Who is an Advertising Sales Agent?
Advertising sales agents sell advertising to businesses by making sales presentations, contacting clients, and maintaining customer accounts. They work in a variety of industries such as internet publishing, radio, television, and advertising agencies. They must meet sales quotas and may spend much of their time traveling to visit prospective clients to make sure they are educated on new products and that they foster a good business relationship. An agent is the medium which introduces the client’s services and products to the market and ensures that the sales is in success.
What does an Advertising Sales Agent do?
An Advertising Sales Agent is a professional that guides a client with the promotion of one’s product and services. They provide the service to boost sales in the market by understanding the current trend and accordingly apply their services. The role of an advertising sales agent involves a wide range of aspects which are:
Locate and contact potential clients to offer their firm's advertising services
Explain to clients how specific types of advertising will help promote their products or services in the most effective way
Provide clients with estimates of the costs of advertising products or services
Process all correspondence and paperwork related to accounts
Prepare and deliver sales presentations to new and existing clients
Inform clients of available options for advertising art, formats, or features and provide samples of previous work for other clients
Deliver advertising or illustration proofs to clients for approval
Prepare promotional plans, sales literature, media kits, and sales contracts
Recommend appropriate sizes and formats for advertising.
Working Conditions
The Selling can be stressful because income and job security depend directly on agents' ability to keep and expand their client base. Companies generally set monthly sales quotas and place considerable pressure on advertising sales agents to meet those quotas. Advertising sales agents work outside the office occasionally, meeting with clients and prospective clients at their places of business. Some may make telephone sales calls as well—calling prospects, attempting to sell the media firm's advertising space or time, and arranging follow up appointments with interested prospects.
A critical part of building relationships with clients is learning about their needs. Before the first meeting with a client, a sales agent gathers background information on the client's products, current clients, prospective clients, and the geographic area of the target market.
The sales agent then meets with the client to explain how specific types of advertising will help promote the client's products or services most effectively.
Getting new accounts is an important part of the job, and agents may spend much of their time traveling to and visiting prospective advertisers and maintaining relationships with current clients. Sales agents also may work in their employer's offices and handle sales for walk-in clients or for those who call or email the firm to ask about advertising.
Knowledge areas required
The knowledge areas required for an Advertising Sales Agent are:
Understanding of recent trends in market.
Sales and Customer Service.
Designing – this helps in understanding the current designs that are in trend to help clients in promotion.
Research Base: engagement with specific research
Skills required
The role of an Advertising Sales Agent is to help clients promote their sales and products.
The skills required are:
Communication skills. Advertising sales agents must be persuasive during sales calls. In addition, they should listen to the client’s desires and concerns, and recommend an appropriate advertising package.
Initiative. Advertising sales agents must actively seek new clients, keep in touch with current clients, and expand their client base, in order to meet sales quotas.
Organizational skills. Agents work with many clients, each of whom may be at a different stage in the sales process. Agents must be well-organized to keep track of their clients or potential clients.
Self-confidence. Advertising sales agents should be confident when calling potential clients (cold calls). Because potential clients are often unwilling to commit on a first call, agents often must continue making sales calls, even if rejected at first.
Research skill:
Ability to work on a range of behavioral topics
Work for long hours on data collection method and analyzing them
Sensitivity and dedication towards the field
6. Problem solving Ability
Ability to identify behavioral issues and accordingly develop plans
Evaluate and make sound decisions
Implementing solutions
Technology skills
The technological skills required for an Advertising Sales Agent are:
Use Of Statistical softwares for data analysis
Report Writing softwares
Texting and Online Data collection
Video calling applications to connect with clients easily
Mail application
Excel, Microsoft applications
Personality
Advertising sales agents typically have an interest in the Creating, Persuading and Organizing interest areas, according to the Holland Code framework. The Creating interest area indicates a focus on being original and imaginative, and working with artistic media. The Persuading interest area indicates a focus on influencing, motivating, and selling to other people. The Organizing interest area indicates a focus on working with information and processes to keep things arranged in orderly systems.
The other aspects of an advertising sales agent are:
People’s person
Creative
Organized
Intellectual
Deliberate
Friendly
Motivating
Initiator
Education
The education qualification required for this job entails:
10th Pass
12th/ Intermediate in any stream- Preferably commerce or economics as main subjects
Bachelor’s Degree in Business, Marketing, Economics, Sales or any other branch is needed.
Training is usually provided in initial days of job. It can be formal or informal as well.
Job Outlook
There exists a diverse job opportunity for Advertising Sales Agent. The market is however seeing a change in the medium. The Sales promoting medium has significantly shifted from print media to online media to attract younger generation. Thus, people employed in this profession are improving their skills with online courses in online media marketing, management etc.
The industries that employed the most advertising sales agents in 2012 were as follows:
Advertising, public relations, and related services 35%
Newspaper, periodical, book, and directory publishers 28%
Radio broadcasting 11%
Television broadcasting 6%
Other information services 3%
As mentioned above the shift has increased the popularity in television and social media marketing.
The average salary of an advertising sales agent is 2.2-2.5lakhs per annum. It also varies according to the experience and the success of sales provides the bonus.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the careers related to this job?
Advertising, promotions, and marketing managers plan programs to generate interest in products or services. They work with art directors, sales agents, and financial staff members.
Insurance sales agents contact potential customers and sell one or more types of insurance. Insurance sales agents explain various insurance policies and help clients choose plans that suit them.
Sales managers direct organizations' sales teams. They set sales goals, analyze data, and develop training programs for organizations' sales representatives.
Wholesale and manufacturing sales representatives sell goods for wholesalers or manufacturers to businesses, government agencies, and other organizations. They contact customers, explain the features of the products they are selling, negotiate prices, and answer any questions that their customers may have about the products.
Where can I get a Bachelor’s degree for the job?
Bachelor’s degree in sales, marketing , management or economics is preferable for the job. One can obtain BBA,B.Com or BA in Economics or statistics.