February 15, 2024 • 12 mins
In this Quick Take episode, we’re kicking off our season-long exploration of The Center for Sales Strategy’s 5th Annual Media Sales Report by highlighting some of this year’s most eye-catching findings.
In other words, by the end of this short episode, you’ll have a good idea of how salespeople and sales managers are currently feeling about their own organizations as well as the entire media sales industry.
Links:
The 5th Annual Media Sales Report
Matt Sunshine
The Center for Sales Strategy
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Matt Sunshine (00:15):
Welcome to Improving Sales Performance, a
podcast highlighting tips andinsights aimed at helping sales
organizations realize, and maybeeven exceed, their goals.
Here we chat with thoughtleaders, experts and gurus who
have years of sales experiencefrom a wide range of industries.
I'm your host, Matt Sunshine,CEO at The Center for Sales
Strategy, a sales performanceconsulting company.
(00:37):
In this Quick Take episode,we're kicking off our
season-long exploration of theCenter for Sales Strategy's
fifth annual media sales reportby highlighting some of this
year's most eye-catchingfindings.
In other words, by the end ofthis short episode, you'll have
(01:00):
a good idea of how sales peopleand sales managers are currently
feeling about their ownorganizations, as well as the
entire media industry.
With that, let's dive in.
So I'm excited for this sort offramework of a podcast to just
(01:26):
kind of show my thoughts on whatI saw in the media sales report
this year.
This is the fifth year doingthe media sales report and,
having had the opportunity toreally study all the years, I
have some perspective and I havesome maybe some additional
insight that I can share.
(01:46):
So what I did is I pulled outsome things I wanted to
reference.
So the first thing that I wantto share with everybody is
achieving organizational goals.
Achieving organizational goalsis 81% harder than last year,
according to the sales managers.
(02:07):
So media sales managersanswered the question 81% said
achieving organizational goalsis harder than last year.
I think that says somethingright.
I mean, I think that we allkind of know that, but when four
out of five sales managers say,oh yeah, it is harder, what it
(02:27):
says is not very many people arelooking at 2024 and saying you
know what?
This is going to be an easyyear for us.
We have tailwinds behind us,and this is going to be easy
Doesn't mean that the goals arenot achievable.
It just means that our work iscut out for us, and I think
that's good.
I think a good, healthy dose ofunderstanding what's ahead and
(02:53):
what you're going to have to doto be successful is super
important.
So knowing that, knowing thatthe year ahead is going to be
going to be more achievingorganization, is going to be
harder than last year.
Let's dig in a little bitdeeper.
90% of salespeople and 74% ofsales managers want some sort of
(03:17):
a hybrid work schedule.
This is going to become abigger and bigger topic.
I know that the CSS consultantsare talking to their clients
regularly, weekly about this.
There is a little bit of achasm right.
Corporates, the C-suite, theexecutives want people in the
(03:43):
office daily, every day, or fourout of five days a week.
A lot, a lot.
And salespeople and really Imean 90% of salespeople and 74%
of sales managers so three outof four sales managers and nine
out of 10 salespeople want somesort of a hybrid work
(04:03):
environment.
Notice that.
Nobody our data would supportthat.
Really nobody wants to be inthe office full time every
single day and, on the flip side, nobody wants to be 100% remote
at all.
Nobody is saying they want tobe 100% remote, nobody at least
of the salespeople and salesmanagers in the media sales
(04:25):
report.
Nobody is saying they want towork 100% from home or 100% of
the office, but some sort ofhybrid.
And what I've seen the mostsuccessful organizations do is
to be very transparent and saywell, here at this company,
these are our ground rules, thisis how we do it, we do two days
(04:46):
a week, we do three days a week, we do four days week.
They don't leave it looseygoosey.
They actually say this is howwe do it and we're sticking to
it, and I think that sort ofguidance from leadership is
really important goes a long,long way.
Let me hit another.
Another stat kind of jumped outto me and I've been talking
(05:10):
about this one for years andyears and years, and those of
you watching or listening tothis that know me will know that
I've been saying this.
Seventy five percent of salesmanagers say that less than
forty percent of their team,less than forty percent of their
sales people, are superstars.
In my opinion, all your peopleshould be superstars.
(05:33):
You should have a hundredpercent of your people should be
superstars.
The fact that that Six out often or not, the fact that less
than four out of ten aresuperstars, I think is the
problem.
I mean, let's face it, a talentbeats out C talent.
(05:54):
Every day, you want the mosttalented, most skilled, best
sales people.
You want superstars.
And, and when you have aconversation and you look at
your team and you think you knowwhat, I got a bunch of players,
b players, c players.
The question has to be why areyou tolerating that A's don't
(06:16):
want to be surrounded by B's andC's?
A's want to be surrounded byA's?
Now, don't confuse Someone who'sin a slump with not being a
superstar.
Sometimes your superstars gothrough slumps and that's okay.
It's your job as a leader tocoach and develop them, so to
pull them out of the slump.
(06:37):
And also, new people Are futuresuperstars, their future
superstars.
So don't confuse and go.
Well, this person's not asuperstar because they've only
been here a month, or less thantwo or three months.
Well, they are superstars, for.
Are they the very best personthat you've ever seen?
With just two months experience, the answers yes, and they are
(06:58):
a superstar At what they're, atthe level that they're at.
So it's discouraging in onesense that most seventy five
percent of sales managers aresaying that forty percent Less
than forty percent of their teamare superstars.
But it's also a hugeopportunity.
It's a huge opportunity to sayyou know what, in two thousand
(07:19):
twenty four, my goal is to haveall superstars, or I want at
least seventy five percent of myteam to be what I would
consider a superstar, if that's,if you were there, you're gonna
, you're gonna, you're gonnablow your budgets away and
you're gonna crush it.
All right, just a few more.
And for me to hit on today,virtually all say I love this
(07:44):
one.
This one just makes you feelgood.
I think everyone listening,everyone watching, should,
should, like this statistic.
Virtually all sales peopleninety three percent, nine out,
better than nine out of ten feelsupported by their manager.
That's awesome.
I love that, love that.
Love that, love that because,as a sales leader, it is our job
(08:06):
to to grow and develop and tosupport the people that we work
with.
So great job, sales leaders.
Ninety three percent feelsupported by their manager.
Next, next one that I wanted totouch on is the vast majority of
sales managers and sales people.
So ninety percent, nine out often sales managers and eighty
seven percent, almost nine outof ten sales people agree that
(08:31):
getting appointments withprospects is harder today than
it was five years ago.
And boy it was never easy.
Five years ago it was not easy,but today it is harder, and
that's a trend that we have seenyear after year after year,
getting harder and harder andharder.
(08:52):
It is truly, I believe, one ofthe hardest things that
salespeople have to do.
To that end, having salesenablement tools, having lead
generation resources, havingmarketing to assist sales, is
something that I think iscritical.
Full disclosure we have aninbound marketing agency, leadg2
(09:13):
, that helps companies, helpsmedia companies, to drive
revenue through lead generationand sales enablement.
I think that every mediacompany ought to be investing
time and money and resourcesinto having a world-class lead
generation and sales enablementa resource for their teams.
(09:35):
And the data would support itwhen 90% of sales managers and
87% of salespeople say gettingappointments is harder and
harder and harder.
And then, last one, less thanhalf of salespeople 44% are
given feedback around theirsales talents on a regular basis
(09:56):
, and that's an opportunity.
I think One thing that we knowis people love to hear feedback
on what they're good at, and allsalespeople are good at
something, but not allsalespeople are good at the same
thing, so generic feedback iswasted, is lost.
Specific feedback on talentsthat people actually have goes a
(10:20):
long, long way, and so, to theextent that your salespeople are
feeling supported by theirmanager, that's awesome.
I would say there's anopportunity there for sales
leaders to lean in a little bitmore and really provide feedback
on sales talent.
You know, if you're workingwith a company like the Center
(10:40):
for Sales Strategy, you know wehave talent analysts that will
get on a call with yoursalespeople or capable to get on
a call with a sales leader orsalesperson and provide that
information, so feedback can begiven.
If you're not working with theCenter for Sales Strategy.
Hopefully you're using somesort of talent assessment or
talent instrument that allowsyou the opportunity to provide
(11:02):
feedback to the people that youare responsible for growing and
developing, because I will tellyou, that goes a long, long way.
So those are some of myhighlights.
There's some of the things Ipulled out of the media sales
report.
I would love it if you tooksome time and reviewed the media
sales report and maybe sharewith me some of your key
observations.
(11:22):
I'd love to hear what, whatyou're thinking and some of your
analysis, and I'll leave.
I'll leave it there.
Thanks, everyone.
This has been improving salesperformance.
Thanks for listening.
If you like what you heard,join us every week by clicking
the subscribe button For more onthe topics covered in the show.
(11:44):
Visit our website, the Centerfor Sales Strategycom.
There you can find helpfulresources and content aimed at
improving your sales performance.
Welcome to Improving Sales Performance, a
podcast highlighting tips andinsights aimed at helping sales
organizations realize, and maybeeven exceed, their goals.
Here we chat with thoughtleaders, experts and gurus who
have years of sales experiencefrom a wide range of industries.
I'm your host, Matt Sunshine,CEO at The Center for Sales
Strategy, a sales performanceconsulting company.
(00:37):
In this Quick Take episode,we're kicking off our
season-long exploration of theCenter for Sales Strategy's
fifth annual media sales reportby highlighting some of this
year's most eye-catchingfindings.
In other words, by the end ofthis short episode, you'll have
(01:00):
a good idea of how sales peopleand sales managers are currently
feeling about their ownorganizations, as well as the
entire media industry.
With that, let's dive in.
So I'm excited for this sort offramework of a podcast to just
(01:26):
kind of show my thoughts on whatI saw in the media sales report
this year.
This is the fifth year doingthe media sales report and,
having had the opportunity toreally study all the years, I
have some perspective and I havesome maybe some additional
insight that I can share.
(01:46):
So what I did is I pulled outsome things I wanted to
reference.
So the first thing that I wantto share with everybody is
achieving organizational goals.
Achieving organizational goalsis 81% harder than last year,
according to the sales managers.
(02:07):
So media sales managersanswered the question 81% said
achieving organizational goalsis harder than last year.
I think that says somethingright.
I mean, I think that we allkind of know that, but when four
out of five sales managers say,oh yeah, it is harder, what it
(02:27):
says is not very many people arelooking at 2024 and saying you
know what?
This is going to be an easyyear for us.
We have tailwinds behind us,and this is going to be easy
Doesn't mean that the goals arenot achievable.
It just means that our work iscut out for us, and I think
that's good.
I think a good, healthy dose ofunderstanding what's ahead and
(02:53):
what you're going to have to doto be successful is super
important.
So knowing that, knowing thatthe year ahead is going to be
going to be more achievingorganization, is going to be
harder than last year.
Let's dig in a little bitdeeper.
90% of salespeople and 74% ofsales managers want some sort of
(03:17):
a hybrid work schedule.
This is going to become abigger and bigger topic.
I know that the CSS consultantsare talking to their clients
regularly, weekly about this.
There is a little bit of achasm right.
Corporates, the C-suite, theexecutives want people in the
(03:43):
office daily, every day, or fourout of five days a week.
A lot, a lot.
And salespeople and really Imean 90% of salespeople and 74%
of sales managers so three outof four sales managers and nine
out of 10 salespeople want somesort of a hybrid work
(04:03):
environment.
Notice that.
Nobody our data would supportthat.
Really nobody wants to be inthe office full time every
single day and, on the flip side, nobody wants to be 100% remote
at all.
Nobody is saying they want tobe 100% remote, nobody at least
of the salespeople and salesmanagers in the media sales
(04:25):
report.
Nobody is saying they want towork 100% from home or 100% of
the office, but some sort ofhybrid.
And what I've seen the mostsuccessful organizations do is
to be very transparent and saywell, here at this company,
these are our ground rules, thisis how we do it, we do two days
(04:46):
a week, we do three days a week, we do four days week.
They don't leave it looseygoosey.
They actually say this is howwe do it and we're sticking to
it, and I think that sort ofguidance from leadership is
really important goes a long,long way.
Let me hit another.
Another stat kind of jumped outto me and I've been talking
(05:10):
about this one for years andyears and years, and those of
you watching or listening tothis that know me will know that
I've been saying this.
Seventy five percent of salesmanagers say that less than
forty percent of their team,less than forty percent of their
sales people, are superstars.
In my opinion, all your peopleshould be superstars.
(05:33):
You should have a hundredpercent of your people should be
superstars.
The fact that that Six out often or not, the fact that less
than four out of ten aresuperstars, I think is the
problem.
I mean, let's face it, a talentbeats out C talent.
(05:54):
Every day, you want the mosttalented, most skilled, best
sales people.
You want superstars.
And, and when you have aconversation and you look at
your team and you think you knowwhat, I got a bunch of players,
b players, c players.
The question has to be why areyou tolerating that A's don't
(06:16):
want to be surrounded by B's andC's?
A's want to be surrounded byA's?
Now, don't confuse Someone who'sin a slump with not being a
superstar.
Sometimes your superstars gothrough slumps and that's okay.
It's your job as a leader tocoach and develop them, so to
pull them out of the slump.
(06:37):
And also, new people Are futuresuperstars, their future
superstars.
So don't confuse and go.
Well, this person's not asuperstar because they've only
been here a month, or less thantwo or three months.
Well, they are superstars, for.
Are they the very best personthat you've ever seen?
With just two months experience, the answers yes, and they are
(06:58):
a superstar At what they're, atthe level that they're at.
So it's discouraging in onesense that most seventy five
percent of sales managers aresaying that forty percent Less
than forty percent of their teamare superstars.
But it's also a hugeopportunity.
It's a huge opportunity to sayyou know what, in two thousand
(07:19):
twenty four, my goal is to haveall superstars, or I want at
least seventy five percent of myteam to be what I would
consider a superstar, if that's,if you were there, you're gonna
, you're gonna, you're gonnablow your budgets away and
you're gonna crush it.
All right, just a few more.
And for me to hit on today,virtually all say I love this
(07:44):
one.
This one just makes you feelgood.
I think everyone listening,everyone watching, should,
should, like this statistic.
Virtually all sales peopleninety three percent, nine out,
better than nine out of ten feelsupported by their manager.
That's awesome.
I love that, love that.
Love that, love that because,as a sales leader, it is our job
(08:06):
to to grow and develop and tosupport the people that we work
with.
So great job, sales leaders.
Ninety three percent feelsupported by their manager.
Next, next one that I wanted totouch on is the vast majority of
sales managers and sales people.
So ninety percent, nine out often sales managers and eighty
seven percent, almost nine outof ten sales people agree that
(08:31):
getting appointments withprospects is harder today than
it was five years ago.
And boy it was never easy.
Five years ago it was not easy,but today it is harder, and
that's a trend that we have seenyear after year after year,
getting harder and harder andharder.
(08:52):
It is truly, I believe, one ofthe hardest things that
salespeople have to do.
To that end, having salesenablement tools, having lead
generation resources, havingmarketing to assist sales, is
something that I think iscritical.
Full disclosure we have aninbound marketing agency, leadg2
(09:13):
, that helps companies, helpsmedia companies, to drive
revenue through lead generationand sales enablement.
I think that every mediacompany ought to be investing
time and money and resourcesinto having a world-class lead
generation and sales enablementa resource for their teams.
(09:35):
And the data would support itwhen 90% of sales managers and
87% of salespeople say gettingappointments is harder and
harder and harder.
And then, last one, less thanhalf of salespeople 44% are
given feedback around theirsales talents on a regular basis
(09:56):
, and that's an opportunity.
I think One thing that we knowis people love to hear feedback
on what they're good at, and allsalespeople are good at
something, but not allsalespeople are good at the same
thing, so generic feedback iswasted, is lost.
Specific feedback on talentsthat people actually have goes a
(10:20):
long, long way, and so, to theextent that your salespeople are
feeling supported by theirmanager, that's awesome.
I would say there's anopportunity there for sales
leaders to lean in a little bitmore and really provide feedback
on sales talent.
You know, if you're workingwith a company like the Center
(10:40):
for Sales Strategy, you know wehave talent analysts that will
get on a call with yoursalespeople or capable to get on
a call with a sales leader orsalesperson and provide that
information, so feedback can begiven.
If you're not working with theCenter for Sales Strategy.
Hopefully you're using somesort of talent assessment or
talent instrument that allowsyou the opportunity to provide
(11:02):
feedback to the people that youare responsible for growing and
developing, because I will tellyou, that goes a long, long way.
So those are some of myhighlights.
There's some of the things Ipulled out of the media sales
report.
I would love it if you tooksome time and reviewed the media
sales report and maybe sharewith me some of your key
observations.
(11:22):
I'd love to hear what, whatyou're thinking and some of your
analysis, and I'll leave.
I'll leave it there.
Thanks, everyone.
This has been improving salesperformance.
Thanks for listening.
If you like what you heard,join us every week by clicking
the subscribe button For more onthe topics covered in the show.
(11:44):
Visit our website, the Centerfor Sales Strategycom.
There you can find helpfulresources and content aimed at
improving your sales performance.
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