Here's What The Handbook Teaches The Account Executives.
- Who We Are - A one-page biographical section that "sells" the creative team to the sales team.
I've never seen this done at any other station, and it's absolutely brilliant:
It sends account executives out in to the field proud to be working with such an accomplished creative team - and much more confident in the station's ability to deliver meaningful, measurable results for their clients.
- What We Do - In a single page, the handbook explains to the sales team exactly what the creative team does. And they cleverly offer "social proof" to back up their explanation.
- How We Do It
- Why We Do It This Way - I never would have thought of this; fortunately, these three guys did.
Now that you've explained to your account executives exactly what you do for your clients and how you do it, in just a single page you explain why you do it this way.
This is a crucial component of the handbook - getting your Sales Department fully "on board" with your internal commercial production operation.
- Handy Sales Tips
- "Radio Coupons" - How to handle it when the client wants to say, "Mention this ad...."
- Spec Spots
- Smoothing the way for "in a hurry" copy
- Integrating Disclaimers (including a 3-step system for keeping your commercial from being destroyed by legal disclaimers)
- Handy Reference Materials - A single page listing valuable Internet resources for your salespeople. (Remember, you can replace some or all of these with others of your choosing. But your account executives will profit greatly from the ones already listed on this page.)
- Creative Team Contact Info - A single page listing everyone involved in the commercial creative process and exactly how to reach each of them.