There's no doubt these are rough times for the media industry, and especially for media sellers, and fresh evidence of that comes in the form of responses to a recent Media Life poll of media buyers.

Buyers were asked to evaluate the ad sales people who call on them.

In many ways the responses were similar to past Media Life polls on this same topic. For their various complaints about ad sales people, media buyers still voice a lot of respect for the good ones and for the tough job they must do.

But interestingly what has changed, readers tell Media Life, is the mood among ad sales people these days.

It's grim.

Sales people are under increasing pressure to do deals at the same time there are so many fewer deals being done. They're seeing their commissions shrink. They're feeling concerns about holding onto their jobs.

Here are some of the comments posted in response to the question: With the ad economy having slowed down, have you noticed any changes in the buy-sell relationship? Are reps more aggressive? More accommodating? Feel free to offer your observations about the changing climate of the media marketplace.

Wrote one respondent: "Reps are obnoxiously more aggressive. They get VERY angry if they do not make a plan and their concern for our clients' best interests has gone out the window. They're resorting to force-selling and it's not working."

And another: "More aggressive and very desperate. I have had to call a few out on their desperation. I'm sure you will still be able to feed your children. Come on!"

There's a big drop in morale, observes another. "The biggest change I've noticed of late is the low morale on the sell side. It's usually not great but it's the lowest I can recall in the past 20+ years. I sense a lot of them just going through the motions at this point."

Here are some of the other comments: "The bad ones are more aggressive, the good ones are more accommodating and are willing to look for opportunities to fill my clients needs (not to make a sale for the sake of making the sale)."

"I feel like they are more aggressive and coming out of the woodwork for ideas that make no sense for the brand."

"My radio reps especially are all whining due to lower commissions/less revenue coming in. Don't make me feel guilty because my client has slashed their budget in half, and I can't maintain your revenue stream."

"I work in the Interactive space, and reps just seem to become more and more clueless. They are much less accommodating. They almost always send sloppy proposals, ignore half of the questions/direction in the RFP, and, in many cases, can't even really tell you what you are buying."

But sales reps responded as well to the question, and they offered their own grim view.

Here's one lengthy response: "I'm a sales rep, and I'll be anticipating reading the responses to your survey. From my side of the desk, I work very hard to try and meet my clients’ expectations and do what's best for their advertisers, while at the same time juggling the expectations of my sales managers and the goals they have set for me.

"My biggest complaint is the lack of communication from media buyers. I feel that I'm often expected to be a mind reader. Often times I'm lucky to get more than just the flight weeks and dayparts. How can I put together an effective proposal with so little information? How can I effectively determine which of my products would best fit your clients needs? I'm also frustrated with buyers who think that they are entitled to treat their reps poorly just because they think they're holding the purse strings."

Here's another: "Reps are very jaded about the lack of honesty they feel they are getting from media buyers. They feel it is just one lie and manipulation after another. It is much better to be candid and honest about what your goals are and you will get the same and more help back from your media representative."