Chadi Irani

The art of selling knows no borders. Chadi Irani, 31, who emigrated from Lebanon to the United States in late 2000, knows from experience. The basics—hitting the street, learning advertisers’ needs—are the same everywhere, says Irani, who worked in ad sales for several publications in Lebanon before joining The Ithaca (N.Y.) Journal in 2001.

Irani advanced from retail account executive to major account executive to retail advertising manager in slightly more than four years. In 2005, he moved to The Palm Beach Post in West Palm Beach, Fla., and last January, was named retail advertising director, managing about 45 employees, after stints as a national travel account executive and regional sales manager. In October, he became a U.S. citizen.

Post executives have been impressed with his maturity, creativity and ability to motivate sales reps, says John Kelly, vice president of advertising. “He’ll take any challenge on, and it doesn’t linger,” Kelly says. “He takes care of it.”

In 2007, Irani developed a way to boost frequency for smaller advertisers who typically ran small ads one day a week. Irani’s solution, the “six-pack” program, encourages these businesses to run ads at least six days in a 14-day period. The initiative generates between $200,000 and $300,000 in sales a month, Kelly says.

Adept at bundling multiple Post products for advertisers, Irani encourages his staff to do the same. Building on sales reps’ natural competitiveness, Irani developed an in-house, Olympics-themed contest this past summer in which reps competed to meet various sales goals.

Still carrying shrapnel in his body from an explosion during his youth in Lebanon, Irani says he never forgets past opportunities and the need to take risks. As newspapers craft ways to serve customers, that philosophy resonates. “We’ve not even scratched the surface yet,” he says.

Connections: The Palm Beach Post, 2751 S. Dixie Highway, West Palm Beach, Fla. 33405, (561) 820-4373, cirani@pbpost.com

By John Heys