Originally published in SNAP's Association Publishing, March/April 2008

by Jen Smith

Many association publication staffs are leaner than ever. As a result, publication team members are expected to know more about a bigger variety of publishing processes. Let's take a look at the role of the advertising sales staff and consider how acquiring a bit more knowledge of the magazine production process can set up ad sales personnel for greater member service opportunities.

So, how can your association's advertising sales staff move beyond simply closing the deal? What customer service must ad sales personnel be prepared to offer the association's members? And finally, what can they do to facilitate the association magazine's production process rather than slow it down?

REDEFINING SERVICE

The advertiser is still responsible for supplying a print-ready piece of art to fill their space, but you'd never know it based on what tries to sneak in to your publication masquerading as ad creative. For many large companies that spend thousands of dollars on their brand and positioning in the marketplace, a highquality print ad is easy to come by. However, advertisers with smaller marketing budgets may need to find a freelance designer to create an ad for them, or they may even attempt to do it themselves. In many association publications, the advertisers require more customer service and assistance from the publication staff to provide a high-quality ad.

In the traditional, for-profit, magazine model, it's not the advertising sales team's responsibility to hold an advertiser's hand through the development of their creative. However, when you consider that an association publication's advertisers are often also members, think of it as simply more added-value or member services that you, as a representative of the association, can–and should–provide.

If a new advertiser already has an ad developed, the salesperson should get the materials well in advance of the due date so that the publication's graphic artist (or whomever is responsible for pre-flighting the ads) can check the advertiser's art to ensure that the file is suitable for print. Making it easy to submit ad artwork and quickly alerting the advertiser of problems with the file will smooth the advertising process for all involved. In turn, it will deepen the relationship with that advertiser/member, increasing comfort levels with the publication and with your association staff.

BEYOND THE SALES PITCH

In the good old days, every magazine had a knowledgeable traffic coordinator or production artist available to answer the advertiser's questions regarding submission of ad creative. Today, many association publication staffs are too lean to afford such a luxury. Who can help fill the void? The ad sales team.

With a guidelines or tip sheet (Editor's note: see sidebar p. 34, Top 10 Things Every Ad Sales Rep Should Know About Ad Creative), members of the advertising sales team can send out the correct information to increase the chances of receiving a correct file in return. Spec sheets should be clear, easy to understand and cover all the bases. Be clear about colors, resolution, file types and sizes. Clearly outline the live, trim and bleed sizes for full-page ads and have a knowledgeable graphic artist available to answer questions that are beyond the ad sales team's capabilities.

While the ad sales team shouldn't expect to walk an advertiser through the latest layout software or design theory, with a good tip sheet and a willingness to learn basic terminology and production rules, many questions are easy to answer. The sales staff's ability to help will go a long way toward satisfying the advertiser and will build a deeper bond between sales person and advertiser by providing more opportunities for the two to interact beyond the sales pitch.

In addition, the ad sales team's ability to clearly explain an error and present a solution for an advertiser/member can have the added function of educating that client so that future ad material is submitted correctly.

Collecting quality artwork does not have to be a difficult process. And while many sales people will argue that servicing the advertiser's production needs is not the best use of their time, the sales team should think of this member service as something productive they can do when they need a few minutes break from hard-core selling.

Jen Smith (jsmith@networkmediapartners.com.) is the creative director of Network Media Partners, Inc., in Hunt Valley, MD.