by the professional advisers and the student Business Manager anchor this training program. One takes place before classes begin in January as an orientation to newly-elected managers. The second takes place in August before fall term classes begin, and focuses on reinforcing and building their staff management skills, and planning for their second semester.

The program aims to give an in-depth understanding of every department, as well as teach and hone skills necessary to be an outstanding manager. It includes role-playing, game take-offs (“Daily Pennsylvanian Survivor”), and brainstorming sessions. Additionally, 10 to 20 minutes of most weekly Business Board meetings are devoted to ongoing training. Topics include interviewing skills, presentation skills, how to successfully delegate, staff coaching skills, time management, goal-setting, motivation and morale, and planning effective meetings.

As managers of The Daily Pennsylvanian, we feel that the Business Training Program combines all elements that develop top-notch staff members. The success of our newspaper comes from the commitment to excellence and service that we convey to all our new staff members — largely through our training program. A solid and concrete knowledge of the basic operations of business functions, coupled with real-life practical experience, creates staff members who are familiar with our business, knowledgeable about our market, and sensitive to our customer’s needs. The end result is that when our training succeeds, we end up with staff members who are well informed about the company they work for and the product they produce every day. They know their role at the newspaper, contribute to a reputable and successful independent college newspaper, and are positioned to greet new challenges at The Daily Pennsylvanian with enthusiasm.

Fall, 2011 Business Training Schedule DAY

DEPARTMENT

TIME

Business Manager Retreat

9:30 a.m. — 5:00 p.m.

ALL Business Departments

6:00 p.m. — 7:30 p.m.

Wednesday, September 14

Marketing 2

4:00 p.m. — 6:00 p.m.

Wednesday, September 14

Ad Design 2

5:00 p.m. — 7:00 p.m.

Wednesday, September 14

Advertising 2

6:00 p.m. — 8:00 p.m.

Thursday, September 15

Credit/Finance 2

4:00 p.m. — 6:00 p.m.

Thursday, September 15

Advertising 3

6:00 p.m. — 8:00 p.m.

Monday, September 19

Marketing 3

4:00 p.m. — 6:00 p.m.

Monday, September 19

Ad Design 3

5:00 p.m. — 7:00 p.m.

Monday, September 19

Advertising 4

6:00 p.m. — 8:00 p.m.

Tuesday, September 20

Credit/Finance 2

4:00 p.m. — 6:00 p.m.

Tuesday, September 20

Advertising 5

6:00 p.m. — 8:00 p.m.

Wednesday, September 21

Marketing 4

4:00 p.m. — 6:00 p.m.

Wednesday, September 21

Ad Design 4

5:00 p.m. — 7:00 p.m.

Wednesday, September 21

Advertising 6

6:00 p.m. — 8:00 p.m.

Thursday, September 22

Credit/Finance 2

4:00 p.m. — 6:00 p.m.

Thursday, September 22

Advertising 7

6:00 p.m. — 8:00 p.m.

Saturday, September 24

Advertising 8

10:30 a.m. — 1:00 p.m.

Thursday, August 25 Tuesday, September 13

Management Training Each manager takes a turn reading the scenario aloud and role-playing the scenario with a fellow manager. The manager that is playing the role of the staff member should read his/her instructions silently.

1: MANAGER A friend of yours is a member of the staff. He/she is not taking you seriously, and has not listened to you or taken direction from you. He/she is not performing well and you believe this is because of your personal relationship with this person. You are sitting down with this person now, for the first time, to talk about his/her performance.

1: STAFF MEMBER You’re a friend of the manager/editor, but you believe he/she is taking his/her job a little too seriously. Since you’re friends, you can’t understand why this person is coming down so hard on you. He/she should know you by now and know you’ll get the job done. Your attitude is “Hey, this is me you’re talking to — stop acting like a boss.”

2: MANAGER A staff member has not done their job, not shown up for meetings and has had a bad attitude.

You’ve met with him/her several times before, and he/she has either promised to change or denied there’s a problem. Now you’ve made the decision to fire this person, and you’re ready to do it.

2: STAFF MEMBER The manager/editor has told you before that he/she is not happy with your performance. Even though you agree you could do better, you think he/she is overreacting. Now some tough school projects are over with and you’re ready to make a new commitment. Don’t accept being fired — plead with the manager/editor for your job and promise you’ll change.

3: MANAGER A staff member is enthusiastic and always shows up for work. The problem is that his/her work is consistently poor. The problem’s not commitment, it’s talent. You’re meeting with that person now to: (1) tell him/her that the current job they did must be redone (2) from now on, unless they find a way to get better, they'll have to work with someone else on stories, projects, or accounts.

3: STAFF MEMBER Whatever work your manager is criticizing you about be defensive. It’s yours and you’re proud of it. Be resistant to change and getting any help.

4: MANAGER As an outgoing, friendly and enthusiastic person, you’re finding it hard to deal with this staff member who is shy and introverted. The work this person does is okay, but he/she is overly sensitive and does not take criticism well. You are doing an informal evaluation of the person.

4: STAFF MEMBER Act shy and be sensitive to criticism. Say as little as possible. Give the attitude that this manager/editor is singling you out or picking on you.

Sales Call Role-Play Skit REP:

Hi MARIA, I’m Alex from The Daily Pennsylvanian. I appreciate you giving me some time today to talk to you .

CUSTOMER: Well, I'm very busy, but I did tell you that you could come in.

REP:

Is there somewhere we can sit down in quiet and discuss this?

CUSTOMER: Sure, let’s go to my office. [GO TO “OFFICE” AND SIT DOWN] REP:

[TELL MARIA THE REASON FOR YOUR CALL AND ASK HER AGAIN IF THIS IS A GOOD TIME TO TALK]

CUSTOMER: You're okay, as long as this doesn't take all day.

REP:

Great, I'd like to start by asking you a few questions about MARIA’s Designs.

[TAKE NOTES]

CUSTOMER: [TELL REP ABOUT YOUR STORE] REP:

[ASK MORE QUESTIONS, INCLUDING HOW HE ADVERTISES]

CUSTOMER: [ANSWER ALEX’S QUESTIONS, AND TELL HIM THAT YOU CREATE FLYERS AND PUT THEM AROUND TO PROMOTE YOUR STORE] REP:

Have you ever tried focusing on the student market, especially since you’re so close to campus?

CUSTOMER: The students I do get usually don’t buy. College students, I find, do most of their shopping with a tight budget, and they’re looking for bargains, and that’s it.

REP:

Hmmm, seems like you haven’t had great success with the student market, despite your location.

CUSTOMER: That’s about right.

REP:

MARIA, if you knew that Penn students had the money to spend, were spending their money on dresses and casual wear everyday — sometimes traveling downtown to do so — and they were willing to spend higher than bargain prices to get the perfect outfit for them — would you consider focusing some of your advertising budget on getting this group to buy from MARIA’s Designs?

CUSTOMER: And I suppose your paper is the best way to reach them?

REP:

Well, let me give you some facts about The Daily Pennsylvanian [PUT THE PAPER IN HIS HANDS AND TALK ABOUT IT]

Training Program As the new Advertising Sales Director I really wanted to focus on training because being trained with The Daily Titan myself, I felt the training program was lacking. In previous years, the training program focused specifically on the administrative tasks in the office, for example, filling out contracts, working the credit card machine and how to schedule ads into Adpro. There was very little focus on the actual calls and appointments and how to handle people, which is basis for sales.

In Summer 2011, the entire training manual was rewritten. It went from less then 30 pages to almost 100 pages and the training became far more extensive and interactive. The current training program is a 5 day, 4 hour a day training program, with training sessions every Friday after weekly sales meetings to continue training. In the first semester of the new training program The Daily Titan had a 29% increase in overall sales. Below is a basic overview of what the new training program covers: The Job and The Company: This sections covers the basics of the job that any new hire would want to know on their first day. We go over what The Daily Titan and where it wants to be, we feel that this is important to upfront let people know we want to progress not stay static. The job description and payment/commission plan is laid out on the table so that the Account Executives can start becoming familiar with how they can make more money. We go over the particulars, like when the sales meetings are and what should be brought. Account executives are given a tour of the office and assigned a desk and we finish up by going over the media kit and giving examples of how we would sell each aspect of the media kit.

The Call: This is a key aspect to the training program because the call seems to be nerve racking for newer Account Executives. In this section we dissect, as a team, each and every part of a call.

From prospecting new clients to researching before calling, we talk about the reasons why we should prospect smart and within target as well as why it is important to research a client and what could go wrong if we don’t. We then discuss making a goal for each call based on the level the client is in our system, for example, if we don’t know who is in charge then a good goal would be to figure out who makes advertising decisions. We then go over techniques that help build confidence before calls and we extensively discuss overcoming objections. We role-play repeatedly in this discussion so we are not caught off guard on calls. Lastly we discuss what needs to be covered in a call and the benefits of needs analysis.

The Appointment: In this section it is stressed that face-to-face appointments are the most efficient and successful ways to make a sale. All Account Executives are taught that the goal of their cold calls should be to get a face-to-face appointment. From what to bring to an appointment to how to be professional, the ins and outs of appointments are made very clear. We also go as far as to role-play on how to read a client’s non-verbal cues. We have Account Executives pitch campaigns and the other person must give non-verbal cues, which will cause the AE to change up

their strategy if needed. Lastly we discuss healthy client relationships and closing techniques, which is another role-play session.

Campaigns and Production: One of the most important things the Account Executives need to know is how to put together a successful campaign and how to know what will work best for their clients. In this sections we come up with fake scenarios of clients with different levels of information and we have each of the Account Executives come up with campaigns and pitch them to the team where we critique what they pitch and help make the campaign as successful as possible. This is also the time where Account Executives learn how and when to give discounts, which is vital to keeping loyal customers. After the campaigns are done we discuss the process of getting artwork created by the production team.

Office Documents: Office documents and knowing how to properly filling them out is extremely important to the success of the newspaper. At this point we have all Account Executives practice filling out contracts for the campaigns they came up with the day before as well as learn how to send a proper email or fax. After office documents we move on to teaching the Adpro system. The Account Executives each practice doing anything and everything they might have to do in Adpro, including inserting all the ads properly for the campaigns they created and filled out contracts for.

This is also the time that we give out client lists and create emails and voicemails for the entire staff.

Review: The final day of training is kind of like a party but a serious one. We order food and hang out while revisiting role-play assignments we did earlier in the week. The role plays always seem far less frightening the second time around and have a lot of success when Account Executives make their first call at the end of the day.

Friday Training: Every Friday after the weekly sales meeting we spend 30 minutes as a staff revisiting a training aspect from the original training manual. This is extremely beneficial not only because it reminds the staff of what we have already learned but the staff is able to compare it back to what they have been doing that week with their calls and appointments. Friday Training is extremely important in preventing Account Executives from falling into their own patterns that might not be as successful as they want them to be.

Overall the new training program discusses everything that could and most likely will happen. The goal of the program is to relieve the initial stress and fear of the job and give the Account Executive confidence from the start so they can start making sales from day 1.

Daily Titan Fall Training Schedule 2011

August 1st 9 am – 1:30 pm Lunch @ 12:15 pm provided by Yardhouse A word from the Editors @ 11 am -­‐ The Daily Titan -­‐Job description -­‐Office tour -­‐ Commission and bonuses -­‐Sales meetings -­‐Monthly and semester evaluations -­‐Work attire and procedure -­‐Media Kit overview/ What we have to offer

August 2nd 9 am – 1:30 pm Lunch @ 12:00 pm provided by Little Ceasars The Call: -­‐Prospecting and finding clients -­‐Researching clients before the call -­‐Creating a goal for each call -­‐Building your confidence before a call -­‐Making the call, overcoming objections -­‐What needs to be covered in the call?

-­‐Needs analysis -­‐What if something goes wrong or you get confused?

-­‐Getting the appointment

The Appointment: -­‐What to bring -­‐How to be professional -­‐What needs to be covered in the appointment?

-­‐Reading the client and switching up your strategy -­‐Closing techniques -­‐Client relationships: How to create a long lasting successful relationship

August 3rd 9 am -­1:30 pm Lunch @ 1:30 pm provided by Subway Campaigns: -­‐How to put together a campaign -­‐What works best for your client in particular?

-­‐Bundles and discounts -­‐How to work with production (brief presentation from Liz and Tiffany) -­‐How to get things proofed and how many changes before it’s too many -­‐Giving useful suggestions and advice on creative to your client

August 4th 9 am -­1:30 pm Lunch @ 11:00 am provided by Sansai Webinar from Adpro @ 11 am -­Office documents -­‐Adpro -­‐Setting up accounts and introducing client lists

August 5th 9 am – 1:30 pm Staff Dinner with editorial @ 6 pm at TGI Friday’s -­‐Review -­‐Role play -­‐Games -­‐Questions and Concerns -­‐Start making calls!

Category 4B Best Training Program – The University Daily Kansan Fall 2011 “Practice doesn’t make perfect, perfect practice makes perfect.” When tasked with making our training improve from semester to semester the staff of The University Daily Kansan has to ask itself how to strive for perfect practice.

The Kansan lives and breathes immersion in its training. From the first day an individual sets foot in pre-semester training, they are evaluated and involved in the sales process at an individual level and thrust into situations that engage them with the products, the process and the types of people they will be working with over the course of their Kansan careers.

Departments: Regardless of the specialized training each department of the Kansan receives, initial training involves welcoming them to a family and its traditions. A paper does not serve the student body of a university for 107 years, without developing a long list of famous family members and traditions. Being included in that list allows reps to see that they are now a part of something larger than simply an advertising staff, and to take pride in the richness of that history.

With this involvement, the foundation for the traditional first week of sales training, which takes place one week before each semester begins, is laid. While the primary focus is immersing the staff into the sales process, immersion within the staff itself is stressed through icebreakers and team building exercises that cross “department lines.”

Sales: Past Kansan greats put it best, when saying that “in order to be confident on a call, reps must understand four things: 1) the product 2) the client 3) our audience and 4) the sales process.”

This fall, however, the product portion of our training shifted to match a shift in the structure of our staff to a dedicated digital sales team. So, both Digital Account Executives and Account Executives were not only responsible for learning the “ins and outs” of digital (Kansan.com ads, social media packages, blog packages) and print (ROP, weekly magazines, special sections) products, respectively, but also how to work in tandem to tailor multimedia campaigns to address the needs of our clients. Although digital and print products work differently, they work together.

By the end of training, these representatives are able to collaborate with each other and their clients in creating campaigns that involved multifaceted media mixes.

Involvement with the client and sales process are uniform, regardless of the product being sold.

So, during training managers on the staff are asked to present on a given part of the process, i.e. the needs analysis, with an added twist. For each major step, names were selected at random for individuals to practice conducting a needs analysis (for example) with the manager that presented the topic, right after the presentation, in order to give immediate feedback for consideration in breakout sessions. We do this for every step, walking reps through initial contact and personality assessment, setting the first meeting, conducting a needs analysis, crafting a proposal, and finally closing the sale. Later, these skills are polished in the breakout sessions.

Also, they learn from the other departments. Production explains how errors are avoided and what they do on a daily basis to ensure ads are placed correctly. News and editorial explains the relationship between the news and ad staffs from shared refrigerator use to the ethical separation of ad and news content.

In order to make sure reps have retained the mountain of information they are presented with, at the end of each day “Zone Wars” are held. The staff segments are asked to compete against each other in a quiz like format and a prize is awarded to the winning team at the end of the week. And

finally, each rep is asked to go through a certification process (detailed later) to determine whether or not they are ready to conduct calls with real clients.

Creative: Good ideas, presented creatively, sell, plain and simple. The Kansan sales force is always backed by stellar creative ideas and execution. During training week, the Creative Director delves into the day-to-day expectations of the creative staff, working with deadlines and production, and exemplifying past campaigns that saw success. Additionally, spec ads are created during this time for businesses not currently running with the Kansan, allowing the Creative staff opportunities for critique and immediate armament of the sales staff with ideas to get their foot in the door with clients.

Marketing: We believe our clients should brand and promote their products aggressively. We believe that every idea has an expiration date. So, obviously we believe the same about our own products and ideas. Our marketing team’s goal is to create word-of-mouth about The Kansan and its products and events. For the first week of training, they are given semester objectives, a listing of the release date of special sections and a listing of promotional opportunities. After, they are taught how to conduct research – drafting surveys and conducting focus groups and depth interviews. Armed with this new knowledge, they are able to put together a cohesive campaign to promote our publication to the student body. In years past, the marketing team has generated specialty advertising vehicles such as Daily Kansan playing cards, tote bags, pens, magnets and tshirts.

Ongoing Training Perfect practice never stops, and neither does training at the Kansan. Weekly staff meetings are focused based on feedback garnered from reps and managers about where the staff needs refreshers or polishing. For example, if reps are rusty on the products surrounding the coming of Basketball Season, and what types of clients could stand to benefit from the branding and excitement that surround the basketball program, the weekly meeting will focus on this.

Additionally, this semester, the Kansan had a one-day-long mid-semester training exercise on a Friday afternoon in mid-October when we determined that new business prospecting skills need sharpening across the board. Each rep was asked to walk into a business, find the person in charge of advertising and marketing, introduce themselves, and simply find out 3 things about that person not related to sales. This exercise served three purposes: 1) it took the pressure off of having to focus on selling the Kansan 2) allowing reps to gain more experience approaching new businesses without that pressure and 3) reminded reps to build relationships alongside campaigns to ensure client satisfaction. All three of which are extremely important to the process.

Topics throughout ongoing weekly meetings included: new products, special section training, objection handling, tailoring products to businesses, crafting proposals, contact and follow-up techniques, and building promotional/multimedia campaigns. Focusing on this material kept training fresh and relevant to the needs of the sales staff.

Training Schedule Monday: Introduction, icebreaker exercise, lingo, Kansan product training (break off for digital, classified, and print teams), research methods, competitive product training, aggregated audience selling, Zone Wars.

Tuesday: Welcome back and introduce the news staff, the first meeting, personality identification (guest speaker Diane O’Byrne), needs analysis and demonstrations (breakouts for further practice), collaboration between departments, prospecting new business and getting the meeting, Zone Wars.

Wednesday: Marketing and promos, production, effective campaign design, proposal building, presenting/pitching and demonstrations, zone breakouts, objection handling, building rapport (guest speaker Vince Coultis), certification scenarios passed out, Zone Wars.

Thursday: Pitching to personality types, closing the sale, after the sale and the sales cycle, relationship management, zone breakouts, certification, Zone Wars.

Friday: Certification certificates distributed, client lists and research distributed, final Zone wars, full staff traditional lunch, selling begins (appointment setting competition).

Certification Process All newly hired account executives are required to finish their training process with certification. This semester, we wanted new members to receive real experience at every part of the process, from the initial meeting to the final close. The business they worked with was 23rd Street Brewery, a local restaurant.

So, they underwent a three-part certification that included: 1) an introductory call where reps interacted with a “gate-keeper� (one of the zone managers) who would direct them to the ever-changing location of our sales manager (the decision maker) and were asked to set up an appointment and get a preferred method of contact, who communicated these details to our sales advisor 2) a needs analysis with our sales advisor where reps were expected to learn about the business and walk away with another meeting and a rough budget, the sales advisor then communicated these details to our business manager 3) a proposal and close, where reps were expected to take the information garnered in the needs analysis, craft a proposal consistent with that information to present to the client (business manager).

The communication between the sales manager, business manager and sales advisor made this a more rigorous process than previously. At every point they had to confirm information to get to the next step, and at every point were subject to a new person who they had to adjust their style of selling to. However, consistency became key, as each person in the process knew the bulk of what was discussed in the previous step. This allowed each of us to find where the reps required more work, and where their strengths rested in order to give appropriate feedback immediately after the pitch. The experience was so realistic that one of the new reps called on the business in question that Friday and solidified a meeting.

Visuals:

The above visual was taken from a presentation on the “Sales Cycle.� It focuses on maintaining the client relationship by appropriately evaluating and adjusting campaigns based on the results garnered. By hammering out this idea, our reps do not make one-time sales (as some people might assume is done), but instead build lasting relationships between their clients and the University Daily Kansan.

Taken from one of the staple presentations of Kansan training, the above slide discusses not only how clients buy into advertising, but also how Kansan readers utilize our products at different points in the sales process. Reps learn how to make these things coincide, in order to pair a client’s personality and needs with a specific purpose that is fulfilled by Kansan products and the audiences those products deliver.

CNBAM BEST TRAINING PROGRAM The Daily Vidette considers training a vital part of the success for the daily newspaper.

Marketing Consultants begin training before they are hired and continue training until they leave the Daily Vidette. Providing the Marketing Consultants with constant feedback and the proper tools to sell effectively has left a lasting impression upon the Illinois State University students that were employed at the Daily Vidette.

When recruiting Marketing Consultants, current employees are trained to look for congruence within and to show realism to the potential employee. Marketing and Professional Sales majors are the main focus for these positions due to not only their enthusiasm and excitement, but also their skills, set in place by the course work they have received. We have had Marketing Consultants with different majors succeed as well. An open house is then held at the Daily Vidette building to show each potential employee what he or she will be doing on a daily basis and what is expected of each Marketing consultant. This gives prospective Marketing Consultants a clear picture of our expectations. They are then interviewed, and if hired, the formal training begins.

Every Marketing Consultant is required to be back on ISU’s campus two weeks before classes begin every semester. Training begins with basic information about the Vidette itself, and our publication. We discuss how advertising fits into the newspaper, calculating different rates, reviewing the life of an advertisement, and how to enter the ad into the software system. Once we go over these skills Marketing Consultants begin sales training. As the rest of the veteran staff returns, everyone redefines their skills with role-plays. The role-plays consist of two Marketing Consultants acting out typical client objections, and ways to over come those objections. By going over how to over come these, the staff can rearm themselves with materials to bring into a meeting, being able have more in depth discussions with their clients, and show the value of our newspaper. Marketing Consultants then begin working with the ad production artists to understand the design of advertisements and the importance of clarity and detail. Going over the rate card is one of the most important parts of training. This will be the Marketing Consultants biggest weapon when talking with clients. The better they know this tool the more effective it will be. The week of training ends with a test that each Marketing Consultant must pass regarding rate card information and examples of ad entry equations. After this test a “Zone Draft� is assembled which is similar to the NFL draft. Each Marketing Consultant will choose their territories based on their current rankings.

In order to continue training throughout the year, Marketing Consultants are required to attend a weekly sales staff meeting and weekly team meetings. At the staff meetings, Marketing Consultants are provided with information on upcoming supplements, sales promotions, award winners, updates on quota and goals, and tasks that could improve the staff as a whole. Former Marketing Consultants have been brought in to emphasize the opportunity they have created for themselves and how to maximize their time spent at the Daily Vidette. Each meeting ends by separating into their teams to review their accounts in depth and to discuss any other information about the upcoming week. The weekly team meetings are to brainstorm possible campaigns and options to help each other find ways to reach their quotas.

Constant incentive programs and motivation is a key factor for the ongoing training.

Different incentive programs that have been implemented are balloon bash, in which there is a task each day during the week. When these tasks are completed you are able to pop a balloon to receive your prize. Other incentives are gaining more than five new accounts to possibly win Chicago Blackhawks tickets out a drawing. Another is visiting ten new clients, bringing back their business cards and putting them in a drawing to potentially winning a $50 visa gift card. Doing ride-alongs with the Marketing Consultants helps the ad sales manager give motivation and guidance to the sales team.

These outings are great for building relationships both internally between coworkers, and externally with clients.

Marketing Consultants are constantly aware of their quota and points due to daily updates. Marketing Consultants complete a point sheet each week to be rewarded for their activity. A separate board is dedicated to the supplements showing deadlines, charts, specials, run sheets, and pictures to stay motivated. Team leaders are in charge of putting the boards together, they will receive compensation for the time spent on the board and being in charge of motivating the staff during the selling of that particular guide. They are in charge of sending out emails and talking during the weekly sales meetings to keep everyone informed about changing information.

At the end of each semester, a one on one is scheduled between each Marketing Consultant and the Advertising Sales Manager in efforts to review the performance of each Marketing Consultant throughout the semester. The reviews purpose was to have the Marketing Consultants evaluate themselves, and then discuss what they believed are important improvements that need to be made during the upcoming semester.

Ride-alongs were an essential cornerstone to the continuous training program this past semester. It gave me a chance to go out into the field with the Marketing Consultants and help them define their skills as a consultant. The ride-alongs offered a chance for me to also evaluate each Marketing Consultant’s performance and give them pointers for improvement. Cold calling can be difficult but utilizing a team technique makes the whole situation much more comfortable for both the client and the salesman. More information can be discussed, giving the client a much more detailed consultation. Being a manager is about working alongside your salespeople, helping and guiding, and ridealongs gave me the opportunity to do just that.

The Daily Vidette is a student run organization, providing students the opportunity to gain professional work experience while working in a college atmosphere. The ongoing training has improved sales, motivation, and created a successful year for the Daily Vidette.

June 2011 SUNDAY

MONDAY

TUESDAY

July 2011

WEDNESDAY

THURSDAY

FRIDAY

1

2

3

1st day of training

2nd day of training

Zone Draft Begin Selling

8

9

SATURDAY

SUNDAY

3 5

6

7

MONDAY

TUESDAY

August 2011

WEDNESDAY

THURSDAY

4

10

4

5

6

7

FRIDAY

SATURDAY

1

2

8

9

11

SUNDAY

7

MONDAY

TUESDAY

1

2

8

9

1st deadline

12

13

14

15

Sales Plans for Survival Guide

19

20

16

17

21

22

23

24

27

11 Weekly Focus: New Clients and Selling Online

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

26

27 Artwork for Survival Guide due.

Final summer Issue

28

14

Weekly Focus: Selling Survival Guide, New Clients.

25

Weekly Focus: Improving First paper. Client Visits.

26

10 18

15

First Paper

24

25

28

29

29

21

22

30

28

October 2011 TUESDAY

WEDNESDAY

23

29 Weekly Focus: Begin selling for rental guide and Homecoming Guide.

Focus on new clients.

31

MONDAY

FRIDAY

SATURDAY

SUNDAY

MONDAY

1

TUESDAY 1

WEDNESDAY 2

13

FRIDAY 4

10

11

12

2nd day of Training

Zone Draft Begin Selling

3 Weekly Focus: New Clients Artwork deadline for Homecoming Guide

4

5

6

7

8

9

10.Weekly Focus: Prospecting, selling online. Homecoming Guide, hand out additional copies

11

12

13

14

15

16

17 Weekly Focus: Selling online and GoBloNo.

18

19

20

21

22

23

24 Weekly Focus: Carving pumpkins and bonding time.

Selling online

25

26

27

28

29

30

31 Weekly Focus: Prospecting new clients. Start selling Back to Spring.

6

7

8

Open House for potential employees from 6-8pm, Sell Back to Spring.

13

20

27

9

10

17

18

19

20

11

25

26

27

18

30

31

25

SATURDAY

SUNDAY

MONDAY

TUESDAY

WEDNESDAY

5

THURSDAY 1

11

4

5

6

7

8

Weekly Focus: Final points, thank you notes to clients

14 Interviews with potential employees Weekly Focus: New clients. Sell Back to Spring.

15

21

22

23

24

25

Thanksgiving break

Thanksgiving break

Thanksgiving break

Thanksgiving break

Thanksgiving break

28

29

30

Weekly Focus: Sell Back to Spring.

12

Deadline for Application for potential employees

16

17

4

FRIDAY 2

18

19

11

SATURDAY 3

10

Artwork Deadline for Back to Spring

12

13

14

15

16

Last Issue of Fall 2011 Semester

Finals Week

Finals Week

Finals Week

Finals Week

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

27

28

29

30

31

Interviews with potential employees

26

9

MONDAY

5

TUESDAY

WEDNESDAY

THURSDAY

FRIDAY

SATURDAY

1

2

3

6

7

8

9

10

12 Weekly Focus: Selling online and GoBloNo Directory.

Sell Rental Guide and Homecoming

13

14

15

16

17

19 Weekly Focus: Sell Homecoming Deadline to reserve space for Rental Guide.

20

21

22

23

24

26 Weekly Focus: Getting everything in for the Guide. Selling Homecoming Guide

27

Labor Day

Deadline to reserve space for Back to Spring 2

SUNDAY

1st day of Training

December 2011

THURSDAY 3

SATURDAY 6

24

November 2011 THURSDAY

FRIDAY 5

Weekly Focus: Prospecting Survival Guide, Hand out extra copies

30

Weekly Focus: New clients, Selling GoBloNo Online.

SUNDAY

September 2011 THURSDAY

4

1st deadline

Weekly Focus: New Clients selling color.

Deadline to reserve space for Survival Guide

Weekly Focus: Thank you and farewells to clients.

16

WEDNESDAY 3

17

Artwork Deadline

28

29

30

Rental Guide, hand out additional copies

Deadline to reserve space for Homecoming Guide

June July August September October November December Total

2010 Sales $10,932.29 $13,742.56 $73,986.10 $168,901.53 $127,250.71 $72,615.64 $39,264.71 $506,693.54

Survival Rental Homecoming Back to Spring Total

2010 Sales $30,379.49 $9,502.54 $4,612.35 $10,085.73 $54,580.11

Daily Publication Numbers 2011 Sales $15,514.06 $17,076.40 $75,578.84 $145,683.91 $154,233.06 $86,806.45 $35,526.39 $530,419.11 Supplement Numbers 2011 Sales $28,780.55 $11,441.03 $7,557.51 $9,163.64 $56,942.73

Daily Publication Sales 2010-2011 $180,000.00 $160,000.00 $140,000.00 $120,000.00 $100,000.00 $80,000.00 $60,000.00 $40,000.00 $20,000.00 $0.00

2010 Sales 2011 Sales

% Increase (10-11 Sales) 41.91% 24.26% 2.15% -13.75% 21.20% 19.54% -9.52% 4.68% % Increase (10-11 Sales) -5.26% 20.40% 63.85% -9.14% 4.33%

Supplement Sales 2010-2011 $35,000.00 $30,000.00 $25,000.00 $20,000.00 $15,000.00 $10,000.00 $5,000.00 $0.00

2010 Sales 2011 Sales

POINTS

Name: __________________________________ For the Week of____/____/____

1. Weekly Project (10 points each) _________________________________________________________________

Total: ________

2. New Accounts (20 points each) _________________________________________________________________

Total: ________

3. Completed Credit Application (20 points each) _________________________________________________________________

Total: ________

4. New Contract Signed (20 points each) _________________________________________________________________

Total: ________

5. Spec Ads Sold (20 points each w/tear sheet & ad request form) _________________________________________________________________

Total: ________

6. Call Sheets (Attach copy: 10 points) _________________________________________________________________

Total: ________

7. Media Packet (2 max at 10 points) _________________________________________________________________

Total: ________

8. Account Letters/Emails (2 max at 10 points each) _________________________________________________________________

Total: ________

9. Above Dollars on Weekly Reports (10 points each) _________________________________________________________________

Total: ________

10.Best News of the Week (25 points each) _________________________________________________________________

11.Proposal (2 max at 10 points each) Sold: Visit:

Total: ________

Media:

____________________________________________________________

Total: ________

12.Visit Logs (5 points each) ________________________________________________________________

Total: ________

13.Early Points (5 points) _________________________________________________________________

Total: ________

14.Ad of the Week (25 points) _________________________________________________________________

Total: ________

15.Pimpin’ Proposal (25 points) _________________________________________________________________

Total: ________

16.Nelson’s Bonus Points _________________________________________________________________

NELS APPROVED:_______ Leader Approved:_______

Total: ________

Total Points:_________