While salesforce recruitment is one of the most discussed challenges in radio, the situation appears to have dramatically improved in the last year – even with economic turbulence. However, this has led to a new top difficulty, according to The Center for Sales Strategy’s 5th Annual Media Sales Report.
This year’s edition, drawing on surveys from Q4 of 2023, delves into the evolving dynamics of the media sales landscape, touching on sales department structure, learning and development, appointment setting, sales enablement, and the overall industry outlook and culture.
Conducted through two online surveys targeting sales managers and salespeople across various media sectors, including Radio, TV, Digital, Newspaper, and Cable, the research aimed to capture a comprehensive view of the industry. Respondents, predominantly seasoned professionals with over 11 years in media sales, represented a wide spectrum of market sizes.
In 2022, 65% of sales managers surveyed by CSS said recruitment was the hardest part of their jobs. This past year, that number fell 34%. The number of managers satisfied with the size of their sales staff jumped almost 74% year-over-year, despite the majority only having 15 or fewer salespeople.
In its place of hiring and retention, new business development is now considered the greatest challenge. 90% of managers and 87% of salespeople agree that it’s much harder to schedule meetings with prospects today than it was pre-pandemic. 38% of sellers said they would take lower commission levels in exchange for a robust lead generation system.
Additional key findings from the report revealed sales managers find achieving organizational goals 81% more challenging compared to the previous year. Interestingly, regular feedback on sales talents is provided to less than half of salespeople, yet 93% of salespeople feel their managers support them.
The full Media Sales Report can be found on the CSS website.
CSS CEO Matt Sunshine stated, “The media sales industry has seen major changes and drastic shifts over the past few years, which have directly impacted the ways in which sales organizations operate. From how they go about recruiting and hiring candidates, to managing and coaching teams, and even how they grow revenue, media sales professionals have had to be increasingly adaptable.”
