2013-4c

Training Program 2012

We have two levels of training at Central Michigan Life.

The first is the initial training process when an account

executive is first hired.

The second is the constant ongoing training we

provide our staff. We never stop learning and

sharpening our skills.

NEW REPSOur 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 6-8 weeks out, longer

if the new representative isn’t starting until the Fall semester.

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SUMMARY

CENTRAL MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY

Training Program

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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 Exec-utive. 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.

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. 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.

SUMMARY...Page 2


SENIOR REPSTraing for senior reps is an ongo-

ing process, and is covered in our attached calendar This training

takes place the first two weeks of the Fall semester and then weekly after that. If a senior rep has been identified as someone who might

need additional support in certain areas, the Advertising and Training

Managers will identify a course of action for that rep.

Training Program

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AUGUST


TRAINING SCHEDULE

WEEK 1. Utilize Facebook to play a refresher-course game with returning staff members. Pose questions that can be found on advertising website, www.centralmediacafe.com. Game helps to shake off the cobwebs and prepare them for return. Points earned in game counts toward contest during September.WEEK 2. Ad staff returns. Review of changes made over the summer to media kit, office, procedures. Reresher courses in Effective Advertising, The Art of Closing, and Needs Analysis. Guest speakers from Journalism department and business schoolWEEK 3. Training continues in WSGATing, Cold Calling, Client Presenta-tions, Handling objections, Radio and TV sales. Guest speakers from advertising professors and advertising agencies.WEEK 4. Determine number of positions to fill for next semester. De-sign house help wanted ads.WEEK 4. Weekly sales meetings begin.

JULYWEEK 3. Set up Facebook Group Page. Start countdown to game and return of staff.

Welcome back package for ad reps. Shirts, newspaper hats,

media kit, business cards, coffee mug and an agenda for the each

day of training.

Daily agendas for the first two weeks of training in August.

SEPTEMBERWEEK 1-4. Ads run in newspaper for Account Executives. WEEK 3-4. Classroom presentations in Journalism, Sales, Advertising and Marketing courses for sales positions at CM LIFE. Recruiting at PRSSA and Ad Club, too.WEEK 1-4. Training tips at weekly sales meetings.

OCTOBERWEEK 1-2. Interviews conducted for all applicantsWEEK 3-4. 2nd Interviews for top candidates.WEEK 1-4. Training tips at weekly sales meetings.

NOVEMBERWEEK 1. Introduction of new hires to Central Michigan LifeWEEK 2-4. New hires assigned to Senior Account Executive.WEEK 3-4. New hires given their own CMLife sales notebook, weekly meetings are now mandatory for new hires. WEEK 4. New hires given an open account list.WEEK 1-4. Training tips at weekly sales meetings.

DECEMBERWEEK 1. New account lists assigned. January team and individual goals given. Probationary period ends.

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Training Program


JANUARY

TRAINING SCHEDULE

WEEK 1. Determine number of positions to fill for next semester. De-sign house help wanted ads.WEEK 2-4. Ads run in newspaper for Account Executives. WEEK 3-4. Classroom presentations in Journalism, Sales, Advertising and Marketing courses for sales positions at CM LIFE. Recruiting at PRSSA and Ad Club, too.WEEK 1-4. Training tips at weekly sales meetings.

FEBRUARYWEEK 1-2. Interviews conducted for all applicantsWEEK 3-4. 2nd Interviews for top candidates.WEEK 1-4. Training tips at weekly sales meetings.

MARCH

WEEK 1. New hires continue to shadow Senior Account Executive.WEEK 1. New hires given their own CMLife sales notebook, weekly meetings are now mandatory for new hires. WEEK 2. New hires given an open account list.WEEK 3. New account lists assigned. August/September team and individual goals given. Probationary period ends.WEEK 1-4. Training tips at weekly sales meetings.

APRIL

SPRING BREAK

WEEK 3. Introduction of new hires to Central Michigan LifeWEEK 4. New hires assigned to Senior Account Executive.WEEK 3-4. Training tips at weekly sales meetings.

END OF SCHOOL YEARSUMMER INTERNSHIPS BEGIN

MAY

The IV Drip Theory recognizes the idea that continual training

is key to building a successful sales team. The weekly “Sales

Drip” from our Professional Sales Majors offer our staff

tips on how to overcome objections, the best questions

to ask, role playing, and how to build successful lasting client

relationships. It’s important as a manager to continually bring

knowledge to your staff for high quality performance.

Games such as Jeopardy are often used in our training tips

session during our Friday sales meetings. They help to reinforce

our knowledge of our products while spurring on a little

competition among the staff.

Training Program

MEASURING RESULTS


As mentioned previously, the student advertising managers and adviser constantly monitor to assist the advertising representa-tives in areas where they may be struggling or where training might have been missed. We strive to make sure we have provid-ed 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 ter-ritories, the new hires are given the following guidelines to help them focus on the priorities we think are important. This let’s them know where the bar is set in the department. Each account executive signs an agreement to strive towards the professional-ism expected in the job.

CENTRAL MICHIGAN LIFE ADVERTISING STAFF GUIDELINES:

The following actions will result in write-up and a 30-day proba-tion period. If improvements are not made within the 30 day probation period, further actions will be taken, up to and includ-ing 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 manag-ers, and account executive’s signatures.

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

This year’s advertisingstaff recruitement ad.

The CM LIFE STRUGGLE BUS gives ad reps a chance to write down their

frustrations/struggles thru the week. At our Friday sales meeting we clear

the bus and discuss and offer tips for each other on how to overcome them.

Ka Leo Best Training Program

This year we changed up our training program to become more efficient and help give our student ad reps, graphic designers, public relations reps, and web developers a more formal training when they start. For one of the first times in the past 3 years, Ka Leo’s advertising department was fully staffed, and we wanted to create a training program that gave new hires a better since of the professionalism we expect in the office. This year we refined our manuals and put together a 6 week training program for all new hires, who became our first round of interns. This process had them complete different task pursuant to the goals and objectives of their roles, while getting them familiar with our office. All of our student managers helped to create a 6 week program that they felt would best prepare students to move into the paid roles that we had to offer and hit the ground running when done with training. The training process was implemented to ensure that our students knew what they were supposed to be doing when they moved up to eliminate errors and learning curves. This was also intended to help them have a step by step approach to their duties and walk them through the roles in a more succinct many. We created the program to start on Labor day, where we brought in all the new hires that we had from our Ka Leo jobs fair 2 weeks prior. We brought them all together and had a big discussion with them as a group and then split them up into smaller groups that pertained to their department. This was the initiation process, and we had them all sign commitment waivers to Ka Leo, all mangers also signed the document to show commitment to our new staff and making them the best we can. Each week the students in the training program had to learn different sections from our training manuals and in turn take a test at the weekly training meeting. In addition to us testing the students on what they learned we also incorporated a exercise element that they would be in the office working on each week. Each of the test and training elements helped them walk through the different processes pertaining to each role and helped them understand what they should prepared for once they graduate from the training program. We had a very successful training program this year, with the majority of students staying with the program and being able to contribute immediately upon graduation from training. The overall process kept them engaged and working on projects that directly correlated to the real duties of the job. We were planning on doing a second round later in the semester, and actually decided that it would be best to just do ongoing training for the end of the semester. So we reached out to professionals in the industry and brought them in to talk to the students about their roles and duties and how what they are doing is applicable to employers after they graduate. The ongoing program only happened twice, but we look at growing that aspect in the spring semester. We made major leaps and bounds with our training process and will continue to use this approach into the unforeseeable future.

Manager and Intern Commitment

(808) 956-7043 Ka Leo Marketing & Advertising Training

Manager’s CommitmentI, the advertising manager for the Board of Publications Advertising Staff, do hereby agree to do all necessary to help the Advertising Intern achieve his or her goals mutually agreed upon and subsequently entered into the individual’s personnel file.

________________________Date__________ Advertising Advisor

________________________Date__________ Advertising Manager

________________________Date__________ Marketing Director

Advertising Intern’s CommitmentI, _______________________________, do hereby agree to let the manager of the Board of Publica-tions Advertising Staff do what is necessary to help me achieve the agreed upon goals.

I realize my production is dependent upon my activities and will to succeed. These include punctuality, attendance, using the proper sales tools, keeping a “companion” attitude, and radiat-ing enthusiasm while in the presence of other sales people.

If I am not living up to these commitments, I expect the Advertising Advisor, Advertising Manager, or Marketing Director to help me re-commit to my goals.

________________________Date__________ Advertising Intern

Week 1: (Rob) Manual Section 1, 2, & 3Getting To Know Ka Leo.

Learning our program, products, and services.

Week 2: (Regina) Manual Section 4Prospecting & ABC List

How to properly prospect and learning account development.

Week 3: (Reece) Manual Section 5Making the call

Making the initial call and how to reach clients who are hard to reach.

Week 4: (Rob) Manual Section 6Meeting the clients

Developing a relationship, building rapport and finding out what your client needs.

Week 5: (Regina) Manual Section 7 & 8Designing the campaign

Building a campaign and an ad.

Week 6: (Reece) Manual Section 10The Pitch

Closing the sale and pitching your campaign.

Marketing & Advertising Schedule

Week 7&8: Continue to work with assigned Accounts Executive and develop accounts


Week One Week 1: (Rob) Manual Section 1, 2, & 3Getting to know Ka Leo. Program, products and services.


Week One Assignment• Schedule your hours with your Account Executive• Go through training of Smart Publisher with Student Advertising Manager• Do research on one source of prospecting for presentation in next week’s Intern meeting (pg.

29).• Study manual for weekly quiz

Welcome once again to Ka Leo. This week you will learning about our program and our day-to-day operations. Most importantly, you will be learning about your job and how to effectively fulfill the duties of your job. Take the chance to get to know your AE (Accounts Executive) this week. You will work with this person throughout the entirety of your internship, and any questions may be addressed to this person or one of the three managers on the cover sheet. This week is an important one: You will first learn about the different departments at Ka Leo and how they work together. Each

department has a specific task and must operate in perfect harmony. Each AE uses a number of organizational tools to keep on task, in addition there are different forms and checks and balances that you will utilize while here. Lastly you will get to know all about our products and services that you will have to provide to business owners across the island.


Week One Test

What is Ka Leo?

What year was Ka Leo established?

What is the mission of the Advertising Department?

What is Ka Leo’s distribution schedule? How many issues are distributed?

How many Ka Leo stands are on campus?

How many students, faculty and staff are at the University of Hawaii at Manoa?

Name three of the six skills you are expected to learn.

Name Ka Leo’s three advisors and their titles.

What is the discretionary spending amount of each student monthly?

What percentage of students are over 21?

How many special issues does Ka Leo publish each year?

What is a display ad?

How many column inches is a 3/4 page ad and how much does it cost?

What is the maximum column width and height for a single full page?

What is the equation used to calculate the total cost per ad?

What is the equation used to calculate the total cost of a campaign?

What is the open rate for local businesses?

How do you work with a client who has a budget?


Week 1: (Rob) Manual Section 1,2,& 3Getting To Know Ka Leo.

Student Niner Media • UNC Charlotte 9201 University City Blvd. • Charlotte, NC 28223 • 704-687-7140

Training at Niner Media

The Sales Training Program in Student Media Marketing is a four-day interactive series of sessions that incorporate product knowledge and customer service to enable account executives to offer the best solutions for their clients’ advertising needs. Sessions are held in August for new hires, as well as any time during the year that account executives are hired. The marketing director, who can provide a wealth of knowledge in the advertising arena, leads the program in a one-on-one setting.

The program is intensive, yet the session leader does not overwhelm attendees. They take the program step-by-step, answering questions that attendees may have and explaining the answers in easy-to-understand detail. The first day is more of a general overview, where session leaders explain Student Media and its depart-ments. They show attendees how the sales department fits into a much bigger pic-ture. Session leaders give a tour of the offices, explaining where the most important tools are located and explain how to use them. The emphasis is on the sales office, as that is where executives spend much of their time, and areas of interest are pointed out. After the tour, attendees are introduced to the staff of professionals and students from other departments. This is when attendees are encouraged to use professional staff as a resource and ask questions as needed. After a short break, attendees review materials that explain our publications, how they are produced and demographics. Roles and responsibilities are outlined clearly at this time, as job descriptions are handed out. Also at this time, attendees fill out employment paperwork. To wrap up the day, attendees are given a rate card to review in their own time in preparation for the next day’s session.

The second day is more intense, as attendees are formally introduced to the rate card as it is discussed in detail. Attendees familiarize themselves with the rate card and how it is laid out, and they also learn the difference between on-campus and local rates. In addition to traditional run of the press display advertising, session leaders explain inserts, color charges, contract levels, discounts, poster advertising and special sections. A lot of emphasis is placed on deadlines and publication dates. Attendees also learn how to offer frequency discounts to close the sale. They find samples of sizes in issues and are required to complete tests to familiarize themselves with filling out insertion orders and other necessary paperwork. The session leader gives attendees scenarios and have them work on handling objec-tions.. Attendees leave with more materials on hand to review and complete during


Media MarketingFall Training/New Account Executive Training Schedule

It is very important that you attend ALL of the sessions. Please try scheduling other activities for different times for this week of training.

We will be moving through the material rather quickly. The information we will be covering will be crucial to your success as an account executive.

Every day is a specific session. If for some reason you cannot attend for the entire session, please reschedule with the marketing director at your earliest convenience.

We look forward to working with you!

Fall 2012Niner Media Conference Room

Monday, August 20 4:30 - 7:30 pm Tuesday, August 21 4:30 - 7:30 pm Wednesday, August 22 4:30 - 7:30 pm Thursday, August 23 4:30 - 7:30 pm

For additional information, feel free to call the Marketing Director at 704.687.7146.

their own time.The third day includes role-playing before a pre-arranged sales call where the ses-sion leader accompanies the account executive. The advertiser has already been contacted and knows what to ask. The session leader makes the introduction and allows the account executive to take it from there. The session leader only interjects when it is absolutely necessary and gives criticism in private when the sales call is finished. This is the point when the account executive knows if the position is something he or she will find enjoyable.The final day of training is when the new account executive attends an evening sales meeting. He or she is introduced the sales staff and allowed to see how they interact with each other and with management. This is a great experience for the new executive, as he or she gets to hear about good experiences and concerns of other executives.The sales training program is intense, yet organized and detailed. Attendees are comfortable asking questions and session leaders are always prepared to answer them. Feedback from the program has been positive, and new account executives feel prepared to meet with clients and offer superb customer service with their wealth of product knowledge.


JOB DESCRIPTION

ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE Media Marketing

The Account Executive shall call on and meet with clients to sell advertisements for the publications and service such accounts on a regular basis.

Distinguishing Features of the Job: Each Account Executive is hired on a permanent basis and is required to meet all standards and goals. Each Account Executive shall have specified monthly sales quotas to meet.

Responsibilities and Duties:

Keeps at least 10 office hours a week between the hours of 8:00 and 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday; these office hours will be posted in the office. If, for some reason, he/she cannot be in the office, he/she must inform the Advertising Sales Manager;

Daily phone calls should be made to his or her voice mailbox in order to check phone messages from their clients.

Must maintain weekly and monthly sales quotas established by Advertising Sales Manager;

Attends sales workshops when advised. These workshops will be held upon notice of the Advertising Sales Manager and will be conducted by the Advertising Sales Manager and Marketing Adviser;

Attends all sales meetings;

Logs all calls in account log binder. Each Account Executive will have an account log binder to record all phone conversations with their clients. Under any circumstances the account log binder shall never leave the office;

At the end of employment, he/she must return his/her copy of the Student Media Marketing Handbook and his/her account log binder. The Office Manager will hold the last paycheck;

Proofs his/her ads before the set deadline. Once the ad is proofed he/she should fill out an ad revision/correction form and turn in for the Creative Director. All correct ads, upon proofing, shall be placed in the bin in the Creative Director’s office;

Dresses in a professional manner when meeting with clients or when an occasion deems it necessary and proper;

Maintains open communication between client accounts to insure proper service;

Helps with any walk-in or call-in clients;

Sell a complete line of Niner Media products (Special Sections, Niner Times, Radio Free Charlotte, and NinerOnline) Keep clients informed of any special issues or promotions;

Correctly complete all necessary paperwork;

Adheres to department deadlines;

Monitor contract status of accounts to stay on target;

Adhere to billing and credit policies as posted by the Business Manager;

Provide support and help to other Account Executives

Does related work as needed.

Required Knowledge and Skills:

•Must be a student currently enrolled at UNC Charlotte;•Must possess and maintain a minimum GPA of 2.0;•Must be in good disciplinary and academic standing with UNC Charlotte •Must have good communication skills and project professional image.

The Account Executive reports to the Student Media Marketing Advertising Sales Manager and /or Marketing Director. Questions about this position and its responsibilities should be directed to your supervisor. Grievances may be taken to the Student Media Board and/or Student Media Adviser.

For further information, contact: Kelly Merges, Marketing Adviser, Student Union, UNC Charlotte, Charlotte, NC 28223-0001 Phone 704-687-7136The University of North Carolina is composed of the 16 public senior institutions in North Carolina. An equal opportunity employer

Student Media MarketingFall Training/New Account Executive Training

Session I: General Overview

1. Tour of Student Media All Offices and Personnel and how they all fit into the big picture NinerOnline Sanskrit Literary Arts Magazine Radio Free Charlotte Niner Times Media Marketing including Production Area Main Office

2. Overview of Student Media Marketing and Student Media as a Whole 3. Question and Answer4. Completion of paperwork for employment

BREAK

5. Discussion about our publication, how it is produced and demographics6. Discussion about the Advertising Account Executive Job Description (attached)

Session II: Rate Card

1. Rate Card Overview Have trainee review rate card Discuss in detail with special attention to deadlines, and publication dates 2. Rates Difference between on-campus and local open rates Contract levels Color Charges Discounts Special Section rates Inserts Classifieds Nineronline AdRax

3. Paperwork Filling out an insertion order calculating column inches Filling out a production request using mock client visit Quiz on both of the above using scenarios

Session III: Role-Playing and actual sales call

1. In-depth role playing where new employee is account executive and marketing director is client2. Actual sales call with a current client

Session IV: Sales Meeting

Formal introduction to other account executives with refreshments

TCU Daily Skiff CNBAM Best Training program

Training for Skiff account executives begins when they are hired for the position. Each account exec is given a rate card and media kit to study before returning for training the following semester. As the “face” of Student Media 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. Account execs 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 with Student Media, and sources for information about our clients’ businesses. Account execs 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, account execs discuss their account list with the ad director 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 director and business manager complete evaluations of all account execs. Account execs 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 director meets with the account exec to discuss strengths and weaknesses identified. The most integral facet of account exec training is the weekly sales meeting. At each sales meeting, account execs 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. At each weekly meeting, account execs rotate turns with a “Show and Tell”. Show and Tell involves bringing an article, video clip, or some type of sales information to share with the group. Speakers are occasionally brought in to discuss refresher topics for account execs. These speakers are from the local professional community, and may be in sales, design, or training. Former account execs are also brought in to discuss how to maximize future opportunities while working in TCU Student Media. During the week, additional memos and sales materials are circulated in the account exec 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 account execs informed.

At the end of the semester, account execs are asked to complete a job evaluation. This evaluation provides feedback for the ad director, with possible suggestions for improvement in the advertising office. This allows us to complete the semester by learning from the account execs, 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 workflow, 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 account execs and the ad director. 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 director is offered training in peer management from the Human Resources department. The ad director for the next fall semester attends the CNBAM Student Ad director Workshop in Chicago each year.

Our goal in training our account execs is not only to make them successful at the Skiff, but also 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 6, 2011

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. Other Media

• Tcu360.com • Image Magazine • News Now • KTCU

1:00 p.m.-2:00 p.m. Computer System / Ad Design

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

2:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. Organization and Time Management

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

Accounts 3:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. Review

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

Skiff Advertising Training – Day 2 Tuesday August 7, 2011 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 • 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 8, 2011 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

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 ___________________, Allie Harrell and Bitsy Faulk.

I. Tardiness Late is defined by being 10 MINUTES past the time on the clock in the Skiff Advertising office.

a. Tardiness Consequences i. Warning for first offense ii. Second offense: An extra hour will be required in the office.

b. 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, shorts hats or tee shirts.

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.

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

dress not too revealing. No shorts or t-shirts. 1. Dresses: a sundress is not business casual. If your 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.

c. Incorrect dress consequences i. Please know that if Allie or Bitsy see you heading to or at a client meeting not

adhering to these stated guidelines you will have an hour added to your office hours. If failure to dress appropriately occurs more than twice, a meeting will be held with Allie and Bitsy.

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. Allie 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 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. You are not at home. When you dress professionally you feel and work like a professional.

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, 5% will be docked from your quota.

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

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

1. Appointment, picking up invoice, dropping off paper. 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.

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 in addition to quota. 2. Second failure will be an extra hour in the office. 3. Third failure 5% will be docked 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. 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 Director Date _______________________________ Business Manager Date

Nomination for Best Training Program

When students at The Breeze complete the newspaper’s intensive advertising-training program, they are not just prepared for selling campus-media ads. They are also poised to make sales presentations to major regional companies, and they are seasoned enough to obtain post-graduation jobs at top-of-the-line companies.

The goal, then, of The Breeze’s training program is to use both classroom-style training and real-life experiences to build students’ portfolios as they prepare to graduate. It works: Nearly all of our sales and design graduates in May 2012 had jobs or internships in hand by summer’s end. Many have returned or written to tell us that The Breeze’s training, especially its focus on practical experiences, was a major factor in their hiring.

Here is how we do it.

Hiring Process After hiring managers in February, the advertising adviser works with the managers-elect to

implement a two-week preliminary training in March for new execs and designers. In this “crash course,” the sales staff is trained in closing the sale, sales skills, people skills, product knowledge, market knowledge, design concepts, online sales, magazine sales, telephone skills, handling objections and competition, making a needs assessment and making major account presentations. During the rest of the spring semester, the new hires do hands-on work with the outgoing staff to make a smooth transition to take over existing accounts.

The management staff, meanwhile, is trained in coaching, motivating the sales staff, interviewing and handling special situations. They also learn their role in helping the staff to obtain their goals, not just to “ be in charge.” They learn that they must be accountable, for success and failure, of the staff.

Major Sales Presentation Training

The entire sales and design staff return to The Breeze two weeks before the semester begins for fall training, which consists of intensive major accounts training in which they learn the intricacies of making sales presentations to real-time major and national accounts and to prepare themselves to travel to the accounts to make business presentations for preprints and ROP.

After being trained on how to plan such a pitch (including major training on needs assessments, market data and readership demographics), each sales executive creates and presents a mock sales pitch to a real-life client. A panel of judges evaluates the presentations and selects teams that will then take the presentations to the actual clients. The winners also have other incentives, such as a first-place iPad or an expenses-paid trip to the CNBAM convention.

Other Fall Training

In addition to the major-presentation training, sessions are held on other aspects of local sales, management and design. This is in conjunction with training for the editorial staff. Speakers come from major news outlets, some traveling several hours by car to be with us. The keynote speaker this year was a longtime publisher who oversees a daily newspaper and several weeklies in the region. Management Training

New managers are instructed in how to set goals for each year, and they work with the outgoing staff to make reasonable projections for the incoming staff. The advertising adviser shows them how to do an effective budget, taking into consideration the projection of the account, the rate increase and the expectation for growth. Managers also receive management training, on interviewing, hiring, firing, coaching, handling special problems and many other management skills.

Throughout the year management works with the advertising adviser and general manager to lead the staff to achieve the goals and objectives through management reviews and performance and revenue oversight. The staff is constantly set to a performance standard, which is monitored and for which they have to be accountable in weekly flash reports and monthly projections.

Outcomes Measurements

The Breeze measures the outcomes of its training programs through the expectations placed on sales execs and designers. Commissions are based on demonstrating competency in achieving goals based on what the students learn in training. Extra points are rewarded for professional dress, quantity of cold calls per issue, attitude, ad count, achieving revenue and team goals, new contracts and accounts, and errors and omissions.

The design team is rewarded for performance on omissions, errors, best ad of the month, working with sales staff and creating spec ads, all items covered in training throughout the year.

Management incentive programs include incentives for professional attitude, cold calling with sales staff, dress code, working with the ad adviser and general manager, and achieving goals. A bonus program is also in place for achieving the annual goals.

These performance measures ensure that what is taught during training is consistently used in the field. The outcomes of the training are also measured through The Breeze’s exit survey of students who have

worked for The Breeze. Almost all those surveyed say their work and training at The Breeze has provided them with “much improved” skills in leading others, cold calling, overcoming sales objections, marketing and layout/design.

These results, paired with the high employment rates of Breeze graduates, shows that The Breeze’s training program is indeed one of the best in the nation.

Welcome Back!Our back-to-school

training program is one of

our great traditions at The

Breeze, and last year it re-

ceived national recognition

as one of the best in the

country (for the third year

in a row!).

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

every day, and we have

a few during the second

week. Please be on time.

Many of our speakers are

from outside the area, and

you can show appreciation

by being punctual.

Your afternoons the first

week are mostly open for

you to plan for the coming

year. Brainstorm story

ideas, assign stories, call

advertising 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.

MONDAYAugust 13

12:30 p.m.

Opening LunchWelcome back. Get reacquainted during lunch.

Peter Yates, editor and general manager of the Daily News-Record in Harrisonburg, will answer the question: “Why Community Newspapers (Still) Matter.”

Allegheny Room (Festival Conference Center)

2:00 p.m.

All Staff: Staff orientation, including what’s new this year, policies and other information. And maybe a little fun.

Allegheny Room

3:00 p.m.

All Advertising Staff: Opening staff meeting. We’ll go over what’s coming during this year at The Breeze.

Allegheny Room

Newsroom: Opening staff meeting with Editor Torie Foster. Allegheny Room

TUESDAYAugust 14

9:00 a.m.

Newsroom: Developing the Story. Washington Post Night Platform Editor Courtney Rukan, a former Breeze editor (1998-2000), will explain ways to get a story from idea to published piece.

Taylor 302

Advertising Execs: Building Client Relationships. Linda Nachtigall, a sales exec with Branner Printing, will discuss how you can build effective relationships with clients. She’ll also discuss cold calling.

Taylor 305

Designers: Working with Clients. Sometimes, what the client wants isn’t what you want to create. How can you best work with execs and clients to produce effective ads? Michelle Hamson, a former Breeze designer who know works for a graphic design firm in Charlottesville, joins us to help.

Taylor 309

10:00 a.m.

Newsroom: Critique from a Pro. Courtney Rukan has seen your work, and she has some advice. She’ll also answer you questions to help make The Breeze better.

Taylor 302

Advertising Execs: Overcoming Objections. Cesi Myers will talk about what to do when the client says no, and how to get from there to yes.

Taylor 305

Designers: Spec Ads. Using some of her own experiences, Michelle Hamson will discuss effective spec-ad creation.

Taylor 309

11:00 a.m.

Newsroom: Headlines, Cutlines and SEO. Courtney Rukan will discuss some effective editing tech-niques, and will talk about search-engine optimization as you coordinate web coverage.

Taylor 302

All Advertising Staff: Madison Marketplace. We have a new option for our clients this year, Madison Marketplace. We’ll explain it and get some training.

Taylor 305

12:30 p.m.

Lunch: At The Breeze office.Q&A with President Jon Alger

3:30 p.m.: Mr. Alger will hold a 30-minute Q&A with The Breeze in the newsroom. All staff invited.

WEDNESDAYAugust 15

9:00 a.m.

All Staff: Legal and Ethical Crash Course. The Breeze’s legal adviser, Roger Soenksen, will discuss ways to stay our of legal and ethical trouble.

Taylor 305

10:00 a.m.

Newsroom and Ad Execs: You get some free time to start planning, selling, etc., for the first issue.

Designers: The Creative Process. Jaye Brumfield, owner of The Hatchery graphic-design firm, will take you through the creative process, and will then talk specifically about effective uses of type, text and images. 2 hours.

Taylor 305

12:30 p.m.

Lunch: At The Breeze office.

Best Training Program – The Daily Collegian – Penn State University Overview: The Daily Collegian has been at Penn State for 126 years and publishes five days a week, 18,000 copies a day. We are an independent student-run newspaper that does not receive any funding from the University (Penn State does buy a large subscription that allows the students to get the paper for free, but we pay almost equivalent rent for our space). Eighty-five percent of our $1.7 million budget comes from advertising. We have approximately 85 students on the business side of the paper and because we are an independent paper, our staff members do not receive academic credit for their work here. Students join to better themselves, and consequently we get a great group of people who want to be successful and who want to continue the success of the paper. Goals: We have two primary goals during the course of our training program. The first goal is to give the students a professional, quality experience that will lead to future success in whatever field they enter. The second goal is for our staff members to use the training to consult successfully with clients, ultimately delivering Penn State’s 42,000 students to their businesses.

Training: The Process Informational Sessions: After campus-wide recruiting, we hold at least two informational sessions in the third week of each fall, spring and summer semester for students interested in becoming involved with The Daily Collegian Business Division. To promote this we place house advertisements in our paper, flier student mailboxes, and send information out on college listservs. We recruit based upon the demand for new staff members; this depends on graduation, co-ops, or study abroad of current staff members. All of our five departments recruit every semester: Sales, Business Operations and Creative, Promotions and Layout. Interview Process: During the Informational Sessions the prospective trainees fill out applications according to their desired department. This allows the department managers to get a feel for the applicants, and to determine any strengths or weaknesses they may have. Throughout the following week all of the managers interview every applicant, and that Friday afternoon the Board of Managers comes together to decide the best candidates for each department. Business Advisor Candy Heckard, sends out an acceptance email that evening. The training program starts the following Monday, and continues for the remainder of the semester. Selection and Training: Training illustrates all phases of our business operation. While many college newspaper training programs are only a week or two long, we believe a semester of training is crucial to the success and retention of our trainees. This gives them the opportunity to assimilate to the fast-paced environment of our office, as well as the time to develop their skills, whether in sales or design. The confidence this builds is key as selling requires constant vigilance and a passion for success. In fall 2012 we trained 14 account executives, 6 business operations reps, 2 layout reps, 5 promotions reps and 6 creative specialists for positions that began in January 2013. In the year 2012 as a whole, we trained a total of 55 students. Training lasts for ten weeks, with twice a week sessions. We also require three one-hour office periods a week for hands-on training. We do not sugarcoat the time commitment during recruiting, and by the end of training we have a very committed staff with a low turnover rate.

Range of subjects covered: Product knowledge Effective use of marketing

information Advertising sales Selling Color Customer Service skills Dealing with difficult clients Creative ad design Role playing Selling skills Selling sponsorships for various

spots Code of Ethics and ad policies

Preparing advertising campaigns Selling multiple products and special

promotions Handling National Advertisers Cold calling Selling web and app advertising Working alongside News Closing the sale Adapting our products to different

audiences Consulting with the Creative

Department on sales calls Selling guaranteed placement

With all this, we are always sure to emphasize how important the trainees are to the future of the paper and encourage them to interview for leadership positions for the following year. Measuring results: With such an extensive, long-term program we must continually measure progress and knowledge retention. Trainees have regular quizzes ranging from basic Daily Collegian info, to calculating complex advertising combo rates. Other more interactive forms of assessing progress include a scavenger hunt team relay and “Collegian Jeopardy.” We also assess our account executives through role-plays at the end of the semester as a way for them to apply the skills they have learned to real selling situations they will likely face. This provides an excellent way for our trainees to gain feedback, as the sales managers are able to critique performances and give notes. The training class is also informed from day one of the comprehensive final that they must pass in order to be accepted onto the staff. We have five versions of the final – a different version for ad sales, business operations, layout, promotions and creative. Finally, through the course of training we have a weekly Trainee of the Week award called SPAM – Super Positive Attitude and Motivation. Results from all these progress measurements are used when assigning clients for the following semester and for advancing trainees into staff positions. Professional standards: One of our primary goals is to instill professional standards into our sales staff members, and this begins at the training level. By stressing ethical business practices, a consultative selling approach, and listening skills, we are helping their professionalism grow, and preparing them for success in future jobs. Throughout the course of training, our incoming staff members are immersed in day-to-day business practices as they shadow their mentor, a current staff member of the department they’re training for. By the time they get on staff, our trainees know they are responsible for attendance, weekly meetings and making cold calls. They are also held accountable for their clients (through strict quota monitoring), among other things. Other departments are held to equivalent standards of professionalism. Our alumni network is very strong for a reason; Collegian graduates know the quality of the training program and that our students are ready to enter the workplace running. We are constantly getting calls with job opportunities, and after the practices they have learned through our training program, our staff members are more than prepared to excel in whatever business environment they join.

Fall 2012 Training Schedule

Recruiting Week: Wednesday, Sept. 12 and Monday, Sept. 17 Intro meetings at 5:45 p.m. each day Interviews – Begin Thursday, Sept. 13 List sent to all applicants on Friday, Sept. 21 at 4 p.m. Plan for a meeting to determine accepted trainees at around 2 p.m. that Friday. Have interviews completed by 1:30 p.m. Training sessions: Week of Sept. 24 – Intro Week Monday, Sept. 24 – Board of Managers (BOM) introduction, schedules, basic rules. Icebreaker. (BOM, Candy) Wednesday, Sept. 26 – Intro publications, types of ads, basics, give out schedules, mentors. (Candy) Week of Oct. 1 – Policies Week Monday, Oct. 1 - Editor in Chief/Managing Editor, General Manager intro. Pricing and sizing ads, measuring and pricing exercise. (Candy) Wednesday, Oct. 3 – Code of Ethics, Advertising policies (Candy) Week of Oct. 8 – Operations Week Monday, Oct. 8 – Biz Ops Night: forms, classifieds, spec requests, office operations (Biz Ops) Wednesday, Oct. 10 – Split Night: Biz Ops: Forms, procedures. Sales: IOs, color, changes, corrections, etc. Creative: IOs, web insertions, color, spec requests. Week of Oct. 15 – Client Relations Week Monday, Oct. 15 – Island Exile Exercise, Selling Skills (Candy and Mike) Wednesday, Oct. 17 – Split Night: Biz Ops: Handling angry clients. Sales: Building Rapport, Objections. Creative: Activity with display and web advertising, visiting clients with account executives. Week of Oct. 22 – Advertising Sales Week Monday, Oct. 22 – Sales of all types of ads and how they differ. National, national direct, sponsorships (Sales) Wednesday, Oct. 24 – Split Night: BizOps: Activity with display and web advertising, understanding re:Fuel advertising details. Sales: Ad plans. Creative: design sponsorship ads, web ads. Week of Oct. 29 – Mid Term - Procedures Monday, Oct. 29 – Review – (Department Managers) Wednesday, Oct. 31 – Exam of Procedures Week of Nov. 5 – Promotions, Layout, Creative Monday, Nov. 5 – Layout and Promotions give presentations Wednesday, Nov. 7 – Creative presentation Week of Nov. 12 – Fun Week! Monday, Nov. 12 – Scavenger Hunt night! (BOM) Wednesday, Nov. 14 – Jeopardy (Prep for Final) (Biz Ops) Week of Nov. 26 Monday, Nov. 26 – Final Wednesday, Nov. 28 – Role-plays (First Night) Week of Dec. 3 Monday, Dec. 3 – Role-plays (Second Night) After Christmas Break – All trainees integrate into departments and transition into positions.

Example of trainee checklist. In all, there are five checklists.

Trainee Assignment List #2:

Assigned Wednesday, Oct. 10 2012 Due: Monday, Oct. 22 (beginning of training)

Remember there is an absolute correlation between the trainees who go above and beyond in training and those who do well their first semester on staff and progress to management positions. As with the last checklist, if there is a person/department specified, then you must learn the task from them and get them to sign it, otherwise you may go to a manager or specialist in any department.

______ Know the Late Copy (LC) and Waiting for Payment (WFP) Procedures (layout) ______ Brainworks and Bizworks: (What are programs? Who uses them?) (sales manager) ______ Understand all rates (display, DC, monthly discount, web, magazine, video sponsorships, front page,

national – all positions) (sales) ______ Demonstrates ability to talk about advertisements with clients (sales manager)

______ Ability to locate important information in the rate card ______ Awareness of deadlines (including any upcoming special deadlines) ______ Understand how to open and close discussion about an ad ______ Kills and changes - understand the procedure (sales manager) ______ ______ Fill out an insertion order (work with an AE and have a sales manager sign it -- sales

manager and AE need to sign this checklist) ______ ______ Fill out a web insertion order (work with an AE and have a sales manager sign it -- sales

manager and AE need to sign this checklist) _______ Demonstrates knowledge of premium placement (crossword, Sudoku, horoscope, Bananagrams, front

page, and guaranteed placement. ______ ______ Understands advantages, benefits of ad plans (work with an AE on an ad plan – sales

manager and AE need to sign this checklist) _____ Demonstrates answering the phone, taking messages and transferring calls. (BizOps) ______ Demonstrates knowledge of what makes a client a local client and the difference between local and

national rates Additional: Sales Trainees: Go on at least one sales call with your mentor and hand the route report to Candy. You must go on a minimum of five sales calls by the end of training. Biz Ops: You need to go on one sales call.Creative: You need to go on two sales calls with AEs. Must also be accompanied by a creative specialist or creative rep as well as an AE on thesales call.

Spring 2012Scavenger Hunt

Winners

Alex Junod, Sarah Suders, Laura Wake-Ramos, Mary Mahoney

Jeopardy Spring 2012 Winners!

Chelsey, Jackie, Bianca and Sean

Congratulations!

SPAM Award Winner Oct. 8-15, 2012

S P A Muper ositive ttitude otivationand

Great Job!!

Trainee of the Week

Alli HartmanBusiness Operations Trainee

Our trainees work hard for many weeks tocomplete the training requirements, so we make surethere is some fun as well.

One session is The trainees are putinto teams of four or five people and each given a“sound” to make when they have the answer to one ofthe questions. It’s noisy, fun and ridiculouslycompetitive. The “prize” was three extra points of thefinal to each member of the winning team.

Another one is the . In this onethe same teams from Jeopardy were sent on a hunt allover our offices to do all the various steps to insertingan ad - meet a client, consult creative department, getpayment, insert the ad, preparing forms correctly. If anystep is incorrect the team has to go back and figure outthe mistake and try again. Again - noisy andcompetitive with chocolate as the prize.

We also started awarding our everyweek starting in 1995. Our winner of the uper ositive

ttitude and otivation award every week has theirpicture on the trainee bulletin board and braggingrights. And their very own can of SPAM!

Jeopardy.

Scavenger Hunt

SPAMS P

A M

Collegian Jeopardy

Fun Stuff!

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 office policies and procedures to time management skills. 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.

Sales training combines the classroom work and going on sales calls with the manager and the returning staff. The theory is learned in the classroom and hopefully it is applied during the sales calls. New reps are required to watch the experienced rep making a call and then the new rep makes a cold-call while the experienced rep is watching and coaching.

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 Amazing Race”), 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.

ADVERTISING TRAINING AGENDATuesday, January 22 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm This Training Session Applies to All Business Departments

Introductions/Forms/PhotosDP Structure Policies and Procedures Products The Life of an Ad A tour of The DP DP Movie

Thursday, January 24 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm

Sales requirements, policies, pay, etc The Selling Philosophy Prospecting/Cold Calling Ad Types, Rates and Sizes AdPro

Schedule Selling Appts. with Taylor for next week

Tuesday, January 29 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm

Customer Service Bundling/Proposals Assignment — Research your assigned customer and fill out the proposal form

Thursday, January 31 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm

Sales Presentation Practice/Prospect Lists and Territories Assigned

BUSINESS PROPOSAL FORMContact Name: Nicole PollackBusiness: South Moon Under

The following proposal is for the months of February through April

Budget — $5,000.00

Strategy: ______________________________________________________

______________________________________________________

Products: q The Daily Pennsylvanian

q display ad _______________________________________

q classified display ad ______________________________

q front page ad _____________________________________

q classified line ad _________________________________

q pre-printed insert ________________________________

q puzzle sponsorship _______________________________

q Special Issues _______________________________________

q 34th Street Magazine ________________________________

q TheDP.com

q Leaderboard q Medium Rectangle

q theDP.com q 34st.com q The Buzz q Under the Button

q DP Deals q Rackbox Posters

Costs: ______________________________________________________

______________________________________________________

______________________________________________________

______________________________________________________

Total: ______________________________________________________

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.

Training ProgramIt’s easy to try to move past the basics when salespeople get comfortable, but over the past year, we’ve learned that we weremissing opportunities when we weren’t focused on the basic rule of success in sales: OVERCOMING OBJECTIONS. We’ve taken the approach as we always have, that education is constant. A dedicated portion of our sale meeting is now dedicating to the practice of overcoming objections. This year, the focus has simply been on providing an outline of what the “basics” of sales are by providing them with a step by step checklist of the skills they need to achieve, and provided motivational support behind that concept, with the continuation of “Student Media Ninjas”, our team of sales assassins.

ENTER THE TRAINING DOJO OF MEDIA NINJAS: Training begins the moment you accept the challenge to enter our “Shark Tank”. This is our second year of the “Shark Tank”, and we find it weeds potential candidates out faster than a long interview & training process. Most students know within the first week if they are cut out for sales or not – saving us valuable time an resources that were previously spent on people who wouldn’t be able to handle the job. In the Shark Tank, trainees get an informational session about t how to do sales – prospecting, establishing contact, setting the appointment and closing the sale. Then they get an hour session on the particular products they will be selling, to assist them in ensuring they know what the key sales points for that product are. Then they hit the streets with support flyers and contracts in hand. They are not allowed to sell our “low hanging fruit” – the newspaper. They must first sell a special section or online product before they become a full‐fledged “Sales Assassin” and become a junior account executive. This approach has increased our trainee retention, and it easily weeds out those who decided sales is not for them. For those who make a sale, they are introduced to the milestones (the basics) of salestechniques. The overview of our Sales Assassin training program outlines what every achievement means, and how they can earn additional ninja stars. (See Ninja Star Overview). Once they make their first sale, they are given a Ninja Checklist to take them step by step through an entire onboarding program where manager’s can track their progress.

MAKE THEM PART OF THE TEAM: We do a lot of cross‐training with our sales staff. We start off our year with an entire department training session that includes our sales staff, our designers, our layout team, social media team, marketing staff and support staff. They complete teamwork and collaboration exercises demonstrating the need for teamwork, collaboration, individual contribution, and good communication practices.

ENGAGE THEM: This year’s training sessions received incredible feedback from the students. What did I do differently? ENTERTAINMENT & INTERACTION. Get them up & involved, get them communicating with each other, and entertain them with humorous or inspirational movie clips. When they were involved, they were engaged.

To get them warmed up and awake for our early morning sessions, or even to begin our afternoons after a break, I would get them all to stand up and follow this silly YouTube sensation guy, and have them follow along by doing “double dream hands”, or later “double dream feet”. (Try it for yourself! Click here): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dm7yAWpX1Mc)

We also got a little more “goofy” with our getting to know your team members exercises, instead of the usual go around the table and say something fun about yourself, we played a few games. One of their favorites was I gave them all name tags on their foreheads & they had to figure out who they were. They could only ask each person 3 yes or no questions and had to moveon to ask someone else. So they had to interact outside of their comfort zone or team. They had to guess who they were –whether it was a famous TV celebrity or a childhood fictional character… there is always lots of laughter. Sometimes we will endour training with something fun like a team competition – like advertising “jeopardy” or the Logo board game.

To keep them entertained, I tried to weave in a few movie clips or informative clips related to the material so that they didn’t hear all their managers just say what they have heard before, into every presentation. If we were talking about bad salesexamples – I’d throw in some Tommy Boy clips. If we were discussing closing the customer at a higher level, I’d throw some Boiler Room or Glenn Gary, Glenn Ross clips. If we discussed motivation, I’ve found a few good ones to encourage, inspire, or“pump them up”.

We also did a lot more exercises that involved interaction, and less “lecture”. It gave people an opportunity to work with or meet someone they may not usually interact with in the office, which encourages more communication between teams when the training is over. One of our most popular cross‐training, mixed team interaction exercises was splitting teams up equally –same number of designers, marketing people, and sales people per team. The teams were given the same client and had to develop a 3‐ad campaign for the client. One ad had to be fully designed & the other 2 sketched out. Additionally, they were assigned an in‐house campaign to develop the same way. The teams had one hour to research, develop concepts and complete a multiple ad campaign for the paying client, and the house client. Each team presented their ideas, and had to vote for a winning campaign that was not their own. They really enjoyed getting the chance to DO what they will actually do in their jobs, on a quick deadline, and we got amazing new ideas to take to our client!!

With our new training program design, all participants seem equally happy, motivated, and inspired to get things moving! You know you’ve hit a home run when your students are saying things like, “Man, this is so much fun!” , and you see them actually put the lessons into practice in the office. (I think we might be on to something here).

Training Program PG 2

REWARD THEM:We do the usual little personal notes and small trinkets like a notepad, candle, can coozie, etc when they meet some personal milestones, but we take that a step further. We reward our sales staff with ninja stars, when they accomplish particular sales objectives. This outlines all the goals a salesperson should strive to achieve, and sets the bar for expectations. They are aware that new stars can be earned for meeting new challenges, and that multiple stars can be earned. This non‐monetary incentive has been an incredible motivator for our team – one that even I didn’t anticipate being so successful. We even have “ritual” with robes, private ceremony and all to welcome new members into our society of sales assassins, much like a fraternal organization. The students seem to get pretty pumped about earning stars so they can be a part of ritual. What thrills them even more, is the excitement of earning real ninja stars – it’s a physical trophy they can display at their work space to show off their accomplishments.

REINFORCE LESSONS LEARNED:To reinforce our direction of maintaining continuous training and consistent interaction, in our weekly team sales group meeting, we host the Weekly Objection. A typical client objection is read out loud. Each sales rep has four minutes to write down what they would say to overcome the objection. The responses are all anonymously read and the team votes thumbs up, thumbs down or in the middle to help determine which are the best. A winner is voted on by the group, and the winning objection is place up in our OBJECTION board, that features the client objection, and the sales rep’s name, date, and how they overcame the objection. There was a particular objection that was practically the most common that the team seemed to struggle with. So to encourage repetition and familiarity and practice overcoming it, we did the same objection three weeks in a row. It was a good reminder, that sometimes you have to reinforce the “basics” on an ongoing basis.

TEACH NEW SKILLS:Weekly we cover new training topics in our group sales meeting, so that we are constantly teaching our staff new skills and developing those talents. And of course we have our usual 4‐day intensive boot camps, on topics relevant to skill development.See attached Training Schedules.

DEVELOP STUDENT MANAGERS:Our student managers are responsible for developing training manuals for their staff, and a users manual for their own position,to prepare the next incoming manager. We don’t promote managers without sending them through “Management Bootcamp”. There we teach them using lecture, movie clips and role play to ensure the information is absorbed, and the information is easy to recall later when needed. We also take this time to discuss what changes or improvements can be made to our processes, policies and practices at that time. The key lesson is in learning how to deliver effective and timely feedback through role‐play. We cover a range of real‐life scenarios related to managing your peers, diversity, poor sales performance, inappropriate office attire, not meeting office minimums, inappropriate social media use, inter‐office dating and unprofessional office behavior. Ourgoal is to prepare them for future professional situations. Our track record is pretty high, as we place nearly 95% of all students post‐graduation interested in a related field, and they credit LSU Student Media for preparing them for their career. Our students are always offered positions in the Gannet Talent & Development Program as well as other reputable national and regional media companies as well, because we have prepared them so well for that next step.MANAGER’S BOOTCAMP: May 15, 2012TIME TOPIC

9:00 am Welcome & Introductions

9: 15 am Pre‐Employment Packet – review, discuss, make changes

10:00 am Hiring & Staffing, Interviews

11:15 – 12:00p Lunch Break

12:00 – 1:00 p Motivating & Inspiring Your Team

12:30 – 1:30 pm Delegation & Leadership Tools

1:30 – 3:00 pm Effectively Delivering Feedback – timing, frequency, delivery

3:00 – 3:45 pm Role Play Office Situations

TIME TOPIC9:00 am New Hire Schedule & Information Sessions9:30 am Marketing interns & Gumbo sales10:00 am Recruitment Workshop

Changes to pre‐employment message from yesterdayWhat do we do that works?What doesn’t work?What haven’t we tried yet?What’s our plan?New Employee CHECKLISTS – create templates

11:15 ‐ 12:00 pm Your Weekly Staff Meeting WorkshopWeekly Training TopicDiscuss deadlinesShare leads & assign prospectsEnd with a WIN for the weekWhat else will you incorporate?Create your templates/outlines

12:00 – 1:00 pm LUNCH BREAK1:00 – 1:45 pm Team contests for the summer & fall semester1:45 – 3:00 pm Daily Expectations for staff

Evaluations – frequencyIndividual meetings/One‐on‐One’sCriteria for selecting & announcing Employee of the Month

3:00 pm Review Homework assignments

MANAGER’S BOOTCAMP: May 16, 2012

Training Program – Schedules

TIME TOPIC LEADER9:00 am Welcome & Introductions: name, yr, major, job Kodi9: 15 am Design Workshop Mary10:00 am Welcome Address Bob Ritter10:30 – 11:15 am Sales A‐Z

Make it in sales – Kodi6 ways to make people like you to handling

$20K ‐ ScottNuggets – KodiGet the appointment, the C.N.A., the

presentation ‐ ScottClose the sale, Keep In Touch, double your

billing – Amber11:15 – 12:30 pm LUNCH BREAK

12:30 – 1:15 pm LSU Audience‐Based Selling & More Kodi,Will, Annabel

12:45 – 1:15 Frequency & TOMA Annabel1:15 – 2:00 Using the Phone to Get the Appointment Scott

2:00 – 3:00 pm Overcoming Objections & Role Play Will

TIME TOPIC LEADER12:45 pm Getting to know your co‐workers1:00 pm Employer Expectations

Work days, vacation, sick days, citations, being ON TIME (If you’re not early, you’re late!)

Kodi

1:10 – 1:20 pm Appointment Setting, Cold Calling, Drop‐Ins Scott H1:20 – 1:50 pm Sales is a Numbers Game

Weekly Sales ReportsCalls, Drop offs vs. F2F Appts

Kodi

1:50 – 2:30 pm Motivation, Organization & Time Management Scott H & Will

2:30 – 2:45 pm One on One MeetingsMileage reports – hit minimums, earn gas $Driver’s Safety Course

Scott C & Annabel

2:45 – 2:50 pm Sales Pacing Charts Chelsea2:50 – 3:00 pm Hit Lists Chelsea & Annabel

3:00 – 3:10 pm Summer Reveille, Freshman Orientation Guide Scott H & Annabel

3:10 – 3:15 pm Shop Baton Rouge Kodi3:15 pm – 3:30 pm

New TV SponsorshipsDining DealsEntertainment Deals

Will

3:30 – 3:50 pm College Explorer Kodi3:50 – 4:15 pm Features & Benefits Annabel

SALES TRAINING: May 17, 2012

SALES TRAINING: May 18, 2012

TIME TOPIC LEADER9:00 am WELCOME & Introductions

Let people introduce themselves: name – year – major – jobLet’s loosen up:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5L1tr0PIx20&feature=related

Organization Chart

9:30 am Sales Rep – what does that mean?Professionalism

Kodi

10:55 am Dress CodeConfidential InformationClient info, spending, etc.Personal info, cell #’s, etc

Fatima

11:05 am Handshake “How To”Weekly Call SheetDrop off’s vs. Phone Calls

Jay

11:10 am Face to FaceMeeting the Minimums: Consequences, Daily Sign‐in Sheet

Citations

Kodi

11:15 am –12:45 pm

Getting Started:Who is our audience of readers/listenersCollege Explorer

Who is the LSU Audience?What does LSU SM Deliver that’s unique?Why choose our products?

Kodi

12:45 – 1p Crafting Your Opening StatementIndividual Work & ShareGroups of 2 or 3… rework & share as individuals again as an

elevator speech

Kodi

Remember, you can do anything – you are training to be NINJAS!http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A55wDcKc0JQ&feature=endscreen&NR=1

TIME TOPIC LEADER

9am Communication Exercise2 or 3 even teams ‐ “Broken Email”http://www.teampedia.net/wiki/index.php?title=Broken_Email

Kodi

9:20 am Communicate with FELLOW SALES REPSAccount List, Team Meetings, Sign‐In Sheet

Katelyn

9:35am Communicate with your CLIENTS before the saleForms, Payment, Credit, Receipts

Joe

9:45 am Communicate with your TEAM after the sale (2 THINGS – insertion, production)Production Request – Client Folders vs. CFOInsertion Orders vs. ContractsDeadlines – see charts

Kodi

Katelyn

10:10 am Communicate with your CLIENTS after the saleWeekly TearsheetsMonthly Invoices: Blue form vs. white sheet, Folding

Joe

10:15 am Team Building exercise – PUZZLE!!!!http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zacF1pZR1Fg&feature=fvwp&NR=1

Kodi

Share yesterday’s Opening Statements & critique each other10:30 am Sales by the Numbers Kodi11:15 am –12 pm

Shark Tank – your papers, Define & sign papersDiscuss products

Will & Annabel

Sales A‐Z (PART ONE)

SALES TRAINING: Dec 10, 2012


TIME TOPIC LEADERLet’s get moving together – a Warm Uphttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dm7yAWpX1Mc

9a Sales A‐Z (PART TWO)Make the Presentation (Fati)How much do I ask for? (Kodi)Closing the Sale, Replacement Words (Kodi)Always Be Closing (Kodi)Types of Closes, Quit Wasting Time (Jay)Keep in touch x 3 (Jay)Lagniappe, Build Your List (Kodi)

9:45 a Turning in your weekly call sheets Sales Pacing Charts postedMileage Report

Hit minimums for an entire month – earn gas money!Driver’s Safety Course

23 Business Etiquette Tips from USF

Joe

10:05 a Hit listsOne on One Meetings50 reasons to advertise

Fatima & Kelsey

10:10 –11:10 am

Features vs. Benefits Jay

11:10 a Keep in Touch ProgramGroup share by veteransWith prospectsWith established clients

Fatima

11:30 a The biggest mistakes I made early on in trying to sell were…Group Share by veterans

Learn from the mistakes of others.Pick yourself up after falling and find successhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v3sy630dY_k&feature=relatedCLASS SCHEDULES – TEAM MEETINGS


TIME TOPIC LEADER9a Wake up! It’s the last day of training, let’s get going!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z6iPlmIeD3Y&feature=related

9:05 a 50 Reasons to Advertise Katelyn9:20 a Competitive Media & LSU

9:20 a ‐ Newspaper vs. NewsweeklyWho is Tiger Weekly?/Baton Rouge Dig? Why choose Reveille?

Katelyn

9:40 a ‐MagazineWho is 225/City Social/ In‐Register? Why choose Special Sections or Legacy?

Fatima

9:55 a ‐ RadioWho is Eagle/WFMF/104 the X/103 Gen X/LPB? Why choose KLSU?

Rules for UnderwritingKnow When to Say NO – Underwriting Controversies

Jay

10:15 a – TVWho is the competition? LPB? Ch 4/19? Why choose Tiger TV?

Jay

10:30 a – The InternetWho is 2theadvocate/Daily Report? Why choose lsureveille.com or klsu.fm?

Kelsey

10:45 am Yellow Pages, Outdoor, Mobile, Social Media Kelsey11:00 am Events & Living Expo Kodi11:15 am Transit Ads Kodi

This job is going to get hard… don’t give up! Choose to move past failure!http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hzBCI13rJmA&feature=related

11:45 a What motivates YOU? FatimaWhat are you going to let stop you from being successful?http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&feature=fvwp&v=Obo6xCAHIG8


Training Program – Ninja Stars & Checklist

ENGAGE THEM – Training Exercises

Team Push‐Up

Back 2 Back Drawing Exercises

REINFORCE LESSONS LEARNED –The Objection Board

Best Training Program Training is not just one week in the beginning of the semester. Marketing Consultants at The Vidette are

constantly training by continually developing themselves into better sales professionals. When I was

trained, I was given a training manual followed by learning how to enter advertisements into the

computer system. My first goal as Advertising Sales Manager was to make training more efficient,

valuable, and understandable for the team. I wanted to better educate the staff with sales training and

with trends in the multimedia industry.

Training always begins with ice breakers so that the new employees can become familiar with the

veteran employees. Every day there was a different ice breaker such as the following: two truths and a

lie, name boogie, what if game, best/worst customer, and more. Not only was this a good way for the

staff to familiarize with others, it kept them engaged throughout training. The next part of training is to

understand the history and purpose of The Vidette. In my opinion, it is important for Marketing

Consultants to believe in the product in order to sell it. The staff goes through all aspects of The Vidette

by completing FAB (features, advantages, benefits).

Once they understand the product and what The Vidette has to offer clients, the staff moves on to sales

terminology and sales strategies. Throughout training, one thing that is stressed heavily is the

importance of building relationships by conducting needs assessments. The staff learns how to ask

questions with the ADAPT sequence, how to sell with the SELL sequence, and how to overcome

objections with the LAARC sequence. All of these sequences were taught in the introductory sales class

at Illinois State’s College of Business.

Another vital part of training is the relationship building between a Marketing Consultant and his or her

graphic designer. First, Marketing Consultants learn the difference between a successful and

unsuccessful advertisement. The teams are split up and they are given instruction to pick apart current

advertisements in the Vidette. In teams, the Marketing Consultants come up with possible advertising

campaigns for businesses in the Bloomington-Normal area. When the Marketing Consultants meet their

graphic designers, they continue training with a communications and design exercise where the

Marketing Consultant gives directions on how to design a certain object to a graphic designer. This

activity is a great way for the pair to develop a relationship early on in the semester.

During the fall semester, I had two guest speakers join in training the staff. Professor Jim Munz (former

Business Adviser to the Vidette) and Ryan Wilkinson (former Vidette alumnus) assisted the staff with

sales development. Throughout each semester, I believe that is it vital to continually train the Marketing

Consultants by bringing in professionals in the sales field. They are able to provide networking

opportunities, internship/job opportunities, and sales expertise to the Vidette sales staff.

In order to measure the successes of the training program, there are several mechanisms created to

determine how success of the individual. I created a training test to see how well the staff understood

the material. In addition, the staff completed a power hour challenge in order to see who could set up

the most appointments in a given hour. Feedback is also a necessity in leading the staff to success.

Marketing Consultants go on about 2-3 ride days per month with either the Ad Sales Manager or

Business Adviser. They are given feedback instantly on how well he or she does on a ride day. In

addition, Marketing Consultants are evaluated once per month to follow up on quota, points, and

overall progress.

Training continues every week at sales meetings. Awards are given out at every meeting to ensure

individuals are being rewarded for their hard work. There is always teamwork at each meeting to ensure

group cohesion. It is possible for them to learn part of the training material by reading the manual, but

my goal was to ensure the staff could learn, practice, utilize, and develop the sales skills for the Vidette

and their future professional careers.

Training Calendar: August 2012

MON TUE WED THUR FRI 6 7 8 9 10

9-12: Training in COB 148(NEW & Team Leaders)

12-1: Lunch at Noodle’s (ALL)

1-4: Training in COB 148

5: Staff-dinner at Pub II


12-1: Lunch on your own


9-12: Training in COB 148 Guest speaker: Professor Jim Munz

12-1: Lunch on your own


9-11:15: Training in COB 148

11:30-4:00: Training/Lunch in COB 412 Guest speaker: Ryan Wilkinson

9-9:30: Review for test @ Vidette

9:30-10: Training test

10-11: Zone Draft

11:15-11:45: Phone training

1:00-5:00: Office work

13 14 15 16 17 PIZZA FRIDAY

8-2 & 3-4:30: RIDE DAYS (Sign up with Erika or Christina)

2-3: Power Hour Challenge

8-4:30: RIDE DAYS (Sign up with Erika or Christina)

10-4 (anytime): Complete payroll with John (NEW MCs ONLY)

4 pm: Ad entry deadline for 1st issue

Marketing Events: Passages

10-12: Team Building Activity #1 (dress is business casual)

Marketing Events: Passages

10: All staff meeting in STV 101

12: Pizza in Vidette (President Al Bowman to speak, business casual dress)

1:15: Vidette Family photo

4 pm: Artwork deadline for 1st issue

20 21 22 23 24

1st issue/Survival Guide issued

Marketing Event: Golf Cart

6:30-7:30: Ad Sales Staff Meeting (Continued Development Training)

27 28 29 30 31

6:30-7:30 Ad Sales Staff Meeting (Continued Development Training)

Marketing Event: Festival ISU

Training Test (pg. 1) This test is worth 30 points and will be added to your first week of training points. You lose 1 point for each incorrect answer. You cannot miss more than 5 questions or you will have to retake the test. You will not be able to use the rate card while taking the test.

Match the employee name with the job title

1. ____ Editor in Chief A. Mallory Simonds 2. ____ Production Manager B. John Plevka 3. ____ Office Manager C. Christina Bender 4. ____ Business Manager D. Erika Wilkerson 5. ____ Systems Manager E. Grace Johnson 6. ____ Advertising Manager F. Eli Wrightam 7. ____ General Manager G. Karina Palukaitis 8. ____ Business Advisor H. Corie Schave Fill in the blank. 9. If an ad is going to run on Thursday, the ad request form must be to the artist by ____ pm on ____________.

10. The largest volume contract we sell is ________column inches and the smallest is ________column inches.

11. A marketing consultant must meet _____ points per month.

12. Our open rate is $ ______ per inch.

13. Our nonprofit rate is $ ______ per inch.

14. Our campus rate is $ _____ per inch.

15. The full page discount is ______% and the frequency discount is _____%.

16. A full page has the dimensions of ___ column inches x ___ inches.

17. If a client wants to send a camera ready advertisement, the form it must be in a ______.

Circle true or false. 18. Briefing a client on what a competitor is planning on promoting in a future advertisement is considered unethical practice and will result in disciplinary procedures for the employee. A. True B. False 19. One color for an ad 24’’ or smaller is $100. A. True B. False 20. VidetteOnline has an average of 50,000 impressions per month. A. True B. False

Training Week in Review

“Nothing great was ever achieved without ENTHUSIASM.”

-Ralph Waldo Emerson

Above: Guest Speaker, Ryan Wilkinson, and Marketing

Consultant, Andrea, role play with provided scenarios.

Top right: Inspirational quote to kick off training. Right:

Marketing Consultants, Matt and Wes, brainstorm the

features, advantages, and benefits of Vidette products.

Below: The Vidette staff with guest speakers to provide

sales advice in continued development meetings.

Training: Power Hour Challenge

Top Left: Marketing

Consultant, Aaron Cornwell,

making phone calls to set up

appointments. Above:

Marketing Consultant and

Team Leader, Emily Carpenter,

takes a shot (of apple juice)

after setting up an

appointment. Left: Marketing

Consultant and Team Leader,

David Hanes, wins the Power

Hour Challenge with 5

appointments set.

BEST TRAINING PROGRAMEntry 4c.

MINNESOTA DAILY

INTRODUCTION

DAILY DOZEN

The Minnesota Daily operates under four mission statements: the first is to provide coverage of news and events affecting the University Community, the second is to provide a forum for the communication and exchange of ideas for the University, the third is to operate a fiscally responsible organization, and the fourth and final mission statement is to provide educational training and experience to University students in all areas of newspaper operations. The Minnesota Daily’s Sales Management strives to train and educate students in every aspect of advertising, sales, and working in a professional atmosphere to prepare them for their careers and post-graduation aspirations.

OverviewSince 2009, The Minnesota Daily has used The Daily Dozen sales recruitment and training program. The program began with hopes of increasing the number of qualified applications for the Marketing Consultant position and has proven to be an effective means for hiring qualified applicants as it provides structured and thorough training. The overarching concept of The Daily Dozen is that it aims to train and test the sales aptitude of a group of applications prior to being offered a position. By having the applicants participate in a series of activities and trainings, Sales Managers are able to screen candidates before they are trusted with the responsibilities associated with managing an existing client base. The 2012 Daily Dozen was made up of 19 applicants selected from over 40 and ultimately 13 were asked to join our team.

2012 Daily Dozen ItineraryThe first day of The Daily Dozen interactive interview and training focuses on getting to know the applicants and their personalities while introducing them to The Minnesota Daily’s history and hierarchy and their place in the organization. At the end of the day, all of the applicants were invited to join the sales managers and Business Operations Officer for drinks and appetizers at a local pub and eatery. The second day of the training and interview was focused entirely on the Minnesota Daily’s brand and product offerings and how to best serve advertisers and offer product solutions to clients. The details of the second day are discussed further in the

MN Daily Sales Philosophy and Underlying ConceptsFrom day one of working at The Minnesota Daily, our Marketing Consultants are taught the seven steps of the sale which an emphasis on the first steps and the final step, which is following up. We strive to have our Marketing Consultants achieve meetings with their clients and new clients or prospects so that they can get a better feel of what the client needs and also gain a better understanding of their business while gaining the customer’s trust and respect.

Along with teaching the seven steps of the sale, we also go in depth about our product offerings using our Media Kit and examples of our special issues. After discussing each at length, we then take a quiz that covers rates for print & online ads, advertising vocabulary, and also our different contract and IMC options. To make the quiz more exciting, we also ask questions about the sales managers. These questions range from “who has the most speeding tickets?” to “who has

been Marketing Consultant of the Month the most?”.

ConclusionsAt the conclusion of the Daily Dozen training, the sales managers jointly evaluated the performance of each applicant. Applicants were then placed into existing client lists that we felt matched their personality and utilized their abilities to sell. Those who were not offered positions were encouraged to reapply when positions became available. The Daily Dozen program is an effective way to gain talented sales people with reduced risk. It also helps applicants fully understand and grasp the duties and responsibilities of the job prior to their hire date which reduces the risk of them resigning their position early on.and hierarchy and their place in the organization. At the end of the day, all of the applicants were invited to join the sales managers and Business Operations Officer for drinks and appetizers at a local pub and eatery. The second day of the training and interview was focused entirely on the Minnesota Daily’s brand and product offerings and how to best serve advertisers and offer product solutions to clients. The details of the second day are discussed further in the next section.

ONGOING TRAININGS

CONCLUSIONS

Sales Training DaySales Training Day occurs at least once per month and the Marketing Consultants are free to complete the assigned tasks and trainings at any time during that day. The trainings usually take anywhere from one to two hours and are most often completed with a colleague. The tasks are designed to improve upon skills which sales management see as needing improvement; however, the sales managers also like to incorporate a certain amount of fun by making the trainings competitive and by offering an incentive to the winner. The itinerary of the October Sales Training Day is attached at the conclusion of this submission. The goal of the October Sales Training Day was to improve our cold calling skills on the phone. Marketing Consultants were asked to complete the training with a partner. As shown on the itinerary, the Marketing Consultants were given a list of businesses and asked to cold call one another back and forth to perfect their pitch and become better able to set up meetings with new clients. Feedback from this exercise was very positive, especially among our newest reps. Being able to hear one another’s pitches and then give one another feedback helped them almost hear their own pitch and modify it accordingly.

The Minnesota Daily takes pride in its service to the University of Minnesota regarding the professional development of students in several different areas of academia, including sales. The Sales Management team feels that continuous training is the key to success in coordination with our Daily Dozen hiring program. Upon graduation in May our Marketing Consultants and Sales Managers are routinely considered for positions in sales and even in other fields as the skills and training they have received while working at The Minnesota Daily apply to every field of work.solutions to clients. The details of the second day are discussed further in the next section.

2012 SALES TRAINING ITINERARYMonday11am: Introductions

•Tour of Daily•Daily History/Overview/Facts•Sales Department Structure•Job Description

oHours/Goals/Outside responsibilities •Media Kit

oColumn inchoRatesoBasic specsoReps expected to review media kit (be prepared for quiz)

•Questions?12pm: NOONISH1pm: New Reps

•Reps receive desks, read client list•Finish any HR task

Tuesday11am: Reconvene in Conference room

•Introduction of New & Old Reps•7 Steps of Selling•Online Emphasis•Review Media Kit in Detail•Special Issues

oBack to School Issue 12pm: NOONISH

•ProspectingoCold callingoObjectionsoSetting up a meeting

•Job Responsibilities oEthics

•Introduce Wednesday Agenda & Teams1:30pm: Reps Find 5 New Prospects

Wednesday11am: Reconvene in conference room

•Partner up•Mock prospects given out•Research & prepare for mock call & meeting

12pm: •Make mock calls to managers •Set up meeting

1:00-2:00pm•Mock sales meeting

2pm: Begin working! •Call prospected clients

MINNESOTA DAILY2221 University Ave. SE Suite 450

Minneapolis, MN 55455www.mndaily.com

Best Training Program - The State News

The State News sets out to improve our training program every semester. With an ever-changing media landscape, a large market, and an evolving product we must constantly evaluate our training to ensure our staff knows how to best sell, overcome objections and close. The State News lives and breathes from its training; there is no staple that could substitute the value of our training. From the first day an individual sets foot in the door, they are involved in the sales cycle and thrust into situations that engage them with the products, the process and the clients. We’re a department that thrives on competition, communication and teamwork. Our success was not built in a day and it did not appear out of thin air. Our success is rooted in our training program, which focuses on practice, coaching, motivation and retention. Practice

Sales training that is based on tips and techniques doesn't pass the test of time. We incorporate these things into our training program because they are necessary but we focus our training program on the execution of these techniques. Our training is effective because it transfers knowledge into applicable selling skills. In our four-week training program, we combine training through hard material and situational role-play. Newly hired account executives work through our training manual and sales tips provided by the management staff while simultaneously using the knowledge from the training in activities and role-plays.

The activities and role-plays help reinforce the selling strategies and techniques that trainees have learned. We role play different scenarios so the trainees can get comfortable setting up meetings, making cold calls, performing a needs assessment, making and presenting sales plans, and overcoming common objections to print advertising. Veteran account executives, managers and even industry professional donate time to act as clients with whom the new account executives practice; these role-plays build confidence through consistent practice within the office.

Coaching

In accompaniment to training, new account executives are paired up with a Living Training Manual (L.T.M.). An L.T.M. is a more experienced veteran that stands out as a leader within the office. New account executives shadow their L.T.M. and look to them for answers to questions and selling tips. This part of our training program allows L.T.M.s to share their knowledge too, instead of having the managers as the only ones who conduct training. The best part of the L.T.M. program is its ability to teach old dogs new tricks. New AEs are encouraged to ask as many questions as possible, often challenging their L.T.M’s knowledge. This has forced our veterans to stay on track and make sure they have a grip on the bigger picture, while gaining basic training and coaching experience. Account Executives often view L.T.M.s as “Bigs” and “Littles” in a sorority or fraternity, which creates a bond between the two co-workers and gives new AEs a role model to look up to. Motivation

Ultimately, without motivation there can be no learning at all. Thus, we strive to ensure that our new hires come into the office with as much support and motivation that is necessary to fuel them toward success. L.T.M.s help drive motivation by cheering on their new hire and guiding them as needed. L.T.M.s create a fun playfulness in the office because they often engage

in friendly competition with one another and boast about the accomplishments of their new hire; this encourages the new hires to work hard because they are being recognized for their work.

Furthermore, to drive individual progress we have developed an advancement program. 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). We conduct weekly 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.

Our staff meetings are the best time for the department to come together and for new hires to starting integrating into the office. Outside of our weekly meetings, account executives meet in small teams of five. Each team has a leader that encourages sales, helps account executives overcome current objections and difficulties, keep record of weekly goals to fuel our advancement process, build morale and offer additional aid to account executives in training. These teams regularly compete against each other in sales competitions. These competitions allow individual sales and achievements to add to the team's total points. 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. Retention & On-going Training

It is impossible to remember everything we learn; thus, it is important to extend our training program to continued development and retention. To streamline our continued education within the entire department, at our weekly staff meetings we include a weekly sales tip or a recap on specific training sessions to keep everyone on their feet. Additionally, at team meetings, our team leaders not only encourage morale but also help aid in training retention. Team leaders help account executives overcome current objections and difficulties. Team meetings open up discussion for account executives to discuss any difficulties they have been facing and then come up with new ways to overcome that difficulty and close the sale. 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. Since adding our role-play and application portion of training we've found that new account executives start off feeling more confident and driven. Our best way of measuring the success of our training program is through our advancement program. From out March hiring class, I’ve seen AEs advance more quickly then ever before – 2 AEs advanced in their first 6 months and have moved into managerial positions. We hired five new students in September who have bonded together into a selling team; with minimal assistance from veteran AEs they increased our MLK special section by 40% from the previous year and have brought in over $7,000 of new business to the daily paper in their first semester at The State News.

Overall, The State News has never seen such a driven staff. I have never seen a group of so many opinionated, driven individuals put their unique skills together to create an unstoppable sales force. Each obstacle we overcome is a team success and celebrated thus. I do believe that the office environment and the nature of our staff is created in the very roots of our training program that focuses on retention and consistent development but which depends on encouragement, motivation and teamwork.

Training Calendar New Account Executives: Upon hire, employees under go 4 weeks of training in which the following tactics are used:

• Week 1: 2 sessions, 3 hours in length each o Learning to love our product: market survey data, newspaper terminology,

responsibilities, expectations, opportunities o Classified Liners: How to do it, customer service, guidelines, make good policy,

scams Assignment 1: Classified liner worksheet with computer practice &

shadowing classified call-ins • Week 2: 2 sessions, 3 hours each in length

o Presentation: Overcoming Common Objections to Classifieds Exercise: Practice taking liners over the phone. AEs learn how to deal

with customers, apply knowledge from presentation to overcome possible problems and how to look out for scams

o Welcome to retail: terminology, deadlines, advertising options, selling strategy and how to schedule ads

Exercise: Scheduling display & the nitty-gritty of SmartPublisher Exercise: How to overcome display objections. New hires split into teams;

each team is confronted with objection. Assignment 2: Display retail worksheet with computer practice

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

• Week 3: 10 in-office hours + 2 training sessions, 3 hours in length o How to sell: prospecting, persistence, cold calls & dealing with advertisers

What to take on a sales call, how to go about it o Presentation: Winning New Business in 20 Seconds (New Hires learn how to set

up a meeting with a prospect by using their elevator pitch) Exercise: New Hires practice using the elevator to accomplish a simple

goal of setting up a meeting to execute a needs-analysis. o The Life Cycle of an Ad: learn where an ad is born and how it reaches print. o Presentation: Now that AEs can set up a meeting with a prospect, they learn about

S.P.I.N. Selling and conducting a needs-analysis Assignment 3: S.P.I.N. Selling activity. New hires meet with a former AE

who has graduated and role-play; the new hire executes what they have learned from the S.P.I.N. Selling presentation.

• Week 4: 10 in-office hours + 2 training sessions 3 hours in length o Web & Preprint Inserts: terminology, selling strategy, deadlines o Presentation: Hot Buttons, From No to YES! (New hires learn to recognize the

type of client they are working with and how to cater to the specific needs of a business owner).

o Assignment 4: Create a sales plan for the business created in the role-play from assignment 3. Present the sales plan to the advertising manager.

o Test 2: Retail, web and insert terminology, objections, rates, selling strategies. Once passed, AEs begin full AE office hours with full responsibilities and begin the advancement program.

The Oh Sh*# Guidebook People forget, plain and simple. With an advertising staff selling over 20 customized products, it’s no surprise that every once in a while an account executive, veteran or rookie, will forget a thing or two. To triumph over these moments of forgetfulness, The State News has created a tool that is stocked full of information that is organized and to the point. 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, and how to schedule sponsorships and web ads. Below is a breakdown of the table of contents: Page 1 – The Daily Checklist, Deadline Map and Phone Help

• The daily checklist and deadline map allow AEs to prioritize what they’ve got to do before leaving for the day

• How to use the phones: Ensures wrong extensions and transfers don’t happen. Page 2 – The Quick Facts Sheet

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

Pages 3&4 – Updated schedules & Contact Sheets for AEs and Managers Page 5 & 6– Liner Cheat Sheet

• An updated list of abbreviations, an example greeting, ad checklist and instructions on how to change a liner after it has been scheduled.

• A list of commonly heard objections and a quick response to overcome such objections. Page 7-13 – The Display Cheat Sheets

• A quick reference for the range of products that The State News offers, summarizing price and key features and benefits for each product.

• The product nitty-gritty for each medium, deadlines, and what to do once a sale is made. Page 14 – Changing the Paper Past Deadline

• Nobody likes missing deadlines, but it’s happened at least once to everyone. This is a step-by-step process to making changes to the paper after deadlines have passed.

Page 15 – Reserving Special Pages • This page breaks down the rules and walks the AE through scheduling a specific page

request or our Religious Directory. Page 16 – Helping out Other AEs

• When an AE is handling a co-worker's accounts, it can be nerve racking. This page is dedicated to proper steps in communication and process for the situation.

Page 17 – Handling Cash & Other Payment Policies Page 18-19 – Why You Should Never Be Bored at Work

• Tips on prospecting clients and miscellaneous ideas for new projects, such as “how to create a sales plan” or “play around with campaign ideas.”

Page 20 – Helpful Reports in SmartPublisher • A breakdown how to run a variety of reports that help AEs prospect old clients.

CNBAM: Best Training Program 2013 On the quest for success, you goal can never be to achieve mediocrity. In order to succeed, you need to strive for excellence. From the day we as a staff step into our week of training, we hear success stories about the infamous Steve Jobs and how he strived to create a truly unique product of his own. Jobs didn’t stop at just mediocre but pushed himself and worked as hard as possible to eventually develop one of the most innovative and top selling smart phones in the world. Like Steve Jobs, our inspiration as a staff is to better oneself and to strive for excellence so that we as a paper are able to reach success. This is something that the Kansan lives and breathes during training week. From the first moment a student sets foot in our door, they are given the arsenal of product knowledge, sales training, client scenarios and first hand examples to help their transition into The Kansan.

Kansan Advertising Departments No matter what department you are hired into or what specialized training you receive down the road, the first few days are all about Kansan tradition and a warm welcome into our Famsan, the Kansan family. A paper could not flourish for over 100 years if we didn't adapt to the future but it is also necessary to remember our roots and what the Kansan is all about. The main focus throughout the week is product knowledge and the sales process. Icebreakers begin the day as well as fun and lighthearted activities throughout the week to help relieve any feelings of being overwhelmed. Sales Team: The first and more important piece of knowledge our sales representatives learn during training week is that they don’t just sell ads to clients but are problem solvers. We preach that in order to adequately solve our client’s issues, we must know four things. We need to understand our products, the client, our audience and the sales process as a whole. This past fall, we felt that last year was a success with the creation of our digital sales team. With that in mind, we decided to continue with the separate sales of digital and print products. We also understood that the print and digital AE’s will be working together with clients but may not be together 100% of the time. In order for all the AE’s to be as knowledgeable as possible, during training, we emphasized all digital products (Kansan.com, LarryvilleKU.com, social media packages, blogs and apps) as well as the print products (daily paper, special sections, coupons and weekend edition) to all AE’s as a whole. Although digital and print products work differently, as a multimedia campaign, they are successful and work well together. After the Account Executives are comfortable with product knowledge, we begin learning the sales process. This is taught by the breakdown of the sales process with step-‐by-‐step power points, guest speakers about client personality types and mock call examples. After the representatives get a basic understanding, we test their knowledge with a fun game we call “Trial by Fire”. We select managers to be the clients and randomly chose a sales rep who will then perform a mock client call on the spot in front of the room. We do this for getting the meeting, needs analysis, testing objections and making the sale. After each call, we give immediate feedback to not only to help the individual but to also gage our teaching and what we may need to emphasize more throughout the week. Though this can seem intimidating, client calls always appear easier once you’ve done one in front of the whole room. At the end of each day, we finish with a game called Zone Wars. Even through we are all in different departments, we have individual zones on staff. This helps with communication between positions as well as elevating the feeling of being a little fish in a big pond. These Zone Wars are in a timed quiz like format where each zone competes to win prizes at the end of training. The questions asked are information that they would have learned previously that day or week and helps test everyone’s product knowledge. This helps the zones bond as well as spark some healthy and fun competition on staff.

Creatives: As a staff, we understand that the root to good advertising is having a solid design staff. During the training week, the Creative Director goes over the basics of designing for newspapers as well as the ins and out of daily staff expectations, deadlines, production and how to effectively communicate with the Account Executives. On top of the basics, creatives are immediately immersed in client artwork and are asked to develop spec ads for the AE’s to use on their first calls. Marketing Specialists: As a Kansan staff, we believe that advertising in a paper is great but we also know the best action plan is to promote aggressively. This is where our marketers come into play. They not only aggressively promote the Kansan products on and off campus through parties, contests and events but the team also does the same for our clientele. To prepare the marketing team for the upcoming semester, the marketing manager gives the team the special section release dates as well as any other promotional events we may have planned a head of time and the overall Kansan promotional objectives. After, they are taught the basics of marketing like survey writing, market research, focus groups and in depth interviews. They then begin a preliminary plan on how they are going to execute a semester long Kansan branding campaign.

Certification Process As the days of training wrap up, we require each seller to become certified in order to sell for The Kansan and graduate from our training week. In this certification, the new sellers are required to perform a mock client call and demonstrate that they can get a meeting, execute a needs analysis, handle objections, create a proposal and make the sale. The business we chose was Jefferson’s, a local restaurant that every student is familiar with on campus. The process goes as follows: Step 1: The seller has to bypass a “gatekeeper” in order to speak with their first client. The gatekeepers would then point the seller to one of the many locations where the “client” was located. Step 2: Once the decision maker is found, they are required to set up a future appointment and figure out the preferred method of contact. Step 3: Next, the seller performs a needs analysis where their goals are to learn more about the business and leave with a problem to solve, a budget and a date and time for the next meeting. To move on in the certification process, it is necessary for them to overcome any and all of the objections. Step 4: They now have 24 hours to create a proposal for their final meeting with the client. Step 5: The sellers are expected to pitch their proposal and close the sale. Here, they are also faced with tough yet realistic objections that they must overcome in order to complete the certification challenge. Each step, we made sure an individual can move on or if they needed to repeat the process. This process is extremely important because it shows us who is able to receive the certification and client list and who need more time. Those who do not pass will receive more in depth personal training by the business or sales manager until we feel they are ready to take on real clients. Ongoing Training: Our five-‐day training week is only the beginning of the knowledge our staff will receive throughout the semester. During the week, our Business and Sales manager receive feedback from the staff and figure out what the staff needs to improve on. At our weekly staff meetings, we address the issues and hold a mini training sessions. Topics in these meetings include new business hunting, digital product knowledge, special sections, crafting proposals, closing, handling objections and maintaining professional relationships. This helps the staff polish their techniques and Kansan knowledge. Throughout the semester, we also bring in outside professionals to come speak with us. One example is Vince Coultis who is currently the sales trainer of The McClatchy Company. Another example is Dan Simon who was a previous Kansan advisor and now works for KU Endowment. They teach us everything from work ethics to how to be the best leaders possible. We schedule them in when the drive of our staff seems to be dwindling. Having them come speak boosts confidence and energizes our staff.

Fall 2012 Training Schedule

Monday, August 6th -‐ Managers Training 10:00 Welcome and what to expect 10:15 Choose to be great (Jon, speaker) 10:50 Break 11:00 Setting goals and expectations 11:20 Open forum/ lunch 1:15 Prepare for tomorrow Tuesday, August 7th -‐ Day 1 9:00 Welcome + ice breaker (With bagels) 10:00 Welcome Addies! (Jon, speaker) 10:30 Staff job descriptions 11:00 Day in the life of an Addie + Addie Lingo (building tour, daily rituals, expectations) 11:30 Competitor Products Presentation (Jacob: Zone Manager) 12:00 LUNCH with zones 1:30 Product Training (Ross: Business Manager) 2:00 Digital Training +Kansan.com (Becca: Marketing Manager) 2:45 Sales Training: Research and getting the meeting + needs analysis (Ellen: Zone Manager) 4:00 ZONE WARS Wednesday, August 8th -‐ Day 2 9:00 Welcome back + ice breaker 9:45 Office Etiquette and Professionalism + ethics (Jon) 10:15 Rate Card Training (Ross: Business Manager) 10:40 Rate Card Training with zones 11:00 Paper Trail (Ellen: Zone Manager) 11:20 Time Management and Organization (Elise: Sales Manager) 11:50 LUNCH 1:00 New Business Hunting (Ross: Business Manager) 1:40 Objections and closing + buying signals (Ross: Business Manager) 2:15 Presenting and Proposing (Jacob: Zone Manager) 2:45 Trial by Fire 3:30 Stations: AE/creative relationship, AdPro and Data2 info, Marketing information 4:30 Zone Wars Thursday, August 9th -‐ Day 3 9:00 Personality quadrants + ice breaker activity 10:00 Aggregate Audience Selling (Jon) 10:45 Guest Speaker 11:30 LUNCH 1:00 Marketing (Becca: Marketing Manager) 1:30 CERTIFICATION 4:10 ZONE WARS Friday, August 10th -‐ Day 4 9:00 Mapquesting (Jon) 10:00 Lists and certificates 11:00 SELL SELL SELL

Training Visuals

The visual above represents the sales process model. This is one of the diagrams that we use to demonstrate the process beginning with building the client relationship. The sales process can seem intimidating to some at first glance but with this, it gives more of a linear process to help our sales representatives understand the necessary steps in order to close the sale.

This diagram has been used year after year in Kansan training to not only show how clients buy into advertising but also how the UDK readers use our products at different points during the sales process. Understanding the client as well as the consumer perspectives, Account Executives learn how to use both of these ideas to provide a specific purpose and to deliver the client’s messages effectively.

During Aggregate Audience selling we show student ad reps how over the last few years audiences have become fragmented through all of the available media products. To combat this we discuss the audiences of students, staff and alumni that each of our products reaches (ROP, digital, magazines, special sections, etc.). Through training we educate the reps on how to do thorough needs assessments that will uncover which audiences each client they will be working with is looking to reach. This helps us not only sell each of these individual products successfully but also provide the most effective solutions possible for our clients. It also better prepares our account executives for the “real world” upon graduation.

At the end of training all account executives receive their client lists. To finish up training we take the entire staff through a session called “Map-‐questing your way to success”. In this session we discuss potential challenges that everyone may face across the board with their lists. These challenges include churn, lower ad budgets, etc. We then lead the entire staff through at least two mock lists that are facing challenges and as a staff brainstorm solutions on how to overcome these obstacles and reach goal monthly. These solutions start with ideas as simple as doing more new business calls to overcome the churn on a mock list to generating ideas for potential new special sections that would be beneficial for broad categories of lists. As an exercise this helps all of our trainees think proactively about any challenges they may face throughout the course of the semester with their client lists. In this session we also discuss selling tactics used by some of The Kansan’s most successful account executives. We also discuss strategies in books such as “Moneyball” and demonstrate how they can be applied on the collegiate selling level.

Documents

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