2010-4b

Our training process begins well in advance of the Student Account Executive’s official beginning day in their sales territory. For the benefit of our customers, and our bottom line, we want to experience as little “downtime” as possible in a sales territory.

We keep a running log of the current staff’s graduation dates, and prepare a hiring plan according to the number of openings we will have available in the next two semesters. If we only have one opening, we will hire closer to an actual start date, as we have more one-to-one time with that student. When we have more than one opening, (which is usually every semester), we will fill the positions 8-10 weeks out.

In a typical Fall Semester, we will begin with help wanted ads in September, interviews in October and hire at the beginning of November. The new hires will be trained for the months of November and December and will start in their territories the first week of January with the start of Spring Semester.

In the spring semester, we start the process all over again with employment ads beginning in January, interviews in February and hires made before students leave for Spring break (1st week of March). When the students return from Spring break, they start the training process through March, April and early May.

Our first step after hiring, is to set up training dates with each incoming sales person. Each new sales trainee is assigned to one of our 3 Advertising Managers and a Senior Account Executive. The training process is overseen by the advertising manager, and the senior account executive is who they shadow during the process.

The training will begin with review of the CM LIFE Advertising Department Handbook. Each section is carefully studied, and practiced, so the new employee will be as familiar with the operation, policies, procedures and paperwork as possible. This is an ongoing process for the rest of the training period.

The second step is a complete tour of the facility, with introductions to staff members and their roles in the organization. When possible, we also tour the printer’s facility so the Student can grasp the entire process involved in getting a daily newspaper produced.

436 Moore Hall, Central Michigan University, Mount Pleasant, MI 48859PHONE: (989) 774-3493 FAX: (989) 774-7804 EMAIL: [email protected]

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Training Program (Pg 1 of 5)


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Training Program (Pg 2 of 5)

In addition, the new “trainees” are required to attend our weekly sales meeting, to get acquainted with staff rapport, student and professional staff managers,.

While job shadowing, the “senior” sales member has the “trainee” handle all procedures related to processing ads and customer service issues. The “trainees” will thumbnail the ads, handle the scheduling of the ads, proof the ads with the customers, and clear the ads for press. They will learn about deadlines, special sections, handling objections, bad credit and collection.

During this shadowing process, new account executives are given their official Central Michigan Life notebooks. These notebooks contain everything a rep should need when talking with their customers. (Rate cards, publication schedules, distribution lists, special section calendars, special section flyers, weekly and monthly specials, cheat sheets for pricing, competitive media information, etc.) The new rep learns through the senior rep how to best use this notebook when working daily with customers.

When the new representative feels they are ready, they can choose to start making calls on their own. This is usually reviewed upon with the rep, the senior rep and the sales manager. We will have them start with cold calls or new customers. This gives them an opportunity to practice their skills, while waiting for their account lists to become ready. During this time, we will also introduce the NAA Planbook and the Fair Housing Guide to the new account executives. A brief review is done, but it is up to the new rep to review them on their own and utilize them as necessary.

About one to two weeks before semester end, the new account executive will begin the process of meeting their new accounts. This is done by face to face introductions from the departing representative. This gives the customer an important adjustment opportunity and can review things directly with the old rep and the new one.

The new account reps are then given their team and individual goals for the first month of the new semester. All new account executives are on a probationary period their first semester. Their progress is charted by call sheets, spec ad production, achievement toward goals, teamwork, commitment to the job, peer attitudes and reviews with selected customers. It is a constant monitoring process.

The student advertising managers handle every aspect of the training process. This provides continuity to the program, and great leadership experience for the student managers. The adviser oversees the process, and handles questions and offers suggestions. There is constant feedback between the new hires, the senior staff, the professional staff, the student managers and the adviser.

Alumni and professional feedback is provided ongoing through the semester and summer. We have informal sessions with visiting Alumni, and most of our sales staff intern with CM LIFE/CMU alumni at public relations firms, advertising agencies, newspapers and other media/pr positions throughout Michigan during the summer months. The lessons learned through our training program are not only reinforced, but supported by professionals in the state of Michigan.


AnnualTraining Schedule (Pg 3 of 5)

AUGUSTWeek 3-4 - Determine number of positions to fill for next semester. Design house help wanted ads.

SEPTEMBER.Week 1-4 - Ads run in newspaper for Account Executives.Week 3-4 - Classroom presentations in Journalism, Advertising, Marketing Courses for positions at Central Michigan Life

OCTOBER.Week 1-2 - Interviews are conducted with all applicants.Week 3-4 - Second interviews are conducted with top applicants. Hires made.

NOVEMBER.Week 1. - Introduction to Central Michigan Life. Week 2 -4 - New Hires are assigned a Senior Account Executive to shadow. Week 3 - New Hires are giventheir own Central Michigan Life sales notebook, NAA Planbook and other marketing aids. Sales representative starts attending weekly sales meetings and are assigned to a “team” and manager. Week 4 - New representative given “test” account list.

DECEMBER.Week 1. - New account lists assigned. January team and individual goals given. Probationary period begins.

END OF SEMESTER.

JANUARYWeek 1 - Determine number of positions to fill for next semester. Design house help wanted ads.Week 2-4 - Ads run in newspaper for Account Executives.Week 3-4 - Classroom presentations in Journalism, Advertising, Marketing Courses for positions at Central Michigan Life

FEBRUARY.Week 1-2 - Interviews are conducted with all applicants.Week 3-4 - Second interviews are conducted with top applicants. Hires made.

SPRING BREAK.

MARCH.Week 3 -. - Introduction to Central Michigan Life. Week 4 - New Hires are assigned a Senior Account Executive to shadow.

APRIL.Week 1 - New Hires continue to shadow Senior Account Executive. Week 1 - New Hires are giventheir own Central Michigan Life sales notebook, NAA Planbook and other marketing aids. Sales representative starts attending weekly sales meetings and are assigned to a “team” and manager. Week 2 - New representative given “test” account list.Week 3 - New account lists assigned. August/September team and individual goals given. Probationary period begins.

END OF SEMESTER.Summer Internships Begin.

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Measuring Results & Meeting Expectations (Pg 4 of 5)

As mentioned previously, the student advertising mangers and adviser constantly monitor, to assist the advertising representatives in areas where they may be struggling or where training might have been missed. We strive to make sure we have provided the best possible training, guidance and fairness in helping the new hires learn their duties and meet their job requirements.

After the training process, and as they begin work in their territories, the new hires are given the following guidelines to help them focus on the priorities and know where the bar is set in the department. Each account executive signs an agreement to strive towards the professionalism expected in the job.

CENTRAL MICHIGAN LIFE STAFF GUIDELINES:

The following actions will result in a write-up and a 30 day probation period. If improvements are not made within the 30 day probation period, further actions will be taken, up to and including termination of employment.

1) Missing manifest (deadline) without prior notice.2) Excessive absence and tardiness (3 strikes) for any individual, sales or team meeting.3) Ads not turned into the “ready for press” box before leaving for the day.4) Ads turned in or killed after deadline without prior approval.5) Three or more excessive absences and/or tardiness.6) Not offering substantial effort towards monthly or team goals and job description requirements.7) Not following the proper dress code after 3 warnings.

WARNING CARDS:

Warning cards are issued noting the date of the warning, the date of the end of probation period, reasons for the action including supporting documentation and the advisers, advertising managers, and account executives signatures.

At the end of the probationary period, if the account executive is not making progress towards meeting the expectations of the position, the account executive is released from the position.

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CM Life Advertising Daily Sales Report Ad Rep: ____________________________ DATE: _______________

Name of Advertiser In Person On Phone Time Purpose of CallResults of Call


Name of Advertiser In Person On Phone Time Purpose of Call Results of Call


Name of AdvertiserIn Person On Phone Time

Purpose of CallResults of Call


Daily Sales Report (Pg 5 of 5)

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Phone 657.278.4411 • Fax 657.278.2702College Park Building • 2600 E. Nutwood Ave. • Suite 660 • Fullerton, CA 92831-3110

E-mail: [email protected] • Web site: www.dailytitan.com

TrainingProgram

2009-2010

Policies & Procedures

Steps to Placing a Display Ad

Administrative Procedures

Media Information

C A L I F O R N I A S T A T E U N I V E R S I T Y , F U L L E R T O N

Revised: 11/12/09

!

Policies and ProceduresI. New Hires

In order for you to be placed on our payroll system, you must complete the “new hire packet.” These may be obtained from the Daily Titan Business Manager or from the CSUF Foundation Office, Suite CP275. Re-Hires Documents required as follows:

1. Completed Personnel Transaction Report (PTR) 2. W-4 Form 3. Affirmative Action Form

II. Compensation1. Payroll

Each Account Executive will earn $150 per payroll period providing you have: (a) made a minimum of 30 sales calls per week, along with following up with clients on a daily basis, and a minimum off 7 “on-the-street” or walk up sales calls and (b) have completed all administrative functions satisfactorily. The $150 payment is to be considered a non-refundable draw against commission earned over the course of the semester. Specific semester sales goals, as well as weekly sales goals will be established by the Advertising Sales Director and discussed with you during training week. All new hires will be given a one-month grace period, before the sales goals becomes effective.

2. Sales CommissionEach Account Executive will be given a semester sales goal. A 2% commission will be earned over the semester on all col-lected advertising revenue and will be offset against your draw from this sales goal. If the commission earned is greater than the amount you received as a draw, you will be paid the difference at the end of the semester. You are responsible for collecting all advertising revenue.

3. GoalsAs needed, the Advertising Sales Director will announce sales contests wherein each Account Executive will have the opportu-nity of earning additional compensation.

III. Sales Meetings Each week there will be a MANDATORY group sales meeting. Primary emphasis will be placed on your progress with sales calls and the success of your overall sales for the week. In addition, each Account Executive will be required to meet with the Advertising Sales Director once a month on a “one to one” basis for the purpose of evaluating the Account Executive’s work. See Performance Evaluation Form.

IV. Office HoursThe Daily Titan Office is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday thru Friday. If you need to be in the office at night or on the weekend, please make arrangements with the Advertisng Sales Director or the Business Manager. Please give the sales manager a list of the hours you will be in the Daily Titan Office or out on sales calls. Please also provide your class hours and your work schedule if you have a second job. These hours of availability should be posted at your desk.

V. TelephoneAll Account Executives are required to use their personal cell phones to call clients. 1. When you call a client, an assistant will answer the phone most of the time. Make friends with this person! Don’t get frus- trated at being put on hold. Make sure you ask the assistant’s name and tell them yours. Remember the name when you call back.

2. Leave messages that get results. Instead of saying, “Tell him I called” try saying, “I’ve lined up some information that would be very beneficial to him.” Also, remember to leave a number where the client can reach you, as well as the name of the school and the newspaper you are with. 3. In regards to voicemal, always return calls daily, ABSOLUTELY by noon the following day. 4. You are not required to set up a voicemail on your personal phone for the Daily Titan, but you may if you wish. Although, your voicemail must always be professional and friendly. Ex. "Hello, you have reached Adrian Gaitan, Account Executive, for the Daily Titan newspaper at Cal State University Fullerton. I can't come to the phone right now, so please leave me a message with your your name and number, and I'll get back to you as soon as possible. Thanks and have a great day!" Ex. "Hello, you have reached Adrian Gaitan. I can't come to the phone right now, so please leave me a message with your your name and number, and I'll get back to you as soon as possible. Thanks and have a great day!"

VI. Mail The mail is delivered (and picked up) usually by 2 p.m. everyday, except Saturday, Sunday and holidays. Remeber, postage is for business use only. When mailing tearsheets or media kits use the 8.5"x11" white envelopes. If the package is too large, use the manila envelopes located next to the personal advertising mailboxes. Each Account Executive will be given a Daily Titan email account. Check your email and personal advertising mailboxes everyday. Your Daily Titan email account can also be checked out-side the office by going to mail.dailytitan.com. Then simply enter your login name and password.

VII. Equipment and/or Office Supplies

If any equipment breaks while you are using it, please notify the Business Manager immediately so it can be fixed. If you require any office supplies, please submit your request to the Advertising Sales Director or Business Manager.

VIII. AttireYou may wear whatever you feel is appropriate when you are in the office, but bear in mind that clients may visit the Daily Titan office. However, when you go on a walk up sales call, a professional appearance is absolutely required.

IX. Comm. 454 – Sales Advertising Class As an Account Executive, you MAY be required, to act as a “mentor” to a small group of students from the class. This includes making “on-the-street calls” as well in-office training. The class is designed to be an “apprenticeship” for potential new Daily Titan Account Executives.

Media Information Facts to know before approaching potential clients:

I. Media KitEach fall, the Daily Titan publishes a Media Kit with complete information on the CSUF market (demographics), circulation, rates, advertising policy, promotions and publication schedule. Every AE needs to familiarize themselves with the media kit and addi-tional promotions as soon as possible.

The media kit has been designed as a “fax” media kit based on a survey that indicated 80-90% of all media kits were sent by fax. The media kit can also be e-mailed from your computer or a client can download the media kit from the Daily Titan website. Media kits can also be mailed.

• The “Welcome” page includes the logisitics of The Daily Titan, including publication deadlines.• The "Standard Rates" page includes Display and Classified advertising rates. This page should be visible on your desk while making cold calls. • Note that there are more configurations for 1/8, 1/4 & 1/2 size ads. • The configurations for a full page ad in The Daily Titan is 6 col. x 21". One column is equal to 1.944 inches.• Spot color is $150, 4-color $600 (plus separations).• The online advertising rates are determined by pageview and placement. Themeasurements are by pixel. • The Publication Calendar outlines all special sections as well as indicating each

publication date for the year.

II. CirculationThe Daily Titan prints 4,500 copies each day, Monday thru Thursday. The only exception to this is when week long issues are printed. In these cases we print a total 6,000 copies. Our recent daily readership statistics have totalled 18,000 people, with 40,000 people on campus. This means that for every one paper we print there is an average of three readers.

III. Inserts The price for inserts is dependent on the number of pages in the insert. The most popular insert is one page, which costs $247.50. Minimum 4,500. Must be approved by Advertising Sales Director. Must be pre-printed by the advertiser and sent at their expense to the printer listed on the following page. Never have inserts sent to our office!

IV. Advertising Agency Rates Most ad agencies automatically take a 15% commission on ad placements. The Agency Open Rate listed in the rate card is $9.80 per column inch. This rate is considered a “gross” rate as opposed to the “net” non-commissionable rates you normally use. To raise a “net” rate to a “gross” rate multiply the “net” rate by 1.1765 (e.g., $85 x 1.1765 = $100.00). Conversely, multiply $100 x 85% (less 15%) = $85.

Role Play: Trainer is a customer calling on the phone. The customer wants a quote for a 1/4 page ad running seven times in The Daily Titan. Did the trainee talk about any special sections or the web? >Have the trainee come up with a script of what to say when calling a client.

Steps To Placing a Display AdI. Customer Insertion Order (CIO) When a client decides to place an ad, fill-out the CIO form in its entirety and fax or mail it to the client with the request that they immediately sign the form & return it to you ASAP! The client should be advised that NO ad can be entered into the “runsheet” unless you have a signed CIO in your possession. If the advertiser is a “first-time” advertiser/new customer, they must pay in advance unless waived by the Advertising Sales Director.

Checklist: 1. Fill out all known information about the client. 2. Mark the publication: Daily Titan, AdRax, Online, or Special Section. 3. Fill in the Date and your AE# 4. Specifiy the size and rate in the appropriate boxes. 5. Fill in the dates that the client is running their ad(s).

Role Play: The trainee just got off the phone with a customer and sold their first ad. Trainee shall fill out a CIO and "fax" it to the customer.

Train in ADPRO essentials

I. Run Sheet (AdPro) AdPro is a computer program that helps the office run more smoothly by tracking invoices, runsheets, and routing cards. Once the CIO is signed, an ad must be entered into the runsheet on this program three business days prior to the publication date in order for the ad to run. The Advertising Sales Director will give you a user name and password for this program along with an AdPro user's guide. Please refer to this guide for how to enter customers and ads into the system. When entering a client into AdPro they will be given a customer number. When entering a new display ad, AdPro will assign an ad number for each new ad.

II. Routing CardFill out the routing card form on AdPro and place it in the appropriate shelf above the media kit boxes for the production staff.

1. Date Due, Date In, Time In: Place time, date, and due date into appropriate boxes. 2. Account Executive: Your name. 3. Account Name: The advertising client. 4. Ad Number: The number assigned to the ad in AdPro. 5. The Contact Name: The person who we could contact from an account. 6. Address, Phone, Fax, Email: All related information should be written in the appropriate box indicate size. 7. Ad Size: Circle corresponding size, or indicate size to the left using columns and inches. 8. Color: Check if the ad is black and white, spot color, or 4 color. Make sure to write the spot color or Pantone Color #, if known. 9. Slug Line: Usually the main headline of the ad. Whatever distinguishes this ad from any other ad. 10. Instructions: Specify whether ads are new builds, minor changes, or camera ready, and specify whether or not there is a sample layout.

Check All Categories That Apply to The Ad: New Build: Completely new ad. Needs to be built by the Advertising Production Department.

• Follow Layout: All the basic information for the creation of the ad is contained in the envelope (e.g. logo(s), original photos, headline, body copy, typeface and font size. Production will follow the suggested layout as closely as possible. • Create Layout: All the basic information is contained in the envelope. Production will design ad at his/her discretion. • Proof needed by: Specify when you need a proof. Allow at least 5 business days.

CAREFULLY and THOROUGHLY check the proof for errors. If you find an error, or require a change of some kind, resubmit the corrected proof with a new routing card and check the minor change box. If the proof is correct, fax it to your client for approval.

Minor Change: For existing ads that require minor changes, including ads that need to be resized.

11. Advertisment Run Dates: Write down every day THIS ad will appear. For each day your ad will run, you

must have a corresponding entry in AdPro. 12. Special Instructions: Specify whether there are any special instructions (i.e. ad is on Sage’s desktop.) 13. Computer Information: Specify the platform, media type, FULL FILE NAME, # of pages, and application the ad was created with.

Administrative Procedures

I. The printed invoices for billed customers will be returned to you for mailing every Friday. Remember to attach your client’s tearsheet to each invoice and to send out tearsheets to every customer that ran that week even if they prepaid and have no invoice. Tearsheets are located to the right of the Advertising Personal Mailboxes.

II. You are also required to submit a WEEKLY SALES REPORT to the Advertising Sales Director on Friday. These forms shoud be completly filled out and present in enough detail to assess your sales effort/contribution for the week. On the back of the Weekly Sales Report is the New Business section. Fill out this section with any new business information and give a copy to The Business Manager to receive your commission.

III. If you receive a credit card number for payment (only MasterCard, Visa and American Express credit cards will be accepted), please give the information to Sage via the "Payment Form" for processing. The yellow copy should also be given to Sage and the white copy should be mailed or faxed to your client without fail. To complete a credit card transaction press 1 for sale. Enter the account number and follow all other questions from the machine. All orders are final.

IV. Please do not go through mail. If a check or contract comes in, you will be notified immediately.

V. Every 30 days you will receive statements for those advertisers who have failed to pay in 60 days. Please mail or fax these let-ters to your client immediately. After 3-5 days personally call each of your “past due” advertisers and find out when they will pay. Keep notes, as clients often say one thing (“like the check is in the mail”) and, in fact, do something else. If the check doesn’t arrive when they say it will, call them again. In the media business “ the squeaky wheel” gets paid. This is a business and your income depends on sales AND COLLECTION! Excluding on-campus and national accounts, if your client doesn’t pay in 90 days, you lose the commission. Appeals can be made to the Advertising Sales Director.

VI. All sales calls should be “memorialized” by virtue of “fully” completing communication notes in AdPro. This will help not only you, but everyone else in the office. These notes should be very specific and have full details about what was talked about with the client.

Illinois State University – The Daily Vidette

CNBAM Best Training Program

The Daily Vidette considers training a vital part to the success of the daily paper. Marketing

Consultants (MC’s) begin training before they are hired and will continue their training until they leave The

Daily Vidette. Providing the MC’s with constant feedback and the proper tools to sell effectively has left a

lasting impression upon the Illinois State community.

When recruiting MC’s, current employees are trained to look for congruence within and to show

realism to the potential employee. Marketing and Professional Sales majors are the main focus for these

positions due to their enthusiasm and excitement, but we have had MC’s with different majors succeed as

well. An open house is then held at The Daily Vidette building to show each potential employee what they

will be doing on a daily basis and what is expected from their work performance. This gives prospective MC’s

a clear picture of our expectations. They are then interviewed, and if hired, the formal training begins.

Every MC is required to be back on ISU’s campus two weeks before classes start every semester.

Training beings with the basics of the newspaper: how advertising fits in the newspaper, calculating rates,

reviewing the life of an ad, and entering ads into the software system. Once these skills are mastered, MC’s

begin sales training. The ad manager and a senior MC first perform a role play demonstration before breaking

down each section separately. Extensive training is then given on needs analysis of the customer, overcoming

objections, how to close a sale, and follow up. Each MC must perform role plays and help others improve

upon their selling techniques. The ad manager also provides the staff with games such as “Rate Card Bingo”

and PowerPoint presentations highlighting “LAARC” to make the training interactive. MC’s work with ad

production to understand the design of advertisements and the importance of clarity and detail. The training

week ends with a test that each MC must pass before they start interacting with clients and the “Zone Draft”,

similar to the NFL draft, for each MC to choose their territories based on their current standings.

In order to continue training throughout the year, MC’s are required to attend a weekly sales staff

meeting and a weekly team meeting. At the sales staff meetings, MC’s are provided information on upcoming

supplements, sales promotions, award winners, updates on quota and goals, and tasks that could improve the

staff as a whole. Former MC’s have been brought in to emphasize the opportunity they have created for

themselves and how to maximize their time spent at The Daily Vidette. New sales worksheets and training is

provided from various online sources and other CNBAM members. Each meeting ends by separating into

teams to complete an activity and review their accounts in depth with the ad manager. The weekly team

meetings are to brainstorm ad campaigns within the team and to help each other find ways to reach their

quota.

MC’s are constantly aware of their quota and points due to daily updates. MC’s complete a point

sheet each week to be rewarded for their activity. A separate board is dedicated to the supplements showing

deadlines, charts, specials, run sheets, and pictures of the staff to stay motivated. The ad manager and team

leaders periodically send out emails to encourage the staff to sell and to give advice on how to sell during a

certain month. Three times during the semester, MC’s are evaluated by the ad manager. They are evaluated on

their progress, timeliness, activity, meeting deadlines, generating new accounts, maintaining a level of

professionalism, and their overall fit with The Daily Vidette.

The Daily Vidette is a student run organization, providing students the opportunity to gain

professional work experience while serving the community. The implementation of ongoing training has

improved sales, motivation, and created a successful year for The Daily Vidette.

The Daily Vidette: Fall Training Agenda

Tuesday, August 4th

9:30 – 11:30 pm: Welcome and Introductions

Welcome to The Daily Vidette including introductions and a review of the Daily

Vidette’s policies and procedures.

11:30 – 1:00 pm: Group Lunch Break

1:30 – 3:00 pm: Physical Newspaper and Rate Card Introduction

Learn about the terms and basics of what goes into selling an advertisement.

Also learn about other advertising options.

Learn how to calculate rates for the advertisements and do some new

problems. .

Wednesday, August 5th

9:30 – 11:30 am: Review Life of an Ad

Review how to calculate rates and go over rate card homework.

11:30 -1:00 pm: Lunch

1:00 – 3:00 pm: Office & Points Training

Learn about the basics of the office. Also learn about the point system and

where to file paper work.

Thursday, August 6th

9:30 – 11:30 am: Sales Training Begins

Vidette Basics and Selling Tips

Objections

How to close a sell

11:30 – 1:00pm: Group Lunch Break

1:00 – 2:00 pm: Rate Card Bingo

2:00 – 5:00 pm: Continued Sales Training

Friday, August 7th

10:00 – 12:00pm: Zone Draft

1:00 pm - ?: Optional Cookout at Amanda’s (Weather Pending)

Daily Vidette Rate Card Bingo 1. What is our circulation on Friday? 5000

2. How much is the consecutive discount worth? 15%

3. What form should an advertiser send a camera ready ad? PDF

4. How many people on campus read the Daily Vidette daily? 86%

5. How much does it cost to run one color in a doubletruck? It’s free

6. What is our fax number? 438-5211

7. What is the size of a full page ad? 5 x 16

8. What is the campus rate? $7.35

CNBAM

Ad Entry $811.96 It's Free 3

86%

Christy Harrison $8.45 15% 5x16

438-5211

5000 FREE BINGO

SPACE! General Manager PDF

$7.35

$10.10 owa.ilstu.edu $175 $1010.02

$219.45

$555.00 October 11x16 Flats

LAARC Process

LAARC – LISTEN

Actively listen to the objection or complaint

Let the advertiser know that you are listening

Body language

LAARC – ACKNOWLEDGE

Show that you heard what they said and that you

understand where they are coming from.

“I can understand why you would think students don’t read

the paper and if I were a local business owner I would

probably feel the same way. However, as a student I can

personally assure you that students read the paper. And if

that’s not enough, we have market research to back it up.”

LAARC – ASSESS

Ask a follow-up question to make sure you are

handling the right objection.

You: “Do you believe that students don’t read the paper

because they are lazy?”

Them: “No, I think it’s because students go to the internet

for all their news.”

LAARC – RESPOND

Take it upon yourself to be an expert on advertising

and college students. Use that knowledge to respond

to the advertisers concern:

“Ok, so you believe that students don’t read the paper

because they would rather go to the internet for their news.

If you look here in our rate card, our market research has

shown that 86% of ISU students have rated the overall

quality of our advertising as excellent or good.”

LAARC – CONFIRM

Confirm that you have successfully handled the

objection to their satisfaction.

“after seeing how many students read our paper, does that

settle your concern about students not reading the paper?”

If not, try another response technique and re-confirm

until you have successfully resolved the customer’s

concern.

This process could take a while. Do not get

discouraged, be patient, and remember objections are

not personal, rather an opportunity to provide

information.

Name: ________________________________________ Date___________

MAX APPROVED:_______ Leader Approved:_______ Total Points:_________

Fall 2009

Points

1. Meetings (5 points each) Sales Staff Meetings ( ) Manager Meetings ( ) Team Meetings ( ) ___ Total: ________

2. Team Project (10 points each) _________________________________________________________________ Total: ________

3. New Accounts (20 points each) _________________________________________________________________ Total: ________

4. Completed Credit Application (20 points each) _________________________________________________________________ Total: ________

5. New Contract Signed (20 points each) _________________________________________________________________ Total: ________

6. Spec Ads Sold (20 points each w/tear sheet & ad request form) _________________________________________________________________ Total: ________

7. Call Sheets (Attach copy: 10 points) _________________________________________________________________ Total: ________

8. Media Packet (1 max at 10 points) _________________________________________________________________ Total: ________

9. Account Letters/Emails (2 max at 10 points each) _________________________________________________________________ Total: ________

10. Above Dollars on Weekly Reports (10 points each) _________________________________________________________________ Total: ________

11. Rep Thank You Letters (1 max at 10 points each) _________________________________________________________________ Total: ________

12. Proposal (2 max at 10 points each) _________________________________________________________________ Total: ________

13. Visit Logs (4 max at 5 points each) _________________________________________________________________ Total: ________

14. Early Points (5 points) _________________________________________________________________ Total: ________

15. Ad of the Week (1st at 20 points, 2nd at 15 pts, 3rd at 10 points) _________________________________________________________________ Total: ________

16. Pimpin’ Proposal (1st at 15 points, 2nd at 10 points, 3rd at 5 points) _________________________________________________________________ Total: ________

17. Bonus Points (Awarded only by Amanda) _________________________________________________________________ Total: ________

Advertising Training Program

At James Madison University’s newspaper The Breeze, it is our philosophy totrain our sales, management and design staff in a real-world environment.

We have a two-fold purpose of running The Breeze as a revenue-producingproperty, with revenue goals and objectives that offer students an income producingposition at a real small business. We also provide education through training that willbuild students’ portfolios, helping them to obtain internships for summer and jobpositions after graduation.

The following is an outline of how we achieve these goals through training.

A. Hiring ProcessWe begin our search for the following year’s advertising manager and advertisingdesign manager in January. It is important these managers are in place byFebruary so that they may be in charge of the hiring process for the upcomingyear. The managers work with the Advertising Adviser and the General Managerto hire the sales and design staffs. The staffs are in place by March 1 for SpringTraining.

B. Spring Sales and Design TrainingThe managers assist the advertising adviser conduct a two-week training inMarch. Spring Training is like advertising boot camp. The General Managerdiscusses general office policies, and then for several days, the advertising advisertakes the new staff through the basics of ad sales. She starts with the close,making sure they understand that this is where they are headed in all salesactivity. The group also discusses competitive media, the advantages of ourproduct and the best ways to work with customers on the phone and in person.

Meanwhile, during March, the new hires shadow the person they are replacing.This gives the trainees hands-on experience with the processes specific to ouroperation. On April 1, the trainees completely take over.

But, as you’ll see, the training does not end there.

C. Fall TrainingThe entire sales and design staffs return to the university two weeks before classesbegin for Fall Training, which consists of review from the spring (being that it’s

been three months of summer break) and intense presentation training so thatexecs can pitch to major accounts.

Sales execs learn the intricacies of making major presentations to real-time majorand national accounts and to prepare themselves to travel to assigned majoraccounts to make business presentations for preprints and ROP. During the end ofSeptember, each student then gives his/her presentation to the general managerand ad adviser, as well as one non-Breeze judge. Presentations must includeinformation about The Breeze’s market, its competition, its advantages and aproposal for the companies to consider. The judges choose the winners, who arethen placed on teams to take the actual presentations to the real clients.

This year, The Breeze secured appointments with Newspaper Services of America(NSA) in Chicago to make major presentations to Wal-Mart, Bed Bath andBeyond, K Mart, and Rite Aid. Additional appointments were made in Carlisle,Pa., and locally in Harrisonburg to present to major chain grocery stores.

Preprints are the main focus of the training on major account presentations,though ROP and special sections are also included. Presentation to majors andnationals are performed in October to target and attract these customers for thenext year’s schedules when they are in the planning phase.

Design philosophy in media is also a part of the Fall Training, as is newspapersand their futures. We bring in speakers during the two weeks and set up one-hourseminars for our design management and sales staff. Speakers have come in fromlocal and regional media operations.

A Fall Training schedule is included in this packet. (It includes the schedule forad execs, ad designers and editorial staff, as all these trainings are heldconcurrently.)

D. Ongoing TrainingTraining does not just occur formally. It underlies all we do. For instance,managers receive guidance from the advertising adviser on how to set goals foreach year and how to make reasonable projections for sales. Throughout the yearmanagement also works with the advertising adviser and general manager to leadthe staff to achieve their goals and objectives through management reviews andperformance and revenue oversight.

Serving James Madison University Since 19222009 Fall TrainingAugust 10-22

James Madison University

start

thepresses

Welcome Back!

It’s been so quiet with

you gone. Those of us who

work during the summer

are so glad to have you

back, and we’re excited

about watching you pro-

duce an excellent student

newspaper this year.

Our back-to-school

training program is one of

our great traditions at The

Breeze. You get two weeks

of uninterrupted time to

learn skills that will help

you succeed and to plan for

the year ahead.

During the first week of

training, we have sessions

all morning each day. Please

be on time.

Your afternoons the first

week are mostly open for

you to plan for the coming

year. Brainstorm story ideas,

assign stories, call advertis-

ing clients, work on spec

ads and do whatever you

can to get a good start to

the year.

During Week 2, we have

fewer sessions. That means

you have a full week of

uninterrupted time to

continue your planning and

work.

Best wishes!

MONDAYAugust 10

8:00 a.m. Opening Breakfast SessionWe’ll have a brief orientation about the week ahead and enjoy breakfast together.

Karl Spain, a newspaperman, businessman, entrepreneur and book author, will open our training with a speech about the future of newspapers and the changing times we live in.

Allegheny Room

10:00 a.m.

All Advertising Staff: Karl Spain will discuss the current advertising environment and what he thinks will make you successful during the coming year.

Festival Conference Room 2

Newsroom: Editorial policy review and initial planning with Editor Tim Chapman.


11:00 a.m.

All Advertising Staff: Advertising policy review and a look at the Rate Card and calendar for 2009-10.


Newsroom: Karl Spain will discuss the current changes in the media landscape and how you can use them to your advantage as you cover James Madison University.


Noon

Lunch is on your own today. Many on-campus dining establishments remain closed until next week, but D-Hall is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner. You will receive a din-ing voucher for today.

Opening Speaker | Karl SpainKarl Spain is a newspaperman, business developer, real estate developer

and entrepreneur and book author.Mr. Spain cofounded the Chronicle Express newspaper in the 1980s and

grew it from nothing to a business that included 35 full-time staffers. In 1992, the Journal newspapers purchased the Chronicle.

Mr. Spain also served as the president and chief oper-ating officer of Journal Newspapers, a chain of six daily newspapers in the Washington, D.C., suburbs, during the chain’s most successful years.

In addition to his work as a newspaperman, Mr. Spain developed real estate in the Washington, D.C., area for 10 years. He also founded several information-technology companies, including a stint creating the archiving and intranet system for Tommy Hilfiger in New York City.

Mr. Spain’s latest endeavor is as an author. He is writ-ing, with co-author Dr. Mark Richards, “The Revelation,” which explores the origins of the universe, the ways the human brain works, how the human experience has evolved, how the economy works, and the interconnected-ness of these topics.

2:00 p.m.

All Staff: Earthquake Survival. Jennifer Testa of JMU’s Training and Development Department will lead staffers in a teambuilding exercise.

Human Resources Training Room90 minutes

Newsroom Staff NoteEditors, please remember

that you should expect to be on campus working on The Breeze until about 6 p.m. each day during training, especially during the first week when there are more speakers than the second week.

Tim ChapmanEditor

TuesdayAugust 11

9:00 a.m.

Advertising Staff: Elements of Effective Ads. Leonard Loria, the Creative Director at Leisure Publish-ing, will give an overview of what makes an ad work. The session is for both execs and designers, and will help both speak a similar language when it comes to design. Leonard has a wealth of experience: He has worked at Southern Living and Yankee magazines, among numerous other places.


Newsroom Staff: Managing a Section. Keeping up with everything can be a challenge. Lauren Jef-ferson, editor of The Journals in Rockingham County, offers some tips to help you succeed.


10:00 a.m.

Advertising Execs: Presentation Training. Ad Adviser Cesi Myers will go over how to develop and execute an advertising presentation for major clients. She will also explain our first-ever contest on giving presentations to major accounts.


Advertising Designers: Type and Text. Leonard Loria will discuss best uses for type and text, and how to use these elements to grab a reader’s attention


Newsroom Staff: More Than Print. Chris Graham, the editor and co-owner of Augusta Free Press, an online news venture, will explain how he has combined print and online to produce news and fea-tures. He’ll also discuss which types of media work best with various types of stories.


Noon

Lunch: Boxed lunches will be available outside the conference rooms today. Spend some time eating and asking questions of our speakers.

11:00 a.m.

Advertising Execs: Presentation Training, Part 2. Festival Conference Room 2

Advertising Designers: Art and Color. Leonard Loria will discuss best uses for art and color, and how to use these elements to grab a reader’s attention


Newsroom Staff: More Than Print, Part 2. Festival Conference Room 4

WednesdayAugust 12

9:00 a.m.

Advertising Staff: Selling and Designing Special Sections. Cesi Myers and Brad Jenkins will go over techniques for selling special sections and will give ideas for ads and design. We’ll also have some time to brainstorm ideas.


Newsroom Staff: Special Section Planning. Daily News-Record Features Editor Katheryn Huff and features reporter Alicia Wotring will help you brainstorm ideas for special sections stories that will go beyond what we’ve always done before.


10:00 a.m.

Advertising Staff: Selling with Spec Ads. Cesi Myers will show you how spec ads help advertisers visualize what we can do for them. Each exec-designer pair will discuss client possibilities, and each designer will be given five clients for whom they will design spec ads this week.


Newsroom Staff: Photos and Text. Daily News-Record Photo Chief Pete Marovich and reporter Jenny Jones often work together on stories. They’ll share ways editors, reporters and photographers can communicate to ensure the reader gets the best package available.


12:30 p.m.

Lunch: Today it’s wings and things from BW3. At The Breeze offices in Anthony-Seeger.

11:00 a.m.

Advertising Execs: Role Playing Exercise with Elliott Yousefian and Brock Hazen. Festival Conference Room 2

Advertising Designers: Critique Session. Bring newspaper and magazine ads that you like and hate. We’ll spend time discussing what’s good, what’s bad and what we can learn.


Newsroom Staff: Uncovering Story Ideas. Daily News-Record reporter Heather Bowser knows how to find unique things to write about. She’ll explain how she finds her (sometimes quirky) ideas.


1:30 p.m.

Newsroom Staff: Breeze alums Courtney Crowley and Chris Klimek will discuss lessons they’ve learned since graduating in the 1990s. Newsroom

ThursdayAugust 13

9:00 a.m.

Advertising Staff: The Life of an Ad. Cesi Myers will take you through the process of getting an ad into The Breeze. After a long summer, you’ll appreciate the refresher.


Newsroom Staff: InDesign Tips and Tricks. Breeze Design Editor Whitten Maher will show you some tips that will make your job easier. He’ll also show you the new Breeze design manual.


10:00 a.m.

Advertising Execs: Credit Card Basics. JMU requires that all students who handle credit card informa-tion take this training on how to treat sensitive data. Shannon Huffman from the University Business Office will lead you through the training.


Advertising Designers: Spec Ad Work. You are free to work on the spec ads you were assigned yesterday.

The Breeze Design Office

Newsroom Staff: InDesign Tips and Tricks, Part 2.Festival Conference Room 4

12:30 p.m.

Lunch: Today it’s pizza at The Breeze offices in Anthony-Seeger.

11:00 a.m.

Advertising Execs: Stats That Will Help You Sell. Alloy Marketing and Media has info you need to know about college-newspaper readership. Cesi Myers will share the info with you.


Advertising Designers: Spec Ad Work, continued.

Newsroom Staff: Free Time for first-issue planning. Festival Conference Room 4

Looking for Local Color? You may not have much free time these two weeks, but if you find yourself looking for a bit of Valley flavor, here are some options.

Rockingham County Fair The annual fair includes carnival rides, animal displays, lots of fair-type food, exhibits and lots of music. The fair runs August 17-22, and evenings are the best times to see the most events. www.rockinghamcountyfair.com

Fridays on the Square The music and movie fest is held on the courthouse lawn downtown. On August 14, it’s Tom Principato, a blues guitarist, at 7 p.m. On August 21, it’s the Pixar film “The Incredibles,” which starts at dusk (around 8 p.m.). Bring a picnic and enjoy the entertainment. www.fridaysonthesquare.com

FundFest A fund-raiser for local nonprofits, the weekly concerts are held 6-8:30 p.m. (gates open at 5:30 p.m.) They are held on the grassy lot near the Daily News-Record on Liberty Street downtown. August 19 features Hacken’s Boys (country, rock and southern rock).

Downtown Farmers Market Check out local produce and flowers from 7 a.m.-1 p.m. at the pavilion on Liberty Street downtown. A great place to meet local farmers and enjoy the fruit of their labor.

Downtown The city’s center includes restaurants, small shops and plenty of space to stroll (best done with a Kline’s Dairy Bar ice cream cone). You can make pottery at You Made It! New downtown this summer: the Urban Exchange apartment complex (which features some architecture unique to Harrisonburg) and Jack Brown’s (a burger joint).

MondayAugust 17

9:00 a.m.

Newsroom Staff: Mark Orchard, the news editor of Al Jazeera English in Washington, D.C., will discuss what it’s like to cover news around the world. He is a radio and television producer with more than 10 years of experience covering domestic and international news.

Newsroom

Advertising Staff: We will meet briefly to discuss our goals for the coming week.Advertising Office

2:00 p.m.

Newsroom Staff: Editor Tim Chapman leads a discussion on ethical issues.Newsroom

3:00

Newsroom Staff: Adviser Mike Grundmann’s editor’s bootcamp returns. He’ll help you prepare to be effective editors and managers of your section.

Newsroom

WednesdayAugust 19

10:00 a.m. -11:30 a.m.

Newsroom Staff: Jim Mann and Wilford Kale, newspaper veterans and members of the Society for Professional Journalists, will talk about reporting in a multimedia age and about how to gather infor-mation. Newsroom.

12:30 p.m.

Pizza lunch at The Breeze offices.

2:30 p.m.

All Staff: Meet at The Breeze offices to walk to the Daily News-Record for a look at their printing press operation. The tour will help you understand how the newspaper is produced.

FridayAugust 14

10:00 a.m.

Advertising Staff: ABC Laws. A refresher on the laws that regulate the advertising of alcohol in col-lege newspapers. Roger Soenksen, our legal adviser, will lead the session.


11:00 a.m.

Advertising Execs: Selling on the Phone. Sharpen your phone skills to get you in the door with potential clients.


Newsroom Staff: Libel and Freedom of Information. Roger Soenksen leads a discussion of what is defamation and what kinds of information you are entitled to.


12:30 p.m.

Lunch: Join the entire staff for a cookout-style lunch on the patio outside The Breeze offices.

On-Campus Move-InBreeze students who registered to move into on-campus housing early get to do so on Sunday, August 16. The following people registered: n Drew Beggs n Rachel Dozier n Dan Lobdell

DON’T MISS THIS!The Breeze’s Fall Writing & Editing Workshop

September 4, 2009 The Breeze will host a one-day writing workshop for Breeze editors and reporters on Sept. 4, 2009. Writing coach Don Fry, who has worked with newspapers around the world, will help you improve your writing and editing. After a first career as an English professor at Virginia and Stony Brook, Don Fry became a journalist, teaching writing and ethics at the Poynter Institute. In 1994, he became an independent writing coach, working all over the world. He has taught over 10,000 people to write better. He is the author of 17 books and several hundred articles. You can read more from Don Fry at his blog, which is at donfry.wordpress.com. This valuable Breeze workshop is FREE to editors and reporters.

Special Thanks Many thanks to the following people who have helped make this fall’s training pos-sible.

Cesi Myers The Breeze’s advertising adviser. She helped line up many of the speakers for our advertising sessions.

Charlene Rice The Breeze’s office assistant. She helped assemble printed materials for sessions and helped with administrative support.

Susan Shifflett The Breeze’s bookkeeper. She provided administrative assistance.

We also want to thank the companies that provided giveaways for the bags you received on the first day. If you patronize any of these businesses, be sure to tell them thanks when you see them.

Thanks, too, to all our speakers who eagerly gave their time to be with us. Their pres-ence with us helps make our training program meaningful and useful.

Best Training ProgramOur training program is continuous and ongoing. Our philosophy is that education is

d d h b d f h d fconstant and never‐ending. That is embraced from the top down, meaning everyone from the advertising director to new hires participates in an ongoing education process. Everyone on staff is involved in the training process for new hires, we tackle the challenge as a team.

As a group, everyone is required to attend our four‐day intensive workshop held twice a year about two weeks prior to the start of a new semester The advertising director willyear about two weeks prior to the start of a new semester. The advertising director will cover the most intensive and newer topics presented. The management team will present broad‐scope topics, and senior sales reps present more basic topics. We mix lecture topics with Q & A, interaction, demonstrations, practice and team competition to keep staff interested and increase retention of materials. We typically cover topics such as: audience‐based selling, “Features vs. Benefits”, professionalism, “Sales from A‐Z”, “Reaching TOMA with Frequency”, “Building Brand Awareness”, “Selling with a Spec Ad”, understanding the competition, “Personal Time Management & Organization for Sales”, customer service, “Handling Objections”, closing the sale, design, why ads fail, new commission structure, “Understanding the sales pacing chart”, employer‐employee expectations, “Increasing productivity with understanding and focus on your sales numbers”, “The sales process in t ” “U d t di bli i i ll b t d t d tit ” “Th 33steps”, “Understanding public opinion polls about our products and competitors”, “The 33 Ruthless Rules of Advertising”, “Techniques of a Master Salesman”, “Creating your opening statement”, “YES! Attitude”, developing desire, “Prospecting”, “New Business Development”, most common mistakes in selling, “Cold Calling”, Understanding Meyers‐Briggs personality types & workplace communication, and “Developing a great Customer Needs Analysis”Needs Analysis .

This fall we conducted a survey of readership habits in relation to our direct competitor, a weekly publication distributed on campus and throughout the city. Our goal was to see just how much cross‐over there was in readership. When the results were compiled and calculated, we invited the editorial team to the presentation we made to the sales team, and encouraged open discussion about how we could provide readers with what they are asking for, and how we can do it better and differently than the competition.

We also invited the editors and managers from all units to come talk with our sales staff about how budget cuts affect them, and what happens when we let sales slip the way they did thi f ll It l f th l t ff It t d b id fdid this fall. It was a real eye‐opener for many on the sales staff. It created a bridge of open communication and collaboration to being working with editorial to find new solutions to problems as a team.

Best Training ProgramWeekly, in our sales meetings we cover enhanced training topics from previous topics, sales y, g g p p p ,newsletters, current sales challenges, etc. We discuss where we are as a department, review personal efforts, and share stories of success. And just to keep everyone on track, we post each team member’s percent to budget for the next three months and the team thermometers up on the bulletin boards. It really does keep everyone accountable and motivated.

Then twice a year, we host a Management Summit for all new managers to attend. We mix lecture and role‐play so that the information is absorbed and the lessons are easy to recall later when needed. We also take this time to discuss what changes or improvements can be made to our processes, policies or practices at that time. Topics we cover include: Meyers‐Briggs understanding personality types in the work environment “Building and DevelopingBriggs understanding personality types in the work environment, Building and Developing Your Team”, “Disney’s Keys to Excellence”, “Motivation & Organization”, “Focus, Motivation & Attitude Adjustments for Sales”, and we practice ways in which to deliver effective and timely feedback through role‐play.

Overall, our focus is not only on success while students are a part of Student Media, but we focus on training and preparing our staff for future professional situations. We do our best to provide them with the assistance, learning and understanding they need to be prepared for “the real world”. If we don’t prepare them for the next step, then we have failed them. Our track record is pretty high, as we are placing over 95% of our students who wish to pursue a career in advertising or media sales into positions post‐graduation.

Best Training ProgramSample Agendas

SALES TRAINING: AUGUST 10, 2009,TIME TOPIC LEADER8:30 am WELCOME & Introductions

Let people introduce themselves: name – year – major - job

Kodi

9:00 – 11:00 am Audience-Based Selling Training Tips

Kodi

11:00 – 11:30 am Features vs. Benefits Lauren

11:30 – 12:00 pm ProfessionalismAppearance & Office Behavior

Jennifer

Sales Rep vs. Market ConsultantConfidential information – personal and clientHandshake “How To”

12:00 – 1:15 LUNCH BREAK1:15 – 2:00pm Jupiter Images

Saving Ads on the ServerChanging Ads : color: cmyk vs rgbHow to check an ad size

Tiffanie & Jessica

2:00 – 2:15 pm Sales Pacing Chart Lauren

2:15 – 2:45 pm Evaluations Jennifer

2:45 – 3:00 pm Weekly Activity ReportsMonthly Mileage Reports

Driver’s Safety Course

Lauren

3:00 – 4:00 pm Working in Adpro: Your Account Management System– use laptops to present and interact! Jessica

SALES TRAINING: AUGUST 11, 2009 Welcome visiting schools!

TIME TOPIC LEADER8:30 am WELCOME & Introductions

Let people introduce themselves: Name – school - year – major - job

Kodi

9:00 – 10:30 am Sales from A – Z Kodi10:30 – 10:45 am The Curse of Knowledge Mike Giusti

10:45 – 11:15 am Reaching TOMA with FrequencyBuilding Brand Awareness

KodiBuilding Brand Awareness Selling with a Spec Ad

11: 15 – 12:00pm Addressing the competitionExploring Competitive Media Advantages & Disadvantages

Mike Giusti

12:00 – 1:15 p LUNCH at Reginelli’s

1:15 – 1:30 pm Yes, No, Know… Mike Giusti

1:30 – 2:30 pm Personal Time Management & Organization for Sales Kodi

2:30 – 3:30 pm Customer Service Discussion2:30 – 3:30 pm Customer Service Discussion23 Business Etiquette Tips (from USF)

3:30 – 4:30 pm Handling Objections Mike Giusti

SALES TRAINING: AUGUST 12, 20099:00 – 9:45 am Good Sales Practices Jenn

9 45 10 15 Cl i h S l K l9:45 – 10:15 am Closing the Sale Kayla

10:15 – 11:00 am Upcoming Student Media Events and Promotions Nathan

11:00 – 11:15 am Personal Motivators Questionnaire Jenn

11:15 – 12:30 pm Review of LSU Student Media rate cardSample scenarios – bring calculators!!

Lauren


Student Media NEW Manager’s Workshop – Dec. 2009Successful Managers

• Are good at making transitions (learning agility)• Are more self aware than others• Seek out feedback on their own

Poor Managers• Rate low on approachability• Rate low on drive for results• Are non-strategic• Tend to overrate their abilities

ORGANIZATION & MOTIVATIONK di h i ti t th WIIFM• Know your audience when communicating to them – WIIFM

• Interoffice Communication – clear flow chart/chain of command• Organization – personal productivity, setting team expectations, measuring the

work• Motivation – personal motivators, worksheets, creating a positive environment,

being a leader, becoming influential & motivational, managing vision & purposepurpose

LEADERSHIP• Your story, your character• Defining “vision”, clarifying it, and getting your staff involved• Our pre-employment message

BUILDING & DEVELOPING YOUR TEAM• Readings for Sales Managers• Hiring & Staffing• Building Effective Teams• Developing your Team Members• Developing Effective Feedback Skills

STAYING FOCUSED, FINDING MOTIVATION, AND ATTITUDE ADJUSTMENTS FOR SALES

Remember the three R's: Respect for selfR t f th &Respect for others, &Responsibility for all your actions

Discussion Topics


SALES TRAINING: December 14th, 2009

TIME TOPIC LEADER9:00 am Elements of Good Ad Design

12 Causes of Advertising FailureExcerpts: 33 ruthless rules of advertisingGood and bad examples

TiffanieCareKodiKodi & Tiffanie

10:00 – 10:45 am Jupiter imagesSaving Ads to the serverchanging ads: to cmyk from rgbH t h k d i

Tiffanie

How to check an ad size10:45 New Commission Structure

New Change of staff formsKodi

11:00 am Employer expectationsWork daysVacationSick days

Kodi

11:30 – 12:30 pm Audience Based Selling Lauren12:30 1:30 pm Lunch break12:30 – 1:30 pm Lunch break1:30 – 4:30 pm Appointment Setting, Cold Calling, Drop-ins

SALES TRAINING: December 15th, 2009

TIME TOPIC LEADER9:00 am Sales is a Numbers Game Kodi10:00 am Setting the Appointment Emanuel

“Please don’t hang up on me, I just need an appt.”Techniques for leaving voice messagesApproaching potential clients

10:45 – 11:30 The Customer Needs Analysis Kodi11:30 – 12:30 LUNCH12:45 – 1:30 The Presentation

Major Selling PointsJen

1:30 – 2:15 Closing the SaleUsing a Spec Ad

Kayla

Handling ObjectionsAfter the close

2:15 – 2:35 Keep in touch program Everyone share!!2:35 – 4:00 The Reveille vs. Tiger Weekly

At a glancePoll ResultsBrainstorm

KodiNathanLauren

SALES TRAINING: December 16th 2009SALES TRAINING: December 16th, 20099:00 Selling Truths Care9:15 – 10:00 Prospecting

Where to look for prospectsMaking your own “hit list”

Andrew

10:00 – 11:00 Hit Lists & ChartsHealth/Fashion/Beauty GuideLiving Guide/ExpoCareer Guide

Jen

Stress Busters Guide11:00 – 11:30 Office Trivia Game

Best Training Program, The State News The Program

When most people imagine sales departments, they think of suited yuppies running from

appointment to appointment at East Coast pace. Most imagine narrow-minded consumerists that only worry about bringing home the bacon and beating others at the rat race. I suppose these former reasons are why most are baffled to walk into The State News advertising department. A department in which bells are ringing, account executives are hooting and hollering, and their manager is slapping high fives. Most are taken aback when they walk into our sales department and are confronted with buzzing creative energy, drive, and optimistic suspense.

It is this kind of energy that has lead to our great success. Encouragement of competition, communication, and teamwork are the engines driving the advertising department at The State News to thrive. How we do it:

Newly hired account executives will quickly find themselves released into a creative escape we call “training.” Here they are encouraged to brainstorm unique selling strategies, develop individual and personal selling skills, and build confidence through consistent practice within the office. In their four weeks of training, account executives will have written a personalized business letter, developed an elevator pitch, publicly confronted objections to advertising, and developed a pure, self-built love for The State News.

In accompaniment to training, new account executives are paired up with an L.T.M. (Living Training Manual). An L.T.M. is a more experienced veteran that stands out as a leader within the office. New account executives shadow these L.T.M.s as well as look to them for answers to questions, selling tips, and even stress relief (we promise this does not involve physical contact). The best part of the L.T.M. program is itʼs ability to teach old dogs new tricks. New AEs are encouraged to ask as many questions as possible, often challenging their L.T.Mʼs knowledge. This has forced our veterans to stay on track and make sure they have a grip on the bigger picture.

To streamline our communication within the entire department, a weekly staff meeting is held to discuss possible updates, crash training sessions, address issues, and encourage selling among the entire staff. Although account executives are meeting outside of required office hours, they look forward to these staff meetings. To encourage office morale, food is usually provided and games are incorporated. Games usually involve team-building activities that teach problem solving skills, selling strategies, and public speaking.

In between these weekly staff meetings, account executives meet in teams of 5-6. Each of which have leaders that encourage sales, progress to the next level in our advancement process, keep track of prospecting progress, and build morale. These teams regularly compete against each other in sales competitions. These competitions allow individual sales to add up to team totals with the winning team usually enjoying a free lunch or meal of their choice. Team competitions are not only popular among the staff, but drive them to individually succeed, work as a team, help others make sales and generate revenue. Every team competition held thus far has resulted in an increase of sales revenue over the previous year.

To drive individual progress & sales revenue, we offer advancement programs (as mentioned previously) and goal incentives. By accomplishing tasks related to cold calling,

establishing client relationships, and creating sales among other criteria, account executives can increase their commission rates (please see supplementary material titled ʻAdvance Cardʼ). Further more, each account executive is met with a monthly sales goal. Surpassing that goal results in a bonus worth up to 3% the difference between their sales goal and actual sales.

To encourage teamwork on top of individual sales, we offer departmental bonuses for meeting our total sales goal for the month. Because it takes more than just an initial sale to make the ad department work, this bonus is distributed not only among account executives, but also among graphic artists and traffic managers. Everyoneʼs job is equally important to the success of the department, be it answering the phone, making the sale, creating the ad or seeing that it get placed in the paper. We place a high value on teamwork and it takes the entire office to generate the positive energy needed to surpass our goals. The results:

Our four-week training program has sent rookie account executives into the sales world as account executives with experience already under their belt. By pairing them up with L.T.M.ʼs weʼve found Best Training Program, The State News they bust out of the sales door as equals: driven, competitive and comfortable. 10 out of 15 rookies have either recruited a new advertiser or signed a sporadic advertiser to contract within their first 2 months of sales.

The introduction of teams has allowed many account executives to step up as role models and leaders in the office. When given the opportunity, they have all eagerly developed individual sales plans, meeting formats, and weekly updates informing management of what their team is up to. Itʼs also opened up many doors for feedback. We receive 3-4 ideas a week on how to improve things around the office, whether internal communication suggestions or ways to boost sales.

Our advancement program has been a consistent success. We currently have 4 account executives at our top commission level, 7 at mid level and 14 working their way up the ladder (12 of which are new employees). Most recently, two account executives made a bet between them to see who could advance first. Howʼs that for drive? Number and stats aside, The State News has never seen such a strong staff. They take the creatively driven environment they are given and use it to its fullest. Negativity virtually doesnʼt exist (okay thatʼs a lie, but we assure you itʼs an extremely rare occasion of missed meals). Above all, I have never seen a group of so many opinionated, driven individuals put their specializations together to create an unstoppable sales force. Each obstacle overcome is a team success and celebrated thus.

Our training program develops some of the most well-rounded and fiercely determined sales staff that this paper has ever seen. I challenge you to find a more closely knit bunch of individuals in any department, anywhere. I also challenge you to find a sales force that has been as successful, in numbers, unity, originality and pizzazz.

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Best Training Program, The State News Training Calendar

New Account Executives • Upon hire, employees under go 4 weeks of training in which the following tactics are used o Week 1: 2 sessions, 3 hours in length each

Learning to love our product: market survey data, newspaper terminology, responsibilities, expectations, opportunities

Classified Liners: How to do it, customer service, guidelines, make good policy, scams • Assignment 1: Classified liner worksheet with computer practice

o Week 2: 2 sessions, 3 hours each in length Exercise: Practice taking liners over the phone. 2 teams take turns in the office taking live phone calls

from the opposing team in the boardroom. AEs learn how to deal with customers, possible problems and how to look out for scams

Test 1: Newspaper terminology, Market Survey Data & classified liner protocol tested to measure progress. Once passed, AEs may take live classifieds during office hours.

o Week 3: 10 in-office hours + 2 training sessions 3 hours in length Welcome to retail: terminology, deadlines, advertising options, selling strategy

• Assignment 2: Create unique selling point and pitch it at next session Web & Preprint Inserts: terminology, selling strategy, deadlines “The good, the bad and the ugly” of the week + Q&A session on how to deal How to sell: prospecting, persistence, cold calls & dealing with advertisers

• What to take on a sales call, how to go about it • How to write a business letter & use it as a selling tool • Assignment 3: Write a business letter to an advertiser by next session

o Week 4: 10 in-office hours + 2 training sessions 3 hours in length Exercise: How to overcome objections

• Split into teams, each team is confronted with objection. • Teams work together to develop a solution pitched by one team member • Rated on confidence & accuracy of response

So you’ve sold an ad, now what?! • Steps in completing the ad process, working with production, controversial ads • Establishing credit & signing clients to contract

Test 2: Retail, web and insert terminology, objections, rates, selling strategies • Once passed, AEs begin full AE office hours with full responsibilities

Established Employees • Advancement process (See page 3) o Commission levels increase with levels of advancement

Associate AE: 4%, Account Executive: 6%, Senior Account Executive: 8% Advancement is made possible by completing the requirements on the advance card

• Training Sessions and Staff Meetings o Weekly staff meetings held for crash training sessions and increased communication o Other staff meetings may be scheduled to review in depth topics

• Teams o 3-4 teams meet weekly with team leaders to discuss concerns, updates & deadlines o Competitions held between teams for most sales to encourage competition and teamwork

• Incentives for sales: o Individual goals: Surpassing individual goal results in following

Bonus: If either classified goal or display goal is supassed—2% the difference between monthly sales and goal

If both goals are surpassed—3% the difference o Departmental goals:

Encourages account executives to operate as a team and encourage each other to accomplish their individual goals

10% difference between monthly revenue and sales goals distributed among account executives, traffic managers and graphic artists

Best Training Program, The State News The Oh Sh*#% Guidebook

People forget, plain and simple. With an advertising staff of more than 20, selling multiple customized

products, itʼs no surprise that every once in a while an account executive, veteran or rookie, smacks themselves upside the head and says “Duh, self. Real slick.”

This is why, even after the initial training is over, itʼs important for account executives to have a quick reference, or should we be honest and say “savior,” for those times in which our brains seem to fail us.

In answer to these “brain-fart” moments, we at The State News created a tool that is stocked full of info, organized and to the point. We present to you our “Oh Sh*#% Guidebook, Your State News Companion.” The Oh Sh*#% Guidebook is 20 pages filled with information ranging from a daily checklist to the skinny on each of our products, including liner abbreviations, how to use the phones and even taking care of other peopleʼs poop.

Below is a breakdown of our Table Of Contents. Page 1 – The Daily Checklist, Deadline Map and Phone Help

o The daily checklist and deadline map allow AEs to prioritize what theyʼve got to do before leaving for the day.

o How to use the phones: Ensures wrong extensions and transfers donʼt happen. Page 2 – The Quick Facts Sheet

o Addresses, phone numbers, websites, emails, circulation info, sections of the paper, professional staff members.

Pages 3&4 – Updated Schedules and Contact Sheets for AEs and Managers Page 5 – Liners

o An updated list of abbreviations, an example greeting, ad checklist and possible problems AEs may run into.

Page 6-9 – The Cheat Sheets o A quick reference for our range of products from the daily edition to web, inserts and AdRax (aka

Posters). o The product nitty-gritty, deadlines, and what to do once a sale is made.

Page 10 – Changing the Paper Past Deadline o Nobody likes missing deadlines, but it has happened to everyone at least once. This is a step-by-step

process to making changes to the paper after deadlines have passed. Page 11 – Changing An Ad Thatʼs Already Scheduled In The Computerʼs Business System

o This is for clients that decide to add borders, bold words, add page requests etc. after their ad has already been created in the computer. Every computer business system is finicky about a few things, so this page breaks down what the computer understands and doesnʼt so AEs can make sure the ad runs as itʼs intended.

Page 12 – Reserving Special Pages o This page breaks down the rules and walks the AE through scheduling the specific request.

Page 13 – Taking Care of Other Peopleʼs Poop o When an AE is handling somebody elseʼs stuff, it can be nerve racking. This page is dedicated to

proper steps in communication and process for the situation. The page is divided into two sections: when people are out of the office at that instance and when people are out of the office for vacation.

Page 14-15 – Why You Should Never Be Bored At Work o Our AEs are not paid hourly, they are paid on commission. Weʼd like to think this keeps them working

non-stop but unfortunately, that isnʼt always the case. There are times that AEs arenʼt sure where to start, feel as if theyʼre hitting a wall or arenʼt sure how to step up in the office. These pages cover all of those things.

Pages 16+ - These pages are reserved for any info AEs would like to add. Mostly, promotional materials and selling tips fill these pages. Some managers choose to fill these pages with their additional duties. It provides a perfect customizable outlet for anything AEs feel was not covered.

When this guidebook was introduced, account executives sighed with relief. Although itʼs been around a

short while, mistakes and questions have dropped dramatically. In fact, an AE entered the ad managerʼs office earlier this week, sat down, stood right back up and said, “Oh Shit, I know where to find the answer to that,” before turning around to open their State News Companion.

Best Training Program – The Daily Collegian – Penn State University Goals: The Daily Collegian Business Division Training Program is designed to teach, motivate and empower our future staff members to become confident, professional, ethical and effective leaders. The program focuses on the importance of each trainee to the future of the newspaper. We are an independent, self-supporting student-run newspaper. Our student staff is responsible for bringing in more than $1.2 million in local ad revenue each year. The training program is comprehensive and allows Penn State students of all majors a unique opportunity to train for staff positions in Advertising Sales, Customer Service or Creative. The goal of the training program is to give each trainee the tools and skills to better the paper and themselves. We ask a lot of our trainees, but they get a lot in return – a unique invitation into the professional business world with substantial, measurable business experience on their resume. Frequency: We train every semester, and usually have between 25 and 30 trainees each semester (far fewer in the summer). In the past year we have trained about 65 new staff members. The program lasts for ten weeks. We have two evening training sessions a week. In addition, trainees are required to come to the office three hours a week for hands-on training in their individual departments. The program is comprehensive and results in extremely low attrition. Most staff members who finish training stay with us for their entire Penn State careers. Of the 31 students who began training in Fall 2009, 29 completed training and are on the staff. Frequent staff changes are a common complaint in our industry, but transitions are smoother when everyone is well trained. Such an intense training program results in a group of very committed staff members who feel ownership and pride in the paper. Professional Standards: Our main areas of focus in our training program are:

• Recruiting – two weeks: one week advertising and promotion and one week holding intro meetings

• Interviewing and Selection – one week • Training – Advertising Sales, Creative, Customer Service – ten weeks • Assessment and Mentoring – Quizzes and Final Test - ongoing • Recognition - ongoing • Guest Speakers - ongoing • Social Events - ongoing • Continuous training – Weekly staff meetings, Leadership Training for Future Managers.

Recruiting: Training/planning starts long before the first session. Objective: large pool of applicants. • A week of half-page color ads in the paper incorporate current-staff testimonials and

success stories of recent Collegian alumni in the workplace. Run before intro meetings • Identify specific Penn State departments and put recruiting announcements on list serves • Staff members who have classes in large lecture halls place overheads on classroom

projectors before class. • Our staff members hand out fliers in the huge Penn State freshman dorm complex (6,000

freshmen). It’s important to encourage younger students to apply. A big turnout for our introductory meetings allows us to be selective when it’s time to pick the

training class. This is key for us – we need to identify the best possible people for training. We hold two introductory meetings where we tell recruits about the Collegian, describe the demands of training, and emphasize the necessity for the time commitment from the training class. We make certain they know what they’re getting into! We let them know we are also a fun and social organization with formals, hayrides and socials. All interested recruits fill out an application, then we sign each one up for an interview the following week; we interview ALL applicants. (If they can’t make it to training due to classes or other obligations, we nicely ask them to apply a different semester.). We have interviewed as many as 80 applicants a semester, but we want to make sure to talk to everyone. Selecting the training class is a tricky time – trying to get the best people representing a variety of semester standings, and making sure we have diversity in the class are all serious considerations. Training : Once the training class is selected (usually about 25-30 people) the twice-weekly evening sessions begin. These sessions include a combination of important product-knowledge information from how to size and price ads to selling skills, to our Business Division Code of Ethics and everything to do with advertising in Collegian products, including the Web site. We discuss the advertising climate in the community, who our competitors are and how to sell in this economic environment. We discuss the relationship between the News Division and the Business Division and how both “sides” are dependent on each other, yet separate. Many sessions include a breakout portion where the trainees split off and do hands-on, interactive exercises with their specific departments. The hour goes fast and it’s very involving. The business adviser and students run and moderate all sessions.

Measuring performance: Every ten days the trainees are given a new checklist of specific knowledge they must demonstrate to managers. The checklists include everything from correctly filling out insertion orders, to answering the phone and transferring calls, to knowing the names and faces of the managers and professional staff. We keep them busy and engaged. We have quizzes on rates and calculations of prices for ads, questions about our address and phone number, policies and procedures. There is a final exam during the last week of training that is comprehensive and if a trainee fails, he or she is not accepted onto the staff. They may train again the following semester. The culmination for Sales trainees are Role Play Nights, when they do an extensive role play with their mentor, and are critiqued by the business adviser, the ad manager, the business manager and the three sales managers. Role Plays challenge trainees on rates, deadlines, policies and ethical concerns. All trainees come to observe. Sales trainees are assigned points from 1-10 for their role play and the rankings invariably correspond with the effort they have exhibited during training. It’s fun to see how much these trainees have learned in one semester. Midway through training the business adviser and department managers hold one-on-one evaluation meetings with each trainee to ask them privately how they’re doing and if they have concerns or comments. Sales trainees must go on five sales routes and report on them. Customer Service and Creative trainees are ranked on a STAR system. At the end of training we ask all trainees to give us an evaluation of the training program so we can address any issues. Mentoring : All sales trainees are required to go on five sales calls with account executives. There is a distinct relationship between the number of trainee sales calls and future sales performance. Sales trainees are assigned a mentor who is a senior account executive. Trainees become sales assistants to the mentors and do as much as possible to learn good selling habits and selling skills. Toward the end of the semester, the mentors turn over one (or more) of their accounts to the trainees and monitor them carefully in all client interaction. Mentors and trainees do some team selling to prepare the trainee for his or her own sales calls. Recognition: SPAM – Super Positive Attitude and Motivation is our weekly recognition award for trainees. Managers of the entry-level departments nominate trainees for the award. The recipient gets a can of SPAM and their picture on the wall for all to see! The Trainees of the Semester (one from each department) are announced at the last-deadline-of-the-semester party. Guest speakers: We like to bring in recruiters and former staff members to speak to the trainees. Recently, we brought in a former Collegian business manager who is now a PBS executive. She got their attention with a talk about her experiences selling in this area and her experiences as a staff member of the paper. It’s fun and engaging for the students. It’s exciting for the students when a former staff member comes directly to our office to recruit; it makes all the effort worth it. Social Events: We’re not ALL business! We include trainees in all social functions. In October 2009, for example, our trainees came to our annual hayride, and in December they came to the formal. We ask a lot of them, and want them to be included in the fun! It also builds a sense of community with the training class to be part of the bigger group. The Daily Collegian is a big student organization and we want it to be our staff members’ primary activity. Having social events helps make it more fun when they work so hard. Image of the paper: Our student staff HAS to believe in the paper and in its great benefit to the Penn State community! Every training session includes information designed to ensure our future staff members that they are selling THE best way for advertisers to reach the student market. We give them current circulation figures and marketing information. We have them participate in some of our many readership initiatives, such as our “Get Caught” contest; we “catch” students reading the paper in the union building, and give them a pair of movies tickets or a T-shirt. It’s good for trainees to do those things; it’s fun and makes them see for themselves the positive reactions of the public. Leadership Development Tier: The experience gained during a few semesters at The Daily Collegian is a path to higher staff positions. Because our staff is so big (nearly 100 people in the business division), Collegian managers developed a Leadership Development Training Tier to our training program. We offer all experienced staff members a chance to learn and transition to higher positions. The training includes management training sessions, hands-on training in the position, a lot of shadowing and a few extra hours spent in the department. After fulfilling the requirements of Leadership Training, the staff member may apply for management and specialist positions. So, how do we get people to do all this? They don’t get paid as a trainee and no one gets any academic credit. This is the question we always get when we describe our training program. It helps that our paper is read by 98 percent of Penn State students; there is definitely prestige to working here. We also sell ourselves really well with recruiting by emphasizing the career advantages and the social atmosphere. But, people stay here because it’s fun and worthwhile and where they make lifelong friends. And that’s why we would be honored to be named CNBAM’s Best Training Program!

The Daily Collegian: Measuring Trainee Success – Fall 2009 The Daily Collegian is a big organization and we want everyone to be as well trained as possible. You will never be asked to do things on your own until you have completed a semester of training; there will always be a senior staff member nearby!

You will be tested and drilled to make sure you’re ready to be a full-fledged staff member, though! By making sure you know everything, you’ll be confident and comfortable.

Here’s what you can expect: Attendance: Unless you are excused, you must attend every training session. Exams and dire illness are the only valid excuses. 1 point every training session attended (19 possible points) Checklists every ten days: These checklists require you to demonstrate knowledge of procedures, rates, ad sizes, late copy, payment methods, photo orders, knowing who all the managers are, and more. Checklists give you concrete tasks to accomplish when you’re in for office hours. Managers will sign off on the checklist as you demonstrate you abilities. Turn in at training on the due date. 1 point each (5 possible) Route reports: Advertising sales trainees must accompany mentors on five sales routes before the last selling day of Fall Semester (Wednesday, Dec. 9). After each sales call you must turn in a route report sheet detailing your observations of the sales calls. Of course, sales trainees may go on more than five routes – the more you observe and the more initiative you exhibit, the more confident you will be when you get your own clients! Creative and Customer Service trainees each go on one sales call. We want you to see what it’s like out there. Turn in your route report on due date. 1 point each (sky’s the limit) Quizzes: There’s a lot to know! You will have quizzes on a regular basis – normally you will be able to use your rate card because you will get drilled a lot on rate calculations. Always have a calculator! Quizzes will include policy questions, procedures, ethical dilemmas. Scores recorded and figured into final points Customer Service Role Plays: We will be doing a LOT of role plays throughout training. We want you to be comfortable answering phones, dealing with clients who come in over the counter and responding to demanding or unhappy clients. Manager comments recorded and figured into final points/evaluations Sales Role Plays: Aside from regular in-class role plays, sales trainees will be doing a major role play at the end of the semester with your mentor. Role plays will be awarded points from 1-10 and will be “judged” by the business adviser, the three sales managers, the ad manager and the business manager. Points will be averaged and are used by managers when assigning clients for next semester. Role plays cover handling objections, policy challenges, rate calculations, upselling, selling color, selling special products, selling Web. Be ready for anything! Points awarded 1-10. Results used in assigning clients Collegian Jeopardy: We will split into teams and prepare for the Final Exam with Jeopardy. It’s loud and fun and the winning team will get …drum roll please…a free pass to miss an 8 a.m. office period! Worth the effort! No points - just a fun way to review!! Final Exam: This final, comprehensive exam will determine who is accepted onto the staff. Be SURE to take your training binder home over Thanksgiving Break. If you get less than 70%, you will not be accepted onto the staff (you may train again next semester). You’ve worked so hard all semester – you NEED to pass this test!! MUST get a minimum of 70% to be accepted onto staff! SPAM: The Trainee of the Week each week will be awarded their own can of SPAM – Super Positive Attitude and Motivation. Your picture posing with the coveted can of SPAM will remain on the trainee bulletin board all semester. No points assigned, but “shining stars” are noticed around here! STARS: Customer Service Trainees earn stars for attendance, great performance and going above and beyond. The trainee with the most stars will be the Customer Service Trainee of the Semester! 1 point each (sky’s the limit) Trainees of the Semester: Creative, Sales and C.S. all name their department’s Trainee of the Semester. They will be recognized with an ad in the last issue of the paper for the semester (Friday, Dec. 11. They will be recognized at the deadline party on Wednesday, Dec. 9. Everyone remembers the Trainees of the Semester!! Something to shoot for!! Culmination of all points and effort!!

Top 10 Objections and Responses

1. “I am using my advertising budget in other media.” RESPONSE: “The Daily Collegian had an independent marketing company conduct research on the student market and found here (show the marketing packet) that 37.9% of students said they rely on newspapers for information

about the goods and services they purchase in this area. Plus 98% (40,180) of all Penn State students read The

Daily Collegian. It is evident that your business will benefit from the exposure The Daily Collegian can offer you.” REMEMBER : The more you back your statements with facts and statistics, the more credible and influential you are.

2. “Students are not our target market.” RESPONSE: “Being a student, I know we are constantly looking for ________ (fill in with examples specific to their business). By catering to the students, you are expanding your customer base by 42,000! The Daily Collegian can help you achieve this growth. Plus, we have a bonus market of faculty and staff. 63% of faculty and staff said they read The Daily Collegian in the last seven days (refer to marketing packet). *REMEMBER : This line is usually just an excuse. It is hard to believe a business exists in State College and ignores the 42,000 consumers living nearby. Give them an answer they can’t refute.

3. “I have had trouble with my prior Collegian reps. I can’t rely on you guys.” RESPONSE: “I am sorry you had an unfortunate experience with The Collegian. I will be your account executive this semester and I can guarantee that you can rely on me.” REMEMBER : Listen to their problems and resolve any outstanding problems. Try to rebuild the relationship - take him/her a paper everyday, build a personal relationship, think of ways we can help their business.

4. “I don’t have time.” RESPONSE: “We will do it for you. Our creative services are free and ads are created by rising stars in the business. I can have our creative department create an example for you. It’s that simple!” REMEMBER : According to industry studies, a client will say “no” 8 times before saying “yes.” Be persistent and tactful. Show them a spec and they will see how easy it is to advertise!

5. “My business is doing great. I do not have a need to advertise.” RESPONSE: “It is great to hear that your business is doing so well! Why do you think sales are up? Are you doing anything different? (Use this conversation to suggest they promote whatever is successful, etc.) It is important to use this momentum to continually reach the student market. It is a fickle market…students are constantly graduating, spending semesters abroad or at an internship, coming from branch campuses or other schools. The Daily Collegian can help you stay on top of the market and further increase your revenue.” REMEMBER : LISTEN to the client. Take the opportunity to learn about their business. Use this knowledge to apply our products to their business.

6. “I don’t have money to advertise. I can’t afford it.” RESPONSE: “Advertising IS expensive, and we can offer you the most cost effective way to reach the 42,000 students at Penn State. We can start small and effective…perhaps Coupon Corner, the Crossword sponsorship or the Sudoku sponsorship.” REMEMBER : Listen to their problems and be rational with them. Bring them some small, but creative spec ads. Work with their budget to make it work!

7. “Your rates are too expensive!” RESPONSE: “Actually, our rates are much lower than the industry standard. For example, the Centre Daily Times’ open rate is $31.39. Our open rate is only $12.80 and we are THE BEST way to reach the student market.” (Refer to marketing packet if necessary). We have proof that we reach your customers. REMEMBER : This is often just a line to get rid of you. Give them a response they can’t refute! Don’t be afraid to use the marketing packet!

8. “My ad is too small and gets lost in the rest of the paper.” RESPONSE: “We have a lot of great guaranteed placement positions that will ensure you ad is seen. For example Coupon Corner, Sponsorships, Display Classifieds, or you can run multiple 1x2s in one day. We have a client who does this and it proves to be very effective.” REMEMBER : This statement proves they are interested in advertising.

9. “All our advertising is done through the home office.” RESPONSE: “I believe the Collegian can help you increase revenue in this local store. Can we set up a meeting with the corporate contact?” REMEMBER : Sell the local manager first; work together to influence the corporate contact. When you do meet or talk to the corporate manager, be prepared and take a manager with you! Point out that the town is built around the Penn State students and that we are the best way to reach those 42,000 consumers.

10. “I never see results from my advertising. It’s like throwing money away.” RESPONSE: “I can understand your frustration. Let’s look at your prior advertising and make it effective.” REMEMBER : There is a lot that can go wrong in advertising. The ad is not creative enough, is not run frequently enough, the coupon is not good enough, etc. Work with them to make an EFFECTIVE ad plan.

Obviously, this is not a script! Use these responses and your own selling style to find a comfort zone when handling objections!!

Fall 2009 Training Schedule – The Daily Collegian – Penn State University Training is scheduled on Monday and Wednesdays from 6-7 p.m.

Monday, Sept. 28 through Monday, Dec. 7 - (of 31 trainees – 14 Sales, 9 Customer Service, 8 Creative – 29 successfully completed training) Monday Wednesday

Sept. 28: Get acquainted with new trainees! All Managers attend. Icebreaker, get trainees’ class schedules. Tell them the basic rules of training: attendance, office hours, procedures.

Sept. 30: Introduce our products – Daily, Weekly, Magazines, Web site. Tour the rate card. How to size and price ads. Exercise: measuring and pricing ads in the Daily in groups of three. Assign office schedules. Distribute training binders.

Oct. 5: Business Division Code of Ethics, Classified Advertising, vetting scam ads – what to do with problem ads. Exercise: price classifieds using classified form and rate card.

Oct. 7: Visit from Editor in Chief and General Manager. Discuss relationship between News and Business. Importance of commitment of staff to the future of the paper. Exercise: measure and price display and display classified ads.

Oct. 12: Assign mentors and get acquainted! Selling Skills – Intro sales tools: marketing report, rate card, promo pieces. Discuss how Collegian reaches the student market in a cost effective, powerful way. Managers illustrate with Role Plays. Exercise: Call for volunteers from training class to do role play. See who steps up! Award SPAM (Super Positive Attitude and Motivation) to trainee.

Oct. 14: Creative session – Creative managers talk about their department, show ads they have created for clients, how to do a spec request, discuss specifics of advertising design. Show “good ads, bad ads.” Exercise: Trainees break into groups and find what they think are good or bad ads in the paper. Discuss.

Oct. 19: Objections – Collegian-specific objections and how to counter them. Exercise: Role plays using objections. First managers and mentors demonstrate, then trainees. No shyness allowed! Discuss confidence and product knowledge. Award SPAM (Super Positive Attitude and Motivation) to trainee.

Oct. 21: Split the group: hands-on exercises night: Creative goes to Creative Dept. area to work on spec ads. Customer Service to office to insert mock classified on computer, Sales stays in classroom to practice using marketing materials in a sales call. More role plays.

Oct. 26: Web advertising, tour of Web site, Web ad sizing, pricing, packages. Quiz on important information, go over filling out forms correctly. Prizes of candy for correct insertion orders! How to answer the phones and transfer calls. Award SPAM (Super Positive Attitude and Motivation)

Oct. 28: Go over Monday’s quiz. Split the group – Creative goes to Creative Dept., Customer Service to office to “take over the office” simulation. Sales stays in classroom to learn Ad Plans and how to plan a schedule of advertising using contract rates and earned rates. Halloween candy for all!!

Nov. 2: National Advertising, National Direct and Local: Review. Exercise: Role Play on figuring our which clients get the Local rate. Split group: Creative to Creative Dept. for hands on practice and critiques, CS to office to work on Collegian Store details and PayPal, Sales on Objectives and rapport-building skills, Closing. Award SPAM

Nov. 4: Rate quiz. Quiz on all kinds of rate calculations. Split group for special drills. Sales stays in classroom for role plays on closing the sale. Sales trainees are assigned clients for the rest of the semester, to be monitored by mentors and managers.

Nov. 9: Promotions and Layout come and talk about departments, Exercise: Scam or not?? Acceptability and procedures review. Advertising policies, contracts. Award SPAM (Super Positive Attitude and Motivation) to trainee.

Nov. 11: Jeopardy Night! Get ready for fun and games and show your stuff! Valuable prizes for the winning team. Treats for all! This is a review for the final test.

Nov. 16: Simulation night for everyone. Answer the phone, place ads, deal with nasty clients, fill out forms, sell ads, transactions via Collegian Store, give new-client info. Award SPAM (Super Positive Attitude and Motivation) to trainee.

Nov. 18: Guest visit: former Collegian business manager and executive at PBS talks to trainees about sales and her experiences at the paper. Q & A

Nov. 30: Sales Role Plays with mentors, critiques by managers and business adviser – all trainees attend and observe Award SPAM

Dec. 2: Sales Role Plays continued with mentors and critiques by managers and business adviser. All trainees attend and observe

Dec. 7: Final Exam: - comprehensive – trainees must pass to be on staff. Dec. 9 – Trainees of the Semester announced at last deadline party!

TCU Daily Skiff CNBAM Best Training program

Training for Skiff advertising representatives begins when they are hired for the position. Each ad rep is given a rate card and media kit to study before returning for training the following semester. As the “face” of the Skiff in the community, it is imperative that we prepare our students properly.

Training begins one to two weeks before the first publication date for the semester. Ad reps spend two or three days in extensive training, then begin supervised calls to set appointments with advertisers. Training includes practice sessions on completing insertion orders, making cold calls, and role‐playing on sales calls. Brainstorming sessions help foster open discussion on different ideas for clients. Topics covered include who to contact for specific events, specific categories of clients and times they should advertise, ways to keep current with events affecting advertising at the Skiff, and sources for information about our clients’ businesses. Ad reps are thoroughly trained on their role as a liaison between the client and the ad designers. Attention to detail and organizational priorities are emphasized as key factors to achieving success in this job. After time is given to assimilate the information covered, sales reps discuss their account list with the ad manager or business manager. This discussion covers account history, ideas for advertising campaigns, and general information about the business. Knowledge of a clients’ business is critical to successful ad sales.

At mid‐semester, the ad manager and business manager complete evaluations of all ad reps. Ad reps complete a self‐evaluation form that is then compared with the ones completed by the managers. The evaluation covers selling, office procedures, follow‐up, and team skills. The ad manager meets with the ad rep to discuss strengths and weaknesses identified. The most integral facet of ad rep training is the weekly sales meeting. At each sales meeting, ad reps are made aware of special promotions, congratulated on recent achievements, and updated on progress towards goals and quotas. Upcoming events on campus and upcoming advertiser events are compared to coordinate advertising opportunities. Contests and bonus opportunities are discussed with reps. Weekly meetings are used to pass along new information from sources such as the CNBAM Advertising Sales Resource Guide, the NAA plan book, Web sites, the Fort Worth Star Telegram and Dallas Morning News(our local papers), and other handouts. Speakers are occasionally brought in to discuss refresher topics for ad reps. These speakers are from the local professional community, and may be in sales, design, or training. Former ad reps are also brought in to discuss how to maximize future opportunities while working at the Skiff. During the week, additional memos and sales materials are circulated in the ad rep mail boxes for reading Two bulletin boards and a calendar are also updated continuously. Current sales for the pay period, current sales for the semester, quotas, deadlines, upcoming events, contest updates and new ideas are here to keep ad reps informed.

At the end of the semester, ad reps are asked to complete a job evaluation. This evaluation provides feedback for the ad manager, with possible suggestions for improvement in the advertising office. This allows us to complete the semester by learning from the ad reps, not just them learning from the management staff.

Additionally, ad designers are brought in before the beginning of the semester. Their training consists primarily of office procedures and work flow, since they are hired with prior experience in the design programs. Details and spell‐check are emphasized in addition to the flow of communication with ad reps and the ad manager. Ad designers are updated continuously with information from trade magazines and Web sites. Software training is enhanced by bringing in vendor reps and software trainers from the university.

The student ad manager is offered training in peer management from the Human Resources department. The ad manager for the next fall semester attends the CNBAM convention in March each year.

Our goal in training our ad reps is not only to make them successful at the Skiff, but to adequately prepare them for post‐graduation employment. Whatever professional field they pursue, preparation and training in communication and work skills learned at the Skiff will serve them well both while working at the Skiff and beyond.

Skiff Advertising Training- Day 1 Monday August 10, 2009

9:00 a.m. – 9:30 a.m Introduction

• Meet and greet; breakfast 9:30 a.m. – 10:00 a.m. In The Office

• Tour of the office • Important information (office/fax phone

numbers, copier password, e-mail password) 10:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. Everything Newspaper

• Mechanics of newspaper • Terminology • History of the Skiff • So Why Advertise in the Newspaper?

11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. Computer System / Ad Design

• Usernames and Passwords • Ad Server • Maintenance • Production Requests • Proofs / EPS system • Email and Email Etiquette

1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. Organization and Time Management

• Organizing Sales Materials • CRM Overview • Using a Planner • Office Hours • Tardies and Absences • Communication with Kerry and Bitsy • Balancing Skiff, School, and Life • Account Book and Respecting Other Ad Reps

Accounts 2:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. Review

• Questions • Scavenger Hunt • Pop Quiz • Trainee Questions and Kerry / Bitsy’s Answers

Skiff Advertising Training – Day 2 Tuesday August 11, 2009 9:00 a.m. – 9:15 a.m. Breakfast and Review 9:15 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

So What Does the Skiff Have to Offer? • Rates, Sizes, Color • Special Sections • Discounts • Insertion orders • Powerbuys • Payment • Quota System

1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. Building and Maintaining a Business Relationship

• Initial Contact • Professional Demeanor At All Times • At the Meeting • Day to Day Account Service • Communication • Follow Up • End of the Semester

2:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. Cold Calling Turned Warm- Effective Prospecting

• New Business Leads • Organization • Phone Etiquette • Reasons to Call • Set Appointments- Don’t Sell Over the

Phone/Email • Persistence • Phone Blitzes • Make It a Daily Habit

3:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. Review Skiff Advertising Training – Day 3 Wednesday August 12, 2009 9:00 a.m. – 9:30 p.m. Review and Expectations 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. Distribute and Review Account Lists

• Review CRM 1:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. Organization

• Review Account Books • Distribute Ad Rep Schedules • Set Deadlines, Goals, Quota, Special Section

Contest • Prepare for Semester of Selling • Sign work contract – terms and conditions

TCU Daily Skiff Account Executive Terms and Conditions

The following are the terms and conditions for employment with the TCU Daily Skiff as an account executive. This agreement shall be held between ___________________, Tiffany Raymer and Bitsy Faulk.

I. Tardiness When you are late you waste everyone’s time and your own. It will not be tolerated. “Late” is defined by being 10 MINUTES past the time on the clock in the Skiff Advertising office.

a. Tardiness consequences will be applied to the weekly staff meeting and daily office hours.

b. Tardiness Consequences i. First offense: bring snacks to next staff meeting ii. Second offense: an extra hour will be required in the office iii. Third offense: 10 inches will be docked from your quota

c. Although I cannot enforce these consequences for your client meetings, please remember that when you are late, it reflects poorly on the Skiff as a whole. Make your standard to be 5 minutes early.

II. Appropriate Dress for client meetings You only have one chance to make a first impression. This is important. You are the face of the Skiff that our client sees. Please be dressed well. No tennis shoes, sandals, jeans, hats or tee shirts. If you have to think about if you can wear it, chances are you can’t. For all, suit pieces are required for first visit.

a. Men i. Men may wear suit pants, pressed khakis with absolutely no frays, a belt,

pressed dress shirt, and a tie is optional. If wearing a polo shirt, it must be tucked in with a belt. Please wear clean, polished dress shoes. You are a professional, so you should look like one.

b. Women i. Women may wear suit pants, a pencil skirt, a pressed blouse or a business

casual dress not too revealing. Please wear clean, polished heels or flats. Open toed heels are not considered professional so please avoid wearing them. Make sure your hair is out of your face and you are not playing with it.

1. Dresses: a sun dress is not business casual. If dress does not have sleeves, please wear a cardigan. Also please pay attention to length when you sit. If you have to think if the dress is appropriate, it isn’t. You are a professional, so you should look like one.

c. Incorrect dress consequences i. This cannot be enforced easily. But please know that if Tiffany or Bitsy see you

heading to or at a client meeting not adhering to these stated guidelines, you will be required to wear a full suit to each office hour for a week.

III. Office Behavior a. During your assigned hour you must be actively working. This is considered making

phone calls, doing paperwork, or responding to SKIFF emails. Please avoid personal emailing and extended personal phone calls. No Facebook. Please no homework/studying during office hour. Plan accordingly.

i. If one cannot make office hour, please find a replacement and write the change on the white board. Tiffany and Bitsy are not replacements.

b. The Skiff office may be used for homework and studying. If you become disruptive or distracting, you will be asked to leave. No group projects during office hours.

c. Please keep conversation office appropriate and professional. d. Phone behavior

i. You are not trying to be friends with your client. You are trying to earn their trust and respect. Always always be professional and use professional language. A client can hear if you are smiling while you are talking.

e. Office dress i. Do not look sloppy. No pajamas. If you are sloppy or in your pajamas you will act

sloppy and sleepy. You are not at home. f. Consequences (per day basis)

i. You will get one warning. Your office time is important, please use it effectively. ii. If behavior continues after warning, 10 inches will be docked from your quota. iii. If inches get docked three times, you will have to have a discussion with Tiffany

and Bitsy.

IV. Basic Requirements Among the already stated requirements the following also apply.

a. You will be required to have at least three (3) face to face calls a week. i. These must be Skiff related

1. Appointment, picking up invoice, dropping off paper. Stopping by to say “hello” does not count, nor does using their service.

b. A copy of the paper must be dropped off at least once a month to EVERY client who is advertising.

c. You must make an appearance in the office outside of your office hour every day to check for messages.

d. You are responsible for your client’s ads and spec ads. Please make sure they are getting done and on time. The correctness of the ad is your responsibility. Before the ad gets placed in the paper please check it for content and grammar errors. The consequence of failing to check your ads is an angry client.

e. Consequences i. You have been informed about your three weekly required face to face meetings

and daily office appearances. 1. First failure to meet this requirement will result in five face to face calls

the following week. 2. Second failure will be an extra hour in the office. 3. Third failure will be 10 docked inches from your quota.

Advertising account executive must adhere to the stated terms and conditions of their employment at the TCU Daily Skiff. Failure to perform at these minimum requirements will result in the stated consequence. Please do not make the mistake in thinking that your offenses are not being documented. By signing this contract, you are confirming that you understand the requirements of your position and agree to accept the stated consequences. Please sign and date. _______________________________ Account Executive Date _______________________________ Advertising Manager Date _______________________________ Business Manager Date

2221 University Avenue Southeast | Suite 450 | Minneapolis, MN 55414 Office: (612) 627-4080 | Fax: (612) 435-5865

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4b. Best Training Program CNBAM 2010 Annie Chapman, Retail Sales Manager The Minnesota Daily The launch of The Daily Dozen sales recruitment and training program was the beginning of an entirely new way for The Minnesota Daily to hire and train new Marketing Consultants. The program began to increase the amount of qualified applicants for the sales team. The Daily Dozen not only did that, increasing the applicant pool for the marketing consultant position from 8 in spring 2008 to 70 in spring 2009, but it also provided a structured and thorough training program for new Marketing Consultants to go through. Although the Daily Dozen was a one-time campaign to hire 12 new Marketing Consultants, the structure from the program is what is now used to hire and train Marketing Consultants. The Daily Dozen will continue to be used in years to come as The Minnesota Daily’s spring recruitment and training tool. The overarching concept for the Marketing Consultant training, as developed by The Daily Dozen, is to train and test all qualified candidates before they are hired, rather than after. This is in order to screen candidates before they are trusted with the responsibility of managing an existing client base. The qualified applicant pool for the The Daily Dozen, a group of 23 individuals, went through 3 half day training sessions. The sessions were guided by both the Retail Sales Manager and the Classified Sales Manager. Initial training was very basic, giving applicants the tools they would need to demonstrate their sales skills in accordance with The Minnesota Daily’s sales department. Preliminary training included presentations covering the difference between classified and retail sales, sizing of ads and the difference between broadsheet and tabloid style, online advertising, ad inserts, contracts and the discounts associated, and the pay and bonus structures. Marketing Consultants were also educated about the other departments at The Minnesota Daily and how they would interact with them. This included being informed about the distribution department in regards to newspaper rack advertisements that they would be responsible for selling. The editorial division and what is acceptable and unacceptable for Marketing Consultants to do as a liaison between editorial and advertising was presented. Applicants also learned about ad production and how the department could be used as a tool for them to sell ads to clients, along with deadlines necessary for ad production. Finally, the finance department was discussed in terms of the forms of payment accepted, the options for timing of payment, and acceptable terms for clients to be on credit. Upon wrapping up the first day of training, candidates were given a Media Kit to study and prepare for further training. After the first day of training applicants had the knowledge needed to demonstrate their ability to make a sales pitch and perform other duties of a Marketing Consultant. Applicants formed teams of 2 or 3 (just like the teams that Marketing Consultants are in when hired) in order to put together mock sales pitches. Each team was given 2 prospective clients to research. After 45 – 60 minutes of internet research teams had to present their pitches to the Retail and Classified Sales Managers, as they acted as if they were the client. This gave the managers and idea of: 1) How applicants interact and react in situations with indefinite conversation and outcomes 2) How applicants handle objection, and 3) If applicants did the proper research and knew the proper facts in order to successfully prospect a client. Another aspect of The Daily Dozen Training was to go through features and benefits of different sections of the paper and different special publications The Minnesota Daily puts out. This


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helped candidates understand The Minnesota Daily as an advertising tool and how they could present it to potential clients. This was also a great way for the managers to see which candidates thought creatively and were outgoing. Each of the 3 training sessions for The Daily Dozen included guest speakers in the marketing and advertising industry. Speakers were from companies such as Red Bull, Vector Marketing, The Star Tribune, IBM, and The University of Minnesota – Carlson School of Management. The speakers discussed topics including time management, following up with clients, their experiences in sales and marketing, and tips to be successful in sales. The Minnesota Daily has taken elements of The Daily Dozen program and condensed them into a week long process to keep up with the turnover and demand for Marketing Consultants. Guest speakers and workshops that focus on closing sales, overcoming objections, features & benefits, and prospecting are incorporated into weekly sales meetings. The Retail Sales Manager, in collaboration with the entire sales department coordinates the attendance of guest speakers and Senior Marketing Consultants plan and conduct workshops. The training tools used in The Daily Dozen, which have translated into training to be used continuously, form a cycle of training that encourages growth within the company and continued expansion of sales knowledge for all Marketing Consultants. Now, all new Marketing Consultants start at a new business desk, which means they have no client base to work with. There are always 4 Marketing Consultants with a new business desk and they work closely with each other to prospect and share tips they have learned. Senior Marketing Consultants have the responsibility to take the new Marketing Consultants on client meetings, while also going along to any meetings they may set up. This helps the Marketing Consultants to learn by observation and transition into becoming a Retail, Classified, University, or National Marketing Consultant. Like teams of existing Marketing Consultants work towards a common sales goal, new business Marketing Consultants share one monthly sales goal. By testing their skills and developing sales know how with prospective clients, while attending workshops and guest speakers, new Marketing Consultants are fully prepared when one of the existing client bases becomes available to be taken over. This has proven to help with our clients’ frustration with the high turnover and constant changing of Marketing Consultants.


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Marketing Consultant Training Week Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

7 am

8 am

9 am

10 am

11am Introductions Product Computer Prospecting & Mock Pitches

Workshops

Structure: Editorial, Business,

Print: Sizing, Special Issues, Inserts, Inch

• AdPro • Shortel Phone system

Guest speakers

12 pm

Administrative

contracts, how to schedule

• Bussiness tracker

Where to prospect How to prepare

Overcoming Objections

Breakdown of Sales Department

Online: Pricing, Options, how to

• Outlook • DIG 360 (in office instant

messaging)

Understanding and overcoming objections

Features and Benefits

1 pm Classified vs. Retail Schedule Unique Advertising:

Practice pitches with existing marketing

Time Management

Roles of a Marketing Consultant

Rack ads, Moe Sightings

• Where to locate necessary files

consultants and sales managers

Following Up

2 pm Contracts: Inch vs. Integrated Market-‐

• MyDaily.mndaily.com Begin to prospect and prepare for calls

Prospecting

ing and Commincat-‐ ions (IMC), new

Closing

3 pm client discounts Deadlines: Art,

Payment, Scheduling

4 pm Ad Produtction: what they do, how

*Workshops are continuous (every

marketing consultants utilize

Friday) Topics of workshops

5 pm them, deadlines

depends on current sales department

objectives Guest speakers

6 pm come on an as available basis

3 pm


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The Daily Dozen – Timeline

Session 1 Session 2 Session 3

Topics Covered • Classified and Retail Sales

• Sizing (print ads, broadsheet, tabloid)

• Online • Inserts • Contracts &

Discounts • Pay & Bonus

structure • Structure of the

Minnesota Daily (including roles and interaction with other departments)

• Role of the Marketing Consultant

• Features & benefits brainstorming

• Feedback from existing Marketing Consultants (in attendance at this session)

• Marketing Consultant tools and resources (computer systems)

• Advertising Production

• Expectations upon beginning of job duties (if selected)

• Timeframe from this point forward (when decisions will be made)

Activities • Introductions – ice breaker

• Guest Speaker

• Prospecting research • Mock Pitches • Guest Speaker

• Guest Speaker

Take Home • Media Kit • Marketing Consultant position binder

• Feedback from managers

Best Training Program The University Times UNC Charlotte

Training is the most important part of any job or career and we feel no differently at the

University Times. With that being said, our managers work hard and spend countless hours

doing basically never‐ending training. The training that we do here at the U‐Times is very

creative; we use everything from hands on training to shadowing. While creating a new

training program, we consider the new reps as well as ongoing training for our experienced

reps. Initial training for new reps is done a week before school begins. The main goal for this

training is to make new reps knowledgeable about all of our products and to make them

comfortable and successful when selling our products.

To start the day we have a couple of ice‐breakers and team building activities that

everyone participates in, just to get to know each other and to do some bonding. We also have a

brief introduction to other areas in student media from production to our literary arts

magazine. Throughout the rest of the day there are multiple presentations put on by our

marketing managers, which involve role‐playing and other hands on activities. The

presentations concentrate on professionalism, from dress code to client relationships.

The next day we introduce the returning reps to the newly acquired reps. Again we

start this day out with team building activities, which allows the new reps to get to know the

older reps. As the day goes on we start getting into how to sell. We start by going through every

aspect of selling and doing multiple role‐playing and different scenarios. We like to hit

objections hard and show our new reps, as well as our returners, how to be ready for any

objection. As a sales rep, they will receive many objections, and knowing how to over come

those could mean the difference in making a sale or not. We at the University Times pride

ourselves in being very personable with our clients and we train the sales team on how to stay

in contact and make follow up calls to all of their clients.

After the basics of selling are done we dive into University Times advertising sales. We

go over the rate card and how to calculate different prices. Then we hit on doing the

paperwork, i.e. insertion orders, production request, and run sheets. Then we give them some

scenarios and ask them to do the paperwork for “fake advertisers.” At the end of the day we go

over our numbers from last year and tell them goals for this year. The older reps give their

suggestions on how things can work differently and what they would like to see happen and

even some of the newer reps have great ideas that we can use in our upcoming year.

Even though we only do these couple days of initial training, training is an ongoing

process. We make sure to let them see what working at a college newspaper is really like, so

that they can make sure it is going to work for them. New reps are assigned to “buddy up” with

older reps for one to two weeks, going on sales calls with them, watching them fill out paper

work, and listening to their selling tactics over the phone. After that the manager will

accompany them to their first couple of meetings, for support and to help them if they get

stuck.

Weekly sales meetings are held and are mandatory. There we discuss the previous

week’s work and talk about the upcoming week. We go over any issues that arise and then have

a short training session. Every week includes continuing education including information on

making cold calls, closing a sale and objections to name a few. At least once a month we have a

sales professional come in and talk about sales or feature their own training program.

This training program has proven to be successful as the reps are knowledgeable about

our products and can easily share their information with clients. Our managers take pride in

training reps and are happy when their numbers show success. Training is laying the

foundation for creating a good sales rep, and through our training program we have been

successful in producing not only amazing sales reps, but good people.

This is the training schedule we have set up for each new rep. This is a two‐week training session. Day 1: Introduction to all of our departments and staff. 1 hour

• Production • Sanskrit Literary Arts Magazine • University Times Newspaper • Charlotte Radio Station

Day 2: Go over rate card and different selling tools. 2 hours

• Fake newspaper • Poster Flyers • Special Section Flyers • Advertising Planbook

Day 3: Go over all of the paperwork that comes with selling ads. 1 hour

• Insertion Orders, regular issue, special section, online • Production Requests • Run Sheet • Contracts

Day 4: Overcoming objections. 1 hour

• Too expensive • Newspapers are dying • I rely on word of mouth • Everyone already knows who we are

Day 5: Everything about cold calling. 1.5 hours

• How to find clients • What to say • How to set up meetings

Day 6: Indepth roleplaying. 2 hours

• Fake call from an advertiser • Fake call to an advertiser • Fake face to face meeting

Day 7: Shadow a sales rep in the office. 2 hours

• See how an actual rep cold calls, does paper work, etc… Day 8: Shadow a different sales rep in the office. 2 hours

• Watches a different rep to see how their tactics are different Day 9: Go along with marketing director on a facetoface meeting. 2 hours

• Watch a face to face meeting Day 10: Review, actual sales call with existing client. 2 hours

• Go over everything learned • Give them a client to call

After all of this we expect them to have developed their own style of selling.

Not everyone’s approach to selling is the same, so by them seeing two sales reps and the marketing director sell, they should be able to find their own style.

Even though this is the end of the new reps initial training, training never

completely stops.

The University Daily Kansan – CNBAM Best Training Program

The University Daily Kansan is a $1.25 million per year business that is written, managed and sold by students. Therefore it is essential that our new account executives get the most that they possibly can out of training. During the summer new account executives are put through 3 days of training whereas during the Spring and Fall they must go through 5 days. These training sessions begin a week prior to our first deadline of the semester. One of the very first things that new hires learn about is the proud history of our paper. They are told about famous alums that have worked on the paper and how they got their chance to succeed in their careers by sitting in the same chairs that our new hires now occupy. The reason for this is to instill in them a great sense of pride from day one but to also encourage them to absorb and learn as much as they can in training so that they can hit the ground running once training is complete. During training new account executives start with the basics such as; learning about our various products, how to fill out an insertion order, how to calculate ad rates, what our daily circulation is and stats on our readership. We then move onto more complex subjects such as how to sell special sections, how to sell ad campaigns, how to overcome objections, closing, selling against competitive media, packaging print and on-line, and how to sell new business. At the same time we also hold sessions on professionalism and ethics and also tips on selling in a down economy. All throughout this week our new account executives are also constantly practicing in front of each other on mock sales calls and afterwards receiving constructive criticism from both managers and their fellow ad reps alike. Each new account executive is assigned an experienced manager or account executive who serves as their “buddy” throughout training. They pair up with the buddy to learn how to do tasks such as filling out insertion orders and learning the paper’s rate structure. They can also go to this buddy throughout the week with any and all questions that they may have. Each day culminates with “Zone Wars” where the new account executives are placed into teams and into a game-show like environment where they must answer questions related to what they learned that day. The winning team for the day receives prizes such as being the first to pick office hours or a gift card for dinner that night. The week culminates with “certification”. This is a morning-long process on the final day of training where a new account executive must carry out three mock sales calls in front of student managers and demonstrate what they have learned from the past week and that they are ready to sell. If during these mock calls a new account executive shows areas that need improvement their manager will know immediately what areas to focus on to help them improve. After certification is complete then the account executive is given their client list and sits down with their manager to figure out who needs to be contacted first and also tips on how to handle some of the more problematic clients. Training does not end after this week however as throughout the semester we constantly look to sharpen the skills of our staff. At weekly staff meetings if the managers have noticed an area that needs improvement such as new business sales they will spend perhaps ten minutes at the meeting reviewing suggested tactics to help the sales staff

improve. As often as possible the ad staff will meet on one day per month to have lunch together at what is called “SWOT Meetings”. At these meetings everyone is asked to bring a client that they are having difficulties with. The account executive gives a breakdown of the challenges they are facing and then as a group the students discuss the situation and offer solutions in terms of suggested sales tactics, new product mixes and oftentimes even changing the creative aspects of the ad campaign. Not only does this group discussion help give the account executive who presented the client with some fresh ideas but everyone on staff begins to think of similar clients as the discussion takes place and learns new ways to better sell and serve those clients.

Throughout the semester we also look to bring an outside perspective to our training as well by inviting professionals to speak to our students. These professionals include former account executives from The Kansan who are now selling professionally, former advisers to The Kansan and sales trainers from The Kansas City Star. Each of them helps bring perspective on what skills our account executives will need upon graduation while at the same time offering tips and advice on how our sales team can individually sharpen their skills. At the end of each respective semester we find that our account executives have progressed greatly from where they started on day one and are now ready to go into the next semester and help teach the next group of new account executives how to be successful as well. And most importantly our account executives are better prepared upon graduation to put their skills to work in the real world.

DAY 1: UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN SUMMER TRAINING

SCHEDULE 9:00 am: Getting to know you:

-Returning Staff Member Introductions: Say your full name, position, and time at the Kansan -New Staff Members Introductions: Say your full name, position, and year in school. What you are most excited about for the summer -All Staff Members: Describe your ideal Dream Vacation

9:20 am: Talk from Jon Schlitt: Sales and Marketing Advisor 9:30 am: Welcome to the Kansan -Kansan History, traditions and legacy 9:40 am: Why it’s vital to surpass your quota 9:50 am: Expectations 10:00 am: Things you’ll need to know: -Addie Lingo (handout) -Kansan Products (handout) -Summer Kansan -Weekly Specials -Back to School Guide (BTS) -Menu Guide -Football Poster -Color 10:40 am: Day in the life of an addie with returners 11:10 am: Office tour with BUDDIES

-Fabian and Elliot -Maria and Feliks -Sarah and Joe -Charlie and Andrew 12:00 pm: Lunch with Zone 1:30 pm: Rate Card Training in Room 100 1:45 pm: Rate Card Training with buddies 3:00: Sales Training with Todd and Cassie -The first step: Research -Good questions and the needs analysis -Selling benefits and not features 3:50 pm: Sales Training in sessions -Session #1: Competitive Media with Fabian in Addie office (Andrew, Joe, Sarah)

-Session #2: Ethical Behavior and Professionalism with Jon and Cassie Jon’s office (Feliks, Elliot, Charlie)

Switch every 20 minutes

4:30 pm: What we want you to know at the end of the day 4:35 pm: ZONE WARS 5:00 pm: Meet in zones to end the day


SCHEDULE 9:00 am: Getting to know you -Question sheet 9:30 am: Malcolm Gibson: General Manager of the Kansan 10:00 am: Good Client Call vs. Bad Client Call -Good: Todd (client) and Sarah (rep) -Bad: Cassie (client) and Fabian (rep) 10:30 am: Sales Training with Todd and Fabian -Objection Handling 11:20 am: Sales Training with Charlie -New Business 12:00 pm: Lunch as a staff 1:30 pm: Sales Training in sessions -Session #1: Colors/Emotional Intelligence with Cassie in addie office (Andrew and Elliot) -Session #2: Proposals/Campaigns with Sarah in Room 100 Switch every 30 minutes 2:30 pm: Sales Training with Maria in Room 100 -Closing 3:00 pm: Creative Collaboration with Cassie and Casey in Room 100 3:45 pm: Contracts and paperwork with buddies 4:30 pm: Certification info 4:40 pm: Zone Wars 5:00 pm: Meet in zones to end the day


SCHEDULE 9:00 am: Getting to know you -2 truths and a lie 9:15 am: Deece Pay Structure with Todd

-How are you getting paid? -Commission -High commission stories, K-Club 9:30 am: Creative Information with Casey 10:00 am: Vince Coultis -Training and Development Manager at Kansas City Star 11:00 am: Important Staff Information 11:10 am: Lunch at the Kansan 12:00 pm: Final thoughts from Management staff and preparation with buddies 1:00 pm: Certification 2:40 pm: Meet in Room 100 -Distribute client lists 2:50 pm: Meet with Zone -Go over client lists and start selling!

Part of our training program involves a speakers’ series, where we invite members of Pittsburgh’s advertising community to host our sales meeting and present some aspect of the sales industry to our business staff. Management from the Pittsburgh Post Gazette, the Pittsburgh Tribune Review, Pittsburgh City Paper, Pittsburgh Business Times and Pittsburgh Magazine speak to us about objections, prospecting for new business, presentation skills and general sales skills. Students get to hear first hand how the business world operates outside of our academic confines, and since several of our speakers are alumni of The Pitt News’ business division, students have the opportunity to see how their current jobs might carry them into sales careers after graduation. Training is a continual process at The Pitt News. Every week in our sales meeting, our professional staff and our student managers lead sessions on sales, the newspaper industry and our own operations so that by the end of a full year, account executives have a complete understanding of our business. Most weekly sessions are extensions of formal training; once sales reps have been on the job for a while, they are able to apply lessons from formal training, but they are also more likely to have reality-based questions and situations which are better addressed in the sales meeting forum. Comprehensive training programs include a balanced blend of formal classroom sessions and field experience. The Pitt News’ training program incorporates weekly training on issues that have directly affected our reps during the previous week, and supplements those sessions with reading materials, videos, audio tapes and management assistance.

Sales reps that plan to stay on for another year become senior account executives and are expected to contribute to the training process that begins once again in the spring. Those who are promoted to management are placed immediately into the shadows of current managers, who train them in the office and in off-site meetings for the duration of second semester. The Business Manager, Sales Manager and Inside Sales Manager have individual meetings throughout the spring and summer with both the Advertising Adviser and the General Manager. These meetings serve as the foundation for management training. Sessions include discussions on interview/recruiting skills, time management, delegation, strategizing, training the staff, compensation plans, budget, setting quotas and goals, new product launches, creating a new media kit, and marketing plans.

As a result of our training program and team atmosphere, advertising revenue has

consistently increased over the past five years, and our team has been complimented by several of our advertisers as being “extremely professional compared to other local media sales reps”. Reps themselves express their satisfaction in our program when given an opportunity to evaluate the formal training session. Analysis of the training survey results in our annual redesign of the training program according to students’ suggestions and comments.

We are proud to watch the growth of a new sales employee, and prouder still to see them

accept job offers from prominent companies after their careers here…and we hope they’ll someday come back to speak, to be part of the ongoing training process here at The Pitt News.

THE PITT NEWS’ WEEKLY SALES MEETINGS--TRAINING SESSIONS January Role Play: Knowing Your Market The Value of Teamwork Objections and Open-ended Questions Guest Speaker: Bill Cotter, (V.P.Advertising Pgh Trib Review) February Contract Policy Creating a Proposal The Formal Presentation Guest Speaker: Natalie McMurtrie, (Acct Exec, Pgh Business Times) March Personal Integrity Keeping the Momentum Going Summer Discount Packages Selling into the New Student Guide April Wrapping up your Relationships Your Resume Training the Summer/New Reps May Selling the New Student Guide Saturating your Territory The Value of Summer Issues Account Management June When your Customer Just Says No Prospecting, and the Sales Funnel Communicating-Verbal, Written, Body Common Objections July Leaving Voice Mails/ Gatekeepers When you Hit a Sales Slump Production Training Selling the Welcome Back Issue

August Managing the Welcome Back Training the New Staff Transitioning Accounts to New Staff September I Don’t Know Where to Begin Role Play with All Kinds of Customers Guest Speaker: Paul Klatzkin, (Ad Director, City Paper) Review Contract/Payment Policies Learning your Product- The Paper, The Media Kit, The Market October Production-Review of Technical Requirements. PhotoShop Overview Our Bottom Line- In-Depth Look at our Billing/Slow Pay/Collections policies Guest Speaker: Amanda Johnson, (Acct. Exec. Virginia Pilot) Online Advertising Review and Sales Techniques November Role Play: the semester’s worst calls Radio: How to approach heavy radio advertisers Being a Consultant Voice Mail and Gatekeepers December Getting organized for next semester Guest Speaker: Randall Brant, (VP Advertising, Pittsburgh Post Gazette)

THE PITT NEWS ABBREVIATED VERSION OF FALL FORMAL TRAINING

DAY 1 Introductions History Organization Chart-Job Expectations and Descriptions Understanding Newspapers (Video on Advertising) Icebreaker Exercise Tour of Office-The Departments of The Pitt News Our Product Line: Print/Online/Special Sections/Inserts/Classified Our Market-Our Readers Our Rate Card-How to read it and explain it to your customers Production and Insertion Vocabulary Forms you need to know: Insertion Orders/Commission Reports/Kills/Design Orders/Daily Logs Who Wants to Win $25-Trivia game on stuff that’s really not Trivia… Reports: Monthly Contract/Sales Update/Account Master/Commission How to Make Money: Compensation Plan/Incentives/Bonuses Q & A DAY 2 Office Basics: The Copier, passwords to email, the fax, payroll sign-up, your files in our system, letterhead, templates for proposals. Open production lab hour: playing with Macs and finding the essentials in the system Your Territory: Managing it/Saturating it/Spending time in it/The typical work day Building Rapport with your Customers: Asking the right questions/Finding out what your customer really wants/Delivering the paper on a regular basis/Up-selling and Cross-selling your customers Prospecting The Sales Funnel, and how to keep it full Our internal Prospecting system: how to claim a new prospect Basic requirements on monthly prospecting/reporting Time in the Field with Veterans and Managers: Scoping out your territory for the first time What to take with you when you go into your territory Meeting your biggest customers

The Pitt News Training Survey Please let us know what you think of our Formal Training Sessions. Rate each session with 1 being not effective and 5 being very effective. Production Overview 1 2 3 4 5 How The Pitt News Works (editorial/production/advertising flow)1 2 3 4 5 Paperwork (Insertion Orders etc.) 1 2 3 4 5 Account Management 1 2 3 4 5 Sales:Objections/Presentations/ Proposals/Prospecting 1 2 3 4 5 Games: Bingo/Family Feud/ 1 Minute Self-Talk /Who wants to win $25

1 2 3 4 5

Reports Overview (Monthly Contract/Slow Pay) 1 2 3 4 5

Time spent in your territory with Management/veteran sales reps 1 2 3 4 5 What was your favorite part of formal training sessions? Why? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ What was your least favorite part of formal training and why? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

TRAINING PROGRAM

Training within the business division at The Pitt News begins in the spring, long before our seniors have graduated. New sales representatives are introduced to the paper’s big picture: our history, our mission, what responsibilities rest with each department, who our customers are, how we market ourselves to our readers and our advertisers. The combined experience of our current business manager, sales manager and senior account executives serves as our initial springboard into a new year. For two full days in April, newly hired reps shadow current employees in the field and receive an additional day’s classroom training to familiarize themselves with the newspaper’s vocabulary and our product line. Veteran reps lend insight and perspective to incoming reps, and when fall comes, new reps have a higher comfort level because of time spent with experienced students.

After getting a good solid look at our organization, new employees have all summer to review our comprehensive training manual. We find that after spring training and reading through the manual, reps who might have been blindsided by the responsibilities of their jobs in the fall have a chance to change their minds about joining us, while we still have the opportunity to hire replacements; although we may lose one or two reps over the summer, we save time and money by investing in people who are willing to invest the necessary time and energy that the job requires. Formal training commences well before the fall term begins. After a review of the newspaper’s big picture, we begin breaking it down into manageable pieces. Sessions revolve around the sales cycle. In both classroom lecture style and interactive exercises, reps follow an account from prospecting through closing the sale and from original ad design through billing and collection. Reps practice filling out insertion orders, compete for prizes in trivia contests and participate in team-building sessions. Every aspect of the business is covered within three business days, with the understanding that each session presented will be featured again in a future sales meeting or in a one-on-one environment with management. Reps receive territory assignments during fall formal training. Managers and professional staff members spend time with sales representatives individually, analyzing accounts’ histories and profiles and getting out into territories to meet advertisers. We begin on an account management level, meeting our active advertisers and establishing rapport with them, before moving into the development of new business. Reps who were with us over the summer months help in the hands-on training as well, which creates a smooth transition for our clients.

University of Texas Best Training Program The Daily Texan Category 4 B

At Texas Student Media we understand how important experience is in the sales world, the more you know, the better you handle situations. When it comes to training new account executives we look to arm them with as much ‘experience’ and ‘knowledge’ as possible, to ensure they are two steps ahead of any other new rep at competitive organizations.

Upon their initial interview with Texas Student Media, applicants are asked to take an online version of the Myers-Briggs personality test. This test helps the managers better asses how the applicant will handle themselves in the sales world, what client list they would mesh with and give the managers a guideline to the best possible technique of teaching this person. Once every semester professional and student managers go through a training session over Myers-Briggs personality test.

As a rule of thumb, when hiring a large group of account executives we offer a position to 1 to 2 more applicants than what is needed. The hiring process at Texas Student Media typically takes place at the end of the semester; a time when we are able to predict how many new account executives need to be hired. Since the end of the semester is very hectic with finals, graduation and other scholastic events, we start the interview process at least 1-2 months previous to their official start date.

After the new account executives are officially offered a possession at Texas Student Media they are given a tentative schedule that includes 1-2 social events and attending a sales meeting to meet the staff. This past fall the new hires were first invited to our Housing Fair Happy Hour, when we first unveil our plans for the highly anticipated housing fair to our clients. This gives the new hires an opportunity to observe interactions between existing reps and their clients. Also, the new hires will be heavily involved with the housing fair, and this serves as an excitement booster for them. The second event the new hires are invited to is a staff get together, giving them a chance to meet and talk with experienced reps in a relaxed setting.

The real week of training for the new hires begins the week after classes end, during dead days. Due to the large amount of information and the one on one time needed with exiting reps, after classes are the best time to get everyone together and concentrated on the topic. Again, at the beginning of the week new hires are given a schedule of what they will be learning that week.

We start the week off with educating the new hires on what makes up Texas Student Media. Essentially they are learning about all of the tools that they will have in their toolbox. As a metaphor, Account Executives are taught that they are consultants who meet with clients to help them fix their marketing problems. Lucky for the clients, Texas Student Media has an abundance of tools. The new hires also take a tour of our facilities so they have a better grasp of who and where our products are coming from.

The second day of training consist of learning the technical aspect of Texas Student Media, including rates, insertion orders, baseview, and tracking numbers. During this process they are giving many scenarios to go through for qualifying rates and pricing. The afternoon on this day moves on to concentrating on the sales process. It begins with tips on prospecting to handling objections and finishes up with closing a sale. It is on this day the student director and manager invite in working Account Executives to assist in this training process. It is understood that each

University of Texas Best Training Program The Daily Texan Category 4 B

Account Executive has their own way of making a sale and handling clients. Since their styles work well but differ, we ask them to share their experiences with the new hires which helps shape their work ethic and sale techniques. This is a true process of arming new hires with other past experience and giving them a leg up on the competition.

On the third day of training the new hires must have a second interview with the professional manager and take a sales test to asses their progress through training. The sales test consists of demonstrating knowledge of rates, demographics, personal and situations they will find themselves in. After their progress is assessed, the new hires are assigned an account list and begin one-on-one training with the exiting rep. This one-one-one time is when the exiting rep is able to share inside information of how existing clients enjoy being handled, as well as their progress on prospects and new clients. The pair also sets up meeting with their most important clients in order to introduce the new account executive to the client in person.

The next couple days consist of the new hires going through the entire sales process, from prospecting to role playing cold calls and planning out the coming semester. Each new rep must prospect 5 new clients and role play with several reps in the office, on which they are evaluated. Next they asses their quotas for the next semester, set goals they would like to achieve, as well as create a plan of action for obtaining their quotas. Once all of these things have been completed, new hires go though a final interview to ensure they are prepared to take on one of the eleven covenanted positions as an Account Executive at Texas Student Media.

Typically after the training, account executives go on a break, either a few weeks before summer or a few weeks over Christmas time. Due to this break, the first two days back in the office are dedicated to refreshment training mixed in with sales games, guest speakers, feedback and bonding opportunities. We take the morning time to go over our important products for the semester, the sales process, and what the Account Executives liked and didn’t like about the past semester and things that will help them prosper in the next semester. Along with it all being business minded, we understand the importance of bonding within the office. By holding happy hours and dinners during the first few days back, we move from being just coworkers to being close friends. The dinners are usually paid for with trade. Our Account Executives are not just co-workers but close friends at a large university such as Texas.

Now, our training does not stop here. Once a week we dedicate time in our meeting to give our sale tips from an Account Executives personal experience, a news source or a guest speaker. Also, once a month each Account Executive schedules a thirty minute time to do feedback with the student director and manager. This time is for them to talk to the manager about good and bad things in the office they have experienced or express their ideas for innovation at Texas Student Media. For the managers, it is a personal coaching period. Managers are able to praise the AEs hard work, address any problems during the month, and give the AE advice on ways to improve their sales. Feedback days serve as an opportunity for double training. Not only is this immediate training for the Account Executives on improving their skills, but the student managers are getting training on how to coach their peers/employees. This is a vital skill for any students looking to advance in management upon graduation.

University of Texas Best Training Program The Daily Texan Category 4B

The Daily Texan ----FIRST PAGE/SAMPLE OF SALES TEST Advertising Trainee Examination Name _________________________________________ Date ___________________ 1. What is the circulation of The Daily Texan for the Summer Session?** A 20,000 B 12,000 C 23,000 D 19,000 Fall Semester? A 25,000 B 27,000 C 22,000 D 40,000 2. What is the open rate per column inch for an ad in the retail section? A $16.10 B $22.80 C $23.85 D $20.35 3. Which dates are an acceptable COMBO or PICK-UP? A Monday, June 5 into Wednesday, June 14 B Monday, June 5 into Wednesday, June 7 C Tuesday, June 20 into Friday, June 30 4. A PICK-UP rate allows the second ad in exactly the same form as the first to run with what retail rate? A $16.10 B $10.90 C $14.30 D $13.50 5. Where do the copies of a KILL order go? White: Yellow: Pink: 6. Where do the White and Yellow copies of an Insertion Order go after the Insertion Order has been completely filled out? 7. What is the least expensive rate you can offer someone who is running a 4 column x 4 inch, two consecutive weeks in retail? Figure the cost of each. A Open Rate: $ __________ B Weekly Rate: $ __________ C Monthly Rate: $ ___________

Training Schedule Date: 10:30 Jalah TSM Structure & Organization & HSM Tour 11:00 Kat&Ryan Product Knowledge: -- Kat&Ryan PRINT: Daily Texan /Special Sections/Travesty/Our Campus -- Kat&Ryan Broadcast: KVRX/TSTV -- Kat&Ryan Online & iPhone -- Kat&Ryan LUNCH 1:30 Kat&Ryan New hire Paperwork

Manager Initials ______ Date ______

Training Schedule Date: 10:00-11:00

Pricing, How to Qualify Rates

11:00-11:15

CJ IO, Baseview, Run List, Projections

11:15-11:20

Joan Web submissions --Incoming Calls --Parking

11:00-11:30

Kat&Ryan Prospecting / Researching prospects / MAL / Prospect List

11:30-Noon

Sales Training: Customer Needs Analysis--Cold Calls (Consulting Clients to Pitching Products)

11:30-noon

Sales Training: How to prepare for & conduct a sales meeting (Handling Objections to Closing the Sale)

Noon-12:30

Break /Lunch

12:30-1:00

Role Play-Cold Calls & Client Calls


Training Schedule Date: 10:00-10:15

Felimon Creative Services

10:15-10:45

Sales Test

Meet with Brad individually (Discuss Progress) 12:00 Kat How to Create a Proposal 12:15 Account List --Announced Go over Account Summary with Exiting Rep Check out with Student Director to update Training Schedule


Time Trainer

Name: _______________________ Cell: ____________________

Training Schedule Date: 10:00 Amy Rules of Book Keeping Find 5 Prospects, Role Play w/ 3 other AE’s or Sales Professionals SUBMIT – completed Sales Call Evaluation Form to Joan Print Spring 2009 runlist & identify key clients to target for Spring

2010 Ryan Housing Fair Ryan

& Kat Update January Projections with Student Manager


5th Day Training Schedule (Friday) 9:00-9:30

Sales Meeting – Last Day

9:30-10:00

Jalah Pay Agreements & Expectations

Send out Introduction letters to Clients & information about WBE Set up Voice Mail and E-mail Signature Set goals for Spring Semester Meet with Kat and Ryan for Final interview


Date Completed: __________

Parking Pass From Joan: ____________________ (Joan’s Signature) Final Training Evaluation: _____________________________ __________ Jalah Goette, Assistant Director Advertising (Date)

The Daily Pennsylvanian Business Training Program

The Daily Pennsylvanian’s Business Training Program is based on the concept of continual education. The program focuses on educating by providing broad-based general training, detailed hands-on training, and ongoing continuing training — all designed to provide students the real-world business experience of running a professional newspaper while developing their business skills and providing our customers with exceptional customer service.

The unique aspect about our program compared to most others is the wide range of newspaper operational areas covered. We pride ourselves in our diverse placement of student staff and student managers in six business departments: finance, credit, advertising, ad production, front office (counter sales and ad traffic), and marketing. This specialization in each department provides an opportunity for students with interests in areas other than sales to gain valuable experience. Yet each staff member is also integrated into the newspaper’s operations by being introduced to all aspects of the business.

The training program is accomplished in three stages. The first consists of a general training session. Here, all new staff members go through General Business Training together in order to establish a common background, an understanding of our business, and a network of fellow staff members. During this session, we familiarize the new staff with the fundamental principles and operations of our paper, our history, and their role in the organization. We cover the tools of survival at the paper, from the mechanics of using our phones and copiers to accessing the various computer systems. We carefully trace all the steps in the “life” of an ad, from inception through payment, and how each department participates in pieces of that operation. The sessions mix lecture-style presentations with interactive topics, since we have found that active participation strengthens retention of the training material.

The second stage of training is specialized Departmental Training, where each student department manager establishes an individualized training program tailored to that particular department. New staff members participate in two weeks of sessions with the managers and professional staff advisers of their department. During this time, the new staff members gain the specific skills required for productive work in their departments, plus a detailed picture of their role and the department’s role within the paper. Once they are able to understand their position and responsibilities, they are able to work independently of direct supervision as full-fledged and productive staff members.

The sales department incorporates competition into the training program. The new staff is informed at the beginning of the training that the most qualified reps at the end of the program will receive the best customer lists. This is accomplished by testing the reps at the end of the initial training program. The reps that test the highest receive the best customers. This serves to motivate the reps during training and gives us a chance to monitor the results of the training by seeing how much information has been retained.

The final phase — which is never-ending — is the ongoing education and cross-training that is dispersed throughout each student’s career at The Daily Pennsylvanian. Training of additional skills, techniques, and procedures is provided through weekly or biweekly department meetings. Cross-training is especially important for departments which are directly interrelated; this type of training increases communication and understanding, resulting in more efficient operations and a more cohesive business staff.

During the course of the semester, the staff is evaluated by the managers and given the opportunity to provide feedback on their experiences at the newspaper. By evaluating their performance, we are able to assess the effectiveness of their training.

In addition to this staff-level training, we also have a Management Training Program, which is designed to go beyond the one-on-one assistance our professional advisers provide. This program gives student managers the knowledge and expertise they need to run their departments, and enhances the managerial experience they get at the newspaper. Two all-day off-site retreats presented by the professional advisers and the student Business Manager anchor this training program. One takes place before classes begin in January as an orientation to newly-elected managers. The second takes place in August before fall term classes begin, and focuses on reinforcing and building their staff management skills, and planning for their second semester. The program aims to give an in-depth understanding of every department, as well as teach and hone skills necessary to be an outstanding manager. It includes role-playing, game take-offs (“Daily Pennsylvanian Survivor”), and brainstorming sessions. Additionally, 10 to 20 minutes of most weekly Business Board meetings are devoted to ongoing training. Topics include interviewing skills, presentation skills, how to successfully delegate, staff coaching skills, time management, goal-setting, motivation and morale, and planning effective meetings. As managers of The Daily Pennsylvanian, we feel that the Business Training Program combines all elements that develop top-notch staff members. The success of our newspaper comes from the commitment to excellence and service that we convey to all our new staff members — largely through our training program. A solid and concrete knowledge of the basic operations of business functions, coupled with real-life practical experience, creates staff members who are familiar with our business, knowledgeable about our market, and sensitive to our customer’s needs. The end result is that when our training succeeds, we end up with staff members who are well informed about the company they work for and the product they produce every day. They know their role at the newspaper, contribute to a reputable and successful independent college newspaper, and are positioned to greet new challenges at The Daily Pennsylvanian with enthusiasm.

Fall, 2009 Business Training Schedule

DAY DEPARTMENT TIME Thursday, August 27 Business Manager Retreat 9:30 a.m. — 5:00 p.m. Tuesday, September 15 ALL 3 Departments 6:00 p.m. — 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, September 16 Finance 2 4:00 p.m. — 6:00 p.m. Wednesday, September 16 Production 2 5:00 p.m. — 7:00 p.m. Wednesday, September 16 Marketing 2 6:00 p.m. — 8:00 p.m. Thursday, September 17 Credit 2 4:00 p.m. — 6:00 p.m. Thursday, September 17 Advertising 2 6:00 p.m. — 8:00 p.m. Monday, September 21 Finance 3 4:00 p.m. — 6:00 p.m. Monday, September 21 Production 3 5:00 p.m. — 7:00 p.m. Monday, September 21 Marketing 3 6:00 p.m. — 8:00 p.m. Tuesday, September 22 Credit 3 4:00 p.m. — 6:00 p.m. Tuesday, September 22 Advertising 3 6:00 p.m. — 8:00 p.m. Wednesday, September 23 Finance 4 4:00 p.m. — 6:00 p.m. Wednesday, September 23 Production 4 5:00 p.m. — 7:00 p.m. Wednesday, September 23 Marketing 4 6:00 p.m. — 8:00 p.m. Thursday, September 24 Credit 4 4:00 p.m. — 6:00 p.m. Thursday, September 24 Advertising 4 6:00 p.m. — 8:00 p.m. Saturday, September 26 Advertising 5 10:30 a.m. — 1:00 p.m.

Management Training Each manager takes a turn reading the scenario aloud and role-playing the scenario with a fellow manager. The manager that is playing the role of the staff member should read his/her instructions silently.

1: MANAGER A friend of yours is a member of the staff. He/she is not taking you seriously, and has not listened to you or taken direction from you. He/she is not performing well and you believe this is because of your personal relationship with this person. You are sitting down with this person now, for the first time, to talk about his/her performance. 1: STAFF MEMBER You’re a friend of the manager/editor, but you believe he/she is taking his/her job a little too seriously. Since you’re friends, you can’t understand why this person is coming down so hard on you. He/she should know you by now and know you’ll get the job done. Your attitude is “Hey, this is me you’re talking to — stop acting like a boss.” 2: MANAGER A staff member has not done their job, not shown up for meetings and has had a bad attitude. You’ve met with him/her several times before, and he/she has either promised to change or denied there’s a problem. Now you’ve made the decision to fire this person, and you’re ready to do it. 2: STAFF MEMBER The manager/editor has told you before that he/she is not happy with your performance. Even though you agree you could do better, you think he/she is overreacting. Now some tough school projects are over with and you’re ready to make a new commitment. Don’t accept being fired — plead with the manager/editor for your job and promise you’ll change. 3: MANAGER A staff member is enthusiastic and always shows up for work. The problem is that his/her work is consistently poor. The problem’s not commitment, it’s talent. You’re meeting with that person now to: (1) tell him/her that the current job they did must be redone (2) from now on, unless they find a way to get better, they'll have to work with someone else on stories, projects, or accounts. 3: STAFF MEMBER Whatever work your manager is criticizing you about be defensive. It’s yours and you’re proud of it. Be resistant to change and getting any help. 4: MANAGER As an outgoing, friendly and enthusiastic person, you’re finding it hard to deal with this staff member who is shy and introverted. The work this person does is okay, but he/she is overly sensitive and does not take criticism well. You are doing an informal evaluation of the person. 4: STAFF MEMBER Act shy and be sensitive to criticism. Say as little as possible. Give the attitude that this manager/editor is singling you out or picking on you.

Sales Call Role-Play Skit REP: Hi MARIA, I’m Alex from The Daily Pennsylvanian. I appreciate you giving me

some time today to talk to you . CUSTOMER: Well, I'm very busy, but I did tell you that you could come in. REP: Is there somewhere we can sit down in quiet and discuss this? CUSTOMER: Sure, let’s go to my office. [GO TO “OFFICE” AND SIT DOWN] REP: [TELL MARIA THE REASON FOR YOUR CALL AND ASK HER AGAIN IF

THIS IS A GOOD TIME TO TALK] CUSTOMER: You're okay, as long as this doesn't take all day. REP: Great, I'd like to start by asking you a few questions about MARIA’s Designs. [TAKE NOTES] CUSTOMER: [TELL REP ABOUT YOUR STORE] REP: [ASK MORE QUESTIONS, INCLUDING HOW HE ADVERTISES] CUSTOMER: [ANSWER ALEX’S QUESTIONS, AND TELL HIM THAT YOU CREATE

FLYERS AND PUT THEM AROUND TO PROMOTE YOUR STORE] REP: Have you ever tried focusing on the student market, especially since you’re so

close to campus? CUSTOMER: The students I do get usually don’t buy. College students, I find, do most of their

shopping with a tight budget, and they’re looking for bargains, and that’s it. REP: Hmmm, seems like you haven’t had great success with the student market,

despite your location. CUSTOMER: That’s about right. REP: MARIA, if you knew that Penn students had the money to spend, were spending

their money on dresses and casual wear everyday — sometimes traveling downtown to do so — and they were willing to spend higher than bargain prices to get the perfect outfit for them — would you consider focusing some of your advertising budget on getting this group to buy from MARIA’s Designs?

CUSTOMER: And I suppose your paper is the best way to reach them? REP: Well, let me give you some facts about The Daily Pennsylvanian [PUT THE PAPER IN HIS HANDS AND TALK ABOUT IT]

Washington University in Saint Louis Student Life Training Program Description

The Student Life account executive training program is an interactive program

that begins with five formal half-days of training in the office and continues as long as

the account executive continues working in the advertising department. The program

provides the knowledge, tools, and customer service skills necessary to successfully meet

clients’ needs.

All returning and new account executives must return early in the fall for

mandatory formal training. Requiring returning account executives to be present at

training ensures everyone is given the same and most up to date information in our ever-

changing college newspaper office. It also fosters camaraderie. The training schedule is

attached but a few aspects should be highlighted. We only do half days of training

because there is a lot of information to take in and we find that the trainees remain more

attentive and enthusiastic. Since they are only half days, we start at 10am so that we can

all break and go to lunch as a group to help the introductory and bonding process.

Each account executive is given a binder. The binder contains an explanation of

their commission & goals, office procedures like setting up voicemail and e-mail, all of

our rates, readership info and a breakdown by month of the previous year’s advertising

run sheets. The run sheets show what advertisers ran each month, what size their ad was,

how much it cost and what the ad was for. There are also separate tabs with run sheets

from the previous year’s special sections and the current year’s special section sales

sheets. The binder also contains a copy of the training manual which account executives

are also given a copy of when they are hired an asked to read it before training.

The training manual is very comprehensive. The first section details the structure

of the paper and how the business office fits into that structure. It includes information

on revenue generation, goals, distribution, readership, and newspaper terminology. It

then moves into units of measure, rates, deadlines, frequency packages, non-profit

discounts, and university discounts. The last section of the manual covers the sales

approach including: preparing for a sales call, determining a client’s needs, developing a

solution, tips for phone calls, closing the sale, overcoming objections, and follow ups. We

ask new account executives to read it before training so that they enter the training with a

firm idea and understanding of the business they are getting ready to join and it’s

procedures and it does not have to be the focus of the formal training.

In addition to learning basic office procedures and the procedures of the paper, we

also cover sales technique, customer service, readership information and sales goals. We

measure results with rate card jeopardy and we do scavenger hunts for both our server

and our ad entry software. We give them a list of items to find on both so that they can

become familiar with how to navigate and find what they need efficiently.

The training is an important process and we try to eliminate a new account

executive from becoming discouraged or overwhelmed by involving current account

executives and by breaking up the information into half days with group lunches and

unique activities to measure retention of the vast information being covered. This

interactive training also allows for the development of office camaraderie as we try to

keep the office atmosphere light and fun. Training continues throughout their

employment with Student Life with the weekly sales meetings where new ideas and

activities are introduced and questions and concerns are shared.

2009 Account Executive Training Schedule

Saturday, August 15th

10:00am – Noon

- Introductions

- Sales Technique – Audience Based Selling

- About our readers/audience

- Student Life Readership Info

Noon – Group Lunch

1:00pm – 2:00pm (estimate)

- Ratecard

Sunday, August 16th

10:00am – Noon

- Ratecard Trivia

- Goals & Commission

-Working in Advance on Goals

- Commission overview

Noon – Group Lunch

1:00pm – 2:00pm (estimate)

-Setting Expectations for Clients

-Handling Objections

-Common objections

-Scenarios & Group Discussions

-Closing a Sale

Monday, August 17th

10:00am

-Office Procedures

- Email

- Voicemail

- Phone

- Fax

- Adworks

- CRM

- Account Lists

- Billing & Invoices

- Server Navigation

-New AE’s shadow returning AE’s

Tuesday, August 18th

10:00am

- Adworks & Server Scavenger Hunt

- The loop scavenger hunt/ media kit drop off with Freshman

- New AE’s shadow returning AE’s

Wednesday, August 19th

– Friday, August 21st

- Arrive at 10:00 am

- Wrap up our first issues back

Rate Card Jeopardy

Categories:

1. Special Offers

$100 – A: 50% discount for running 20 consecutive issues.

Q: What is the business Advantage?

$200 – A: Customer’s choice of 14 ads within 42 consecutive issues for a 20%

discount.

Q: What is the 14 week Fabulous Frequency discount?

$300 – A: Local customers run 2 ads, get the 3rd

for half price. University

customers run 2 ads, get the 3rd

ad free.

Q: What is the 3 Run Discount.

$400 – A: $49 per issue or $39 for 42 consecutive issues.

Q: What is the Crossword/Sudoku Sponsorship rate?

$500 – A: Running any size ad on any date throughout the year totaling 250

inches for a 5% discount.

Q: What is the local discount rate for a 250 inch contract?

2. Sizes

$100 – A: 3 columns wide x 10.5 inches tall.

Q: What is the size of a quarter page ad?

$200 – A: 4.9167 inches wide x 10.5 inches tall.

Q: What are the dimensions of a quarter page ad?

$300 – A: 1.5278 inches.

Q: What is the width of one column inch?

$400 – A: 468 pixels wide x 60 pixels tall.

Q: What is the size of an online banner ad?

$500 – A: 4.9167 inches wide by 1 inch tall.

Q: What is the size of a Sudoku or Crossword sponsorship ad?

3. Rates

$100 – A: $12 per column inch

Q: What is the Local Rate?

$200 – A: $9 per column inch

Q: What is the university dept & non-profit discount?

$300 – A: $125 in addition to the space cost.

Q: What is the spot color rate?

$400 – A: $65 per thousand

Q: What is the cost of a 1-4 page insert in 6,000 issues of Student Life?

$500 – A: $400/wk and an exclusive advertising position.

Q: What is an online peel back ad?

4. Publication Schedule

$100 - A: Monday, Wednesday, Friday

Q: What days of the week does Student Life publish?

$200 – A: Career Fair guides & Finals Survival Guides.

Q: Which special sections come out each semester?

$300 – A: February 8, 2010.

Q: When does the Valentines/Sex issue publish this year?

$400 – A: October 14, 2009.

Q: When does the Dining Guide publish this year?

$500 – A: This will serve as guide for students looking to live off campus for the

2010-2011 school year and also as a guide to the “Lifestyles” and Housing Fair.

Q: What is the Housing Guide.

5. Terminology

$100 – A: A standard newspaper that measures 6 columns wide by 21” tall.

Q: What is a broadsheet?

$200 – A: A special section printed and cut so that it measures 11 3/8” wide by

11” tall and can be inserted into a boradsheet.

Q: What is a tabloid or “tab” section?

$300 – A: Ad advertisement that is printed separately, shipped to our printer and

then inserted into the paper.

Q: What is a pre-printed insert?

$400 – A: A measurement of space, equivalent to one column wide by one inch

deep.

Q: What is a column inch?

$500 – A: A copy of an ad as it will appear in Student Life. It must be approved

by all customers by the deadline in order to run in the paper.

Q: What is a proof?

Server/Adworks Scavenger Hunt

1. Who is our contact for the Panhellenic Council? What is her e-mail? (*Hint

remember all WU departments are under WU in ADworks)

2. What is the path on the server to find the current rates and publication schedule?

3. List five restaurants that ran in last year’s dining guide (*hint look in ads folder)

4. How many runs did A CUT ABOVE THE REST sign up for so far this fall?

What are the first and last dates the ad will run?

5. What size ad is Blick Art Materials running on 8/24?

6. How many prospects are there on the Master Prospect List?

7. What was the last payment we received from the Career Center? (*Hint Click on

the “History” tab.)

8. Where is the invoice folder located on the server?

9. In the Account Executives folder, you’ll find the template for a weekly report.

What is one thing you need to report each week?

10. Follow the path: Account Execs -> AE materials -> Interactive Forms -> Insertion

Order. Fill out and print an insertion order for an 1/8th

page ad (*for a university

department) with spot color. The date is 8/26. You can ignore the contact

information.