Advertising Dream Teams
by Carol Memmott
Newspapers restructuring their pre-press departments are finding that old-fashioned teamwork is putting a new spin on modern-day ad sales. The idea is simple: Allow creative ad teams to work up close and personal with sales reps. The result: Satisfied customers and the potential for higher revenue.
Last year, the Cincinnati Enquirer set up a publishing team in one of its branch offices consisting of a sales manager, sales executives, a customer-satisfaction representative and a desktop publisher. The customer rep deals with insertion orders, credit approval and collections. The desktop publisher, who formerly worked in the printing facility two miles away, now has daily contact with sales reps and customers.
The team effort was so successful, it is now used in five of the Enquirer's branch offices, including one located at Kings Auto Mall that focuses solely on automotive ads.
"The auto advertisers absolutely love it," says Debbie Maggard, the Enquirer's advertising-operations manager. "They can sit there and change the colors if they don't like them, and they can rearrange things so they get everything to their specifications, and they're happy with it. We were having all kinds of problems with these accounts before we started doing this."
The auto dealers are pleased they can spend more time with the salespeople and the desktop publisher, says Maggard, and the bottom line showed a big payoff. "We went an entire year with absolutely no credits whatsoever."
In Fort Lauderdale, Fla., the Sun-Sentinel boasts similar success. Their move from a centralized production center to six cross-functional teams made up of artists, sales reps, ad builders and associate ad builders had stunning results in its first year: A savings of $700,000 that Production Manager Michael Sacks says resulted from higher productivity, fewer proof corrections and a 50 percent reduction in advertising adjustments.
Yes, customers are happy, says Sacks, but there's a big payoff for employees as well. "They are their own bosses, they're in charge of their own little businesses, their own little ad agencies, and when they do a good job they hear it not only from their boss but from the customers as well. There's a tremendous sense of ownership and fulfillment."
The Sun-Sentinel has experienced a slight increase in ad sales, and a survey shows that accounts have noticed a dramatic improvement in customer service.
There are no branch offices at the Quad-City Times in Davenport, Iowa, but the creative ad-team plan works there as well. Ad teams are assigned to each of the paper's sales units--two retail teams, a classified team, a special-projects team and one for the paper's three weekly publications.
"It's really been a help here," says Pre-press Manager Patricia Lee. "It pays off over and over in quality and customer satisfaction and creativity, because you don't have the rework. Team members know what to do, and it's done right the first time." Every month the ad team sends a customer-satisfaction survey to the sales team, and so far work has been has been rated excellent for timely proofs, accurate ads, properly scanned graphics and personal treatment. "When there's a better relationship between creative and sales," says Lee, "you automatically get a happier customer."
Quad-City's active accounts are up, and Lee credits inviting customers in to see how ads are put together. What happens to their ads after they buy them is no longer a mystery. "We've done it with grocers, Realtors and a local ad agency. We've built some really good relationships that way."
How do you make a good thing better? "There'll be more team building between ads and sales," says Lee. "We've gotten the mechanics down now. We want to expand and grow everybody into bigger responsibilities and open up the horizons a little bit."
Carol Memmott is a free-lance writer living in Chantilly, Va. Phone, (703) 802-6558; fax, (703) 631-4281.