Media Sales Team of the Year
For one reason or another, the Media Sales Team of the Year award has eluded the newspaper contenders in recent years. In 2002, Chrysalis Radio went home with the top honours, while a year later it was the turn of the gogglebox contingency with Carlton TV taking away the accolade. And in 2004, fending off competition from Newsquest and Natmags, Viacom Outdoor scored best to lift the coveted award. However, after a brief hiatus to review the judging process, the awards returned last month with a new winner. Ensuring that the newspaper community was not to be outdone once more by rival media teams, The Daily Telegraph took the top gong and did it in style. We’ll come to how the team achieved this fantastic feat shortly, but first it’s worth a look at how this year’s revised judging mechanism took place. Kicked off in 2005, the process began with Adline contacting media owners to ask them to provide ten media sales buyers for us to contact and research. Then independent research organisation MRUK was brought in to contact the names that had been supplied. The media buyers were then asked about the sales teams they deal with on a regular basis and rated each in terms of service, creativity, proactivity and market knowledge in their specialist area. Respondents were also asked to elaborate in specific areas where teams were innovative in their approach to sales and their response to a challenging campaign. Another new aspect to this year’s awards was the decision to hold an event to commemorate the achievements of media sales individuals. Held within the relaxed and cosy confines of Manchester’s Cotton House, last month’s event was attended by some of the biggest names and characters from the world of media. So, back to the awards. The Daily Telegraph’s success over this past year has been undeniable and this was reflected in the overwhelmingly positive feedback. The team scored the highest marks overall in two of the four judging criteria (customer service and market knowledge) and achieved above average scores for all of the criteria in every field it was nominated in. The team turned all five of its nominations into wins and even picked up a sixth for the individual award. Congratulations to The Daily Telegraph team for all of its hard-earned success. Michelle Turner, regional classified sales manager at The Daily Telegraph, commented: “Each team member has a real desire to deliver the very best solution for their clients. We listen to what they want, endeavour to be flexible and constantly strive to deliver innovative solutions. We have a pro-active approach and a great product that we continually develop to provide clients with creative solutions. Most importantly we provide a professional service in a friendly and approachable manner.
“We are great believers in building professional relationships with our clients and having fun with them too, something that is often lacking, but a very important part of making any relationship work well. We work hard and play hard, but more importantly, we all really enjoy the job we do and I think that shows!”
Gary Frielick, regional display sales manager at the paper, added: “We are delighted and very proud to have been recognised by our agency peers with these awards. To have been voted Most Innovative, Best National Press and overall Best Sales Team is a fantastic achievement.
“We have a strong team ethic and like any good team have a mixture of youth and experience, flair and creativity and when times are tough a ‘roll up your sleeves attitude’. In my 13 years at The Telegraph, this is by far the strongest team I have worked with and I am proud to be part of it.”
TV Sales Team of the Year
In 2004 it was Channel 4 that took top honours in the TV Sales Team of the Year category, however the team was replaced this time around by the Sky team. Sky scored superbly with an above average score for market knowledge and was best in its field for creativity and proactivity. In second place this year was ITV, which received an above average score for market knowledge, and also scored highest in the field for customer service category.
Outdoor Sales Team of the Year
In 2004 Viacom successfully retained the Outdoor Sales Team of the Year award for the second year running, leaving a battling JCDecaux in second place. The two teams were top of the pile once more for this year’s event, in yet another close contest. Despite Viacom having the highest customer service score in the field and rating above the event average in creativity, proactivity and market knowledge, the team was reduced to accepting second place. JCDecaux took the prize having achieved the highest score overall within the Outdoor field, also scoring above average in the creativity, proactivity and market knowledge categories. Spencer Berwin, managing director of sales at JCDecaux, remarked: “It’s fantastic news that JCDecaux’s sales team has been recognised as the leader in its field, and especially to be voted for by our clients, which is the ultimate accolade. I’m really proud of this achievement and of the team. It’s great to have their passion for the outdoor medium recognised in this way.”
Meanwhile, Maiden Outdoor came in at third, scoring well in the customer service category.
Independent Sales Point of the Year
Two teams were nominated within this field and both garnered impressive feedback. However, Media Sales Network proved too strong a competitor, landing above average scores in customer service, proactivity and market knowledge. Medialink did, however, gain an above average showing in the customer service category.
Radio Sales Team of the Year
Always a doggedly fought category, Radio Sales Team of the Year has regularly provided the competition with closely run battles between the industry’s big hitters. This year was no different with Chrysalis Radio and GMG pushing each other all the way to the finish post. Chrysalis achieved above average marks in all four categories, however there can be only one winner and the Radio Sales Team of the Year 2006 went to the guys and gals at GMG. The team scored well above average for all four categories, including the event’s highest marks for creativity and proactivity. Mark Walker, agency sales director for GMG, said: “I am very proud to head up a team that has now achieved Radio Sales Team of the Year twice in a row. The GMG Radio Sales Team have shown a true commitment and dedication to their role which has led to this prestigious award.”
The results also saw GMG challenging The Daily Telegraph for the overall award and consolidated the team’s continued success in the market, having won the Radio accolade in 2004.
Magazine Sales Team of the Year
Another award that brought about a closely fought contest was in the Magazine field. BBC Magazines sneaked victory from under the noses of Media Sales Network and Conde Nast, despite both challengers recording above average scores in the market knowledge category, BBC’s weakest of the four. However, it was across customer service, proactivity and creativity that BBC secured the win, achieving above average scores. The team produced particularly impressive feedback in the customer service category.
National Newspaper Display
Sales Team of the Year
All three teams in this category achieved an overall score that was above the competition average. Express Group rated highest in the proactivity category, also scoring well in customer service and market knowledge. Meanwhile, The Guardian scored above average for creativity and proactivity. However, the night belonged to The Daily Telegraph, which received above average results in all four categories. National Newspaper Classified
Sales Team of the Year
The Daily Telegraph team was once again on top for the National Newspaper Classified Sales Team of the Year award. The team, in its first year of operation, managed above average scores in all four categories. The challenging two of The Guardian and Daily Mail scored higher than average in two of the categories with The Guardian taking the second spot.
Regional Newspaper Sales
Team of the Year
Third back in 2004, Manchester Evening News climbed the ranks this year to take the Regional Newspaper Sales Team of the Year award. The team has impressed clients with its market knowledge, creativity and service. Meanwhile, Clacksons and AMRA came through in second and third place, respectively, with both gaining positive feedback for customer service.