Before joining Media Life as a staff writer, I spent almost five years as a media planner for agencies in Richmond and San Francisco. In that time, I worked with a number of advertisers, from consumer electronics to online retailers, broadcast networks to energy companies, some of which were national print advertisers.
   But even when I wasn’t working on a national print account, I was inundated with phone calls, email, packages and meeting requests from dozens of sales reps.
   Some tried to entice me with gifts. I got a box of fruit that had rotted in transit and a live plant that came complete with its own entomology experiment, judging by the bugs that crawled out of it.
   I admit I'm no veteran of the industry. I am only 26, and I guess I would need to be at least 30 to be that. But I am representative of a fair number of media planners who do business with magazines on a daily business.
   Let me be blunt here. I would estimate that only one in 10 magazine sales reps really knows his or her business. 
   These people know what media planners do and how they arrive at their decisions to include or not include a title in a plan.
   They've researched my client’s business, and they know how to communicate their magazine’s message efficiently and effectively. 
   Oh, and they’re pleasant to work with.
   It seems like a lot to ask, doesn’t it?  Not really. 
   In fact, it’s quite simple. Advertising is communication. If the media properties can’t communicate with us, the media planners, how can they expect our advertisers to communicate with their audience?
  So for the benefit of those magazines and ultimately, for media planners everywhere, I'll offer up some advice on how print sales reps can avoid some of the mistakes of the sort that most annoy media planners.
   This is not an exhaustive list, trust me. It's really a primer. Call it Communications 101: How to Sell and Not Be a Damn Pest.


1. Don’t waste my time to meet your meeting quota

    As we all appreciate, sales reps need to demonstrate to their publisher that they're busy pounding the pavement to bring in business. This may require meeting a quota of meetings per day or week or month.
    Fine, just don't take it out on me. I should not be used as the subject of your what-I- did- today expository to your boss.
   Don't waste my time with a meeting to impress your boss when you have no other reason to see me.
    If you have exciting news (what news is not exciting when it comes to your magazine? ) make sure that it’s not something that couldn’t be communicated in a brief phone call.
   It often is.
   If you are asking for 30 minutes of my time for a face-to-face meeting simply to tell me who your new publisher is, you are wasting my time.
   An in-person meeting is a great opportunity to walk me through the pages of a magazine if it’s new, or if it may be a property I’m unfamiliar with, say, Turkey Caller magazine. 
   But I do not need to be walked through an established title more than about once a year, and certainly not every six weeks. And the walk should be a brisk stroll, not a meandering journey.
   The same applies to phone meetings. 
   I am just as busy as you are and appreciate you keeping the history of your magazine and all of its greatness to a minimum.
   I’m primarily interested in your magazine’s relevance to my client. I am not interested in how many wardrobe changes were required for the cover model’s photo shoot.
   Certainly, I appreciate that relationship-building is part of the business, and this is especially important for new magazines.
    I understand that more discussion is required to understand a new magazine. I also can appreciate that the advertising industry is a small one, and as such it pays to be friendly.
   So I will entertain a lunch meeting if for nothing else than to simply catch up and dish on the latest episode of “Friends.” But that lunch meeting doesn't take the place of all the other things that must go into an effective sell. Trust me, we can have a great lunch, and the business can just as easily go somewhere else.

  I naively assumed for several years that sales was a two- part process:  understanding what you’re selling and knowing who you’re selling to.
   I've since come to believe that the second half of that equation is a dying art, perhaps following in the path of the 8-track and the nuclear family.
   I’m not suggesting that you memorize my client’s entire product offering or even that you understand their business strategy. That is information that I know and should communicate to you (which implies I should not have to repeat this in every subsequent dialogue with you).
   I simply request that if you’re calling on me because I represent a camera maker, that you know the client's name and not refer to that client by the name of its chief competitor. This sort of information doesn't take up a lot of research time.
   In fact, you might want to spend an hour of research to learn some basic facts about my client and its business.
   It’s refreshing to speak with a rep who knows where my client has advertised before and therefore understands that an all-TV client is not likely to just start running in a magazine, no matter what new type font you may be using.
   But also don't pretend to know more than you do. If you were an expert in the field, you wouldn’t be working for a magazine. I will be more impressed if you display a real depth of knowledge about your media property.


3. Don’t clog my mailbox with unnecessary mail

   Everybody loves getting mail, but nobody likes junk mail. Here are a few honest and simple rules about mail and email.

>Spell my name correctly.
>If  your are too lazy to put my name on it, don't send it because I won't read it.
>Don't send serial mailings. They get old quick, like after the second one.
>Don’t email me and then call to ask if I got the email. Ditto for sending things overnight. ("No, I didn't get it, and thanks for calling. There was a convocation of whirling dervishes in the Midwest--I forget the state offhand--that kidnapped the damn thing, and it is now nowhere to be found, strange as that might sound.")
>Contests are a good way to get my attention but don't assume they do anything toward helping me understand your media property. Keep in mind too that they should require no more  than about 30 seconds of my time.
>Don’t waste your direct mail budget on useless tchotchkes.  I can usually use a tote bag or a notebook (or a gift certificate to my favorite spa). I can’t use a size XXL T-shirt or a calendar in June. I have less use for a gift of meat that has turned bad (it's happened).

4. Tell me what you tell the client

    If you are the same rep who calls on the client and you go to them with information or a proposal, nine times out of 10, they’re just going to refer you back to us anyway.
    It’s very rare that a client will buy off on an opportunity without consulting the agency. Given the odds, it’s much better for all relationships if you don’t go behind our backs with information. We’re going to find out anyway, so it’s best if it comes from you first.
   Plus, if you tell us in advance what your plan is, we may be able to help you position it to the client or let you know if the idea is way off base before you waste your time.
   Sometimes the rep who calls on the agency is not the rep who calls on the client. However, the excuse that you didn’t know what your counterpart was doing is absurd. If the client bought off on something and you didn't know about it, you should be looking for another job. You are out of the loop--and out of our loop.

5. Respect my authority

  Respect is the most important element of our business. Do not treat me any differently if I’m an assistant media planner or the media director. 
   If I’ve been assigned to a client, it is my responsibility to handle that account. If I tell you that you did not get the business, do not second-guess my ability as a media planner by asking to speak with my supervisor as though I’m some petulant child.
   On that note, do not insult my intelligence. If I tell you that your magazine did not make the plan because our target is men and your magazine is a women’s beauty book, do not tell me that you have great male readership.
   Sometimes my team cannot all meet with you at one sitting. Rest assured, if you have important information to share with me, I will communicate it to the rest of my team. You do not need to set up separate meetings with each of them.
   Also, do not presume for a moment that I don’t speak to my client. Telling me that the client loved an idea will immediately raise suspicions that this great idea probably is not very great at all, likely a hash-over of something we shot down a few months ago.
   Remember, a great idea will stand on its own merit. If a client truly loved something, we would already know about it.
   Finally, do not try to appease me by telling me that you used to work in media planning and then demonstrate what little you know about our process. I am interested in how well you can explain your magazine. I do not need to know that you were not good at your last job.
   And most finally, do not tell me--what words are there in this or any other language to emphasize how serious I am about this?--do not tell me that your magazine is No. 1 in anything. Never, ever, ever, please.
   Every magazine is No.1 in something. We all know this.
   This business of planning is not an athletic contest. It's not about teams, and who's the best, and who's got the best hitters or linemen. 
  That's all wacky macho jock stuff from the era when so many publishers were ex-football players and selling was so much empty bragging over three-martini lunches.
   It's a different marketplace now. There a lot of women in it, more and more at the top. Trust me on this: Few of them played football (college or pro).
   It's also a brighter marketplace.
   Take an Exacto knife, grab a black magic marker--a pencil will do. Slash, black out, erase, scratch, get rid of all No.1's in your sales material.
  Remember, there is only one No. 1. It is the client.