Corny (and dated), yes, but a true statement. I've never worked in a sales department and have never sold anything face-to-face, but I've almost always had undying respect for those co-workers who made the cold calls, took the rejection and still managed to smile through the process of insuring that I got a paycheck every week.
I didn't always feel like that. I used to get angry.
When I got my first full-time gig as a commercial copywriter at WTOL-TV Toledo Eleven, I made 10K a year and lived above a sporting goods store in Perrysburg, Ohio, while my brother slept on my couch for a full year (although he occasionally got up and went to his job at Shoney's Big Boy).
This was my first job as a writer out of grad school and I loved pretty much every moment of almost four years there. I wrote dozens of pieces of copy a day from Brondes Ford to Margaret Miller's House of Insurance. I seldom, if ever, came in contact with the clients. The AE took my copy, showed the client (who almost always changed it to say they helped write it) and cut the spot at night in between newscasts.In my naivete, I knew that with a brand, spankin' new master's degree, I had all the talent, did all the work for long hours, yet drove a crappy car home to my crappy apartment while the AE's all drove nice cars home to their nice homes (I assumed they were nicer than mine) and were able to afford to occasionally eat out.
I felt that being a creative person should put me at the top of the broadcast pyramid, not the bottom. The guy in the mailroom was driving a much better car than I was, so what's up with that? Never mind that I was 22 and hadn't paid any dues yet.
Even years later, I still remember the names of all the AE's at the station. A great bunch of sales people, and easy to work with. Unfortunately, I lived with this resentment until I grew up and became a manager a few years later. All it took was one of them taking me on a sales call to a particularly difficult client for the light to go on over my head..
How hard could it be? Show up, talk about how great the station is and get the order. Know what I found out? What these guys do is hard! I NEVER want to do this job!
Since then, I've made it a personal mission to give every ounce of cooperation, love and my creative energies to help every account executive who walks into my office. In fact, I want every AE to know that (short of surrendering my inventory to them), I'll do everything in my power to help land an account, write and produce their spot and help them succeed.
Every person on the creative side should do that, because it's the biggest way we can lend our talents to the common good. It's also a great way to cement your position inside your company as the ultimate leader and team player, dedicated to improving the bottom line.
Since a large percentage of general managers still come from sales, if your sales manager likes you, your GM will love you.
But, no matter how creative a sales person may be, their brains are usually focused on the best strategy to move a client's money from his bank account to yours. As a creative leader, you're always thinking of new and fun ways to do things they never considered.
Pure and simple, you're a great resource. If you focus on being a great resource to your friendly, neighborhood AE, everybody wins. They gain a trusted ally and you gain another outlet for your creativity, while helping a client thrive. It's usually cool creating commercials.
Plus, in a career that will hopefully be long, you'll be seen as an incomparable partner in what has become a fight to the finish.
There's nothing more humbling than representing a good station or company and making dozens of calls to potential clients, only to come up empty. Even the best AE feels the boot on their butt a lot.
So, don't forget to be a pal.
If nothing else, respect the job's difficulty and embrace the professionals working to keep gas in the tank of your 1971 Plymouth Duster.
I'm sorry, but did that reference date me?
--Rich Brase
rich@richideas.net
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