Holding Media Reps Accountable

Automotive Advertising

The question I find myself asking media vendors across the country is “are you going to be a vendor or a partner.” You see my agency works with over 150 differentvendors in any given month, and the number of reps from said vendors that are considered to be true “partners” is substantially less.   

Mistakes, making mistakes and not being accountable are what make me fire reps from accounts and inform local sales managers and station managers of why they are not being included on a buy. I would think from a sales perspective that you would want to retain every dollar that you negotiated a sale for. Some reps today do not understand this and don’t pay attention to their details to make your media order flow properly. 

So there’s the complaint, what’s the answer? 

Hold your vendors and partners accountable. Demand more than triple added weight, schedule – hell, go ahead and ask for the moon. They probably will give it to you to cover up their screw up. Ask your media reps and advertising agency if they are a vendoror a partner – if they give you the “deer in the headlights” look, it is time to fire them.