Integrated and Convergent Selling: Can it be this hard?

As a media sales professional, you've no doubt been subject to numerous strategy sessions where the topic of being a "customer-centric" sales force and selling "integrated" media in "multi-platforms" has been discussed.

When the ideas are finished being exchanged, the strategies discussed, and the long dinners and drinking finished, sales people and senior management tend to go back to their siloed existences where integrated, team selling rarely exists.

If you work in a broadcast, cable, and digital media company the term is often referred to as "convergent" selling.

"Tending to move toward one point or to approach each other" is how Merriam-Webter's Dictionary defines convergent: http://www.webster.com/dictionary/convergent Then why do TV and online sales teams so often move away from each strategically and sit on opposite floors physically?

If you're within the framework of a print publishing company, the term most often used is "integrated" selling.

"To incorporate into a larger unit or to bring into equal membership of an organization" is how Merriam-Webster defines integratrated: http://www.webster.com/dictionary Then why do print executives always act like the larger/more important unit and is online still treated like an unequal member of the organization?

Either way, corporate executives love to point out how their respective media properties are well-positioned to work together to enable advertisers to reach audiences in multiple media effectively. What executives fail to address is the glaring in-efficiencies in the integrated/convergent sales processes and the internal struggles that make executing truly multi-platform selling worthwhile.

Team Efforts Start at the Top: Fostering a team-selling atmosphere and truly customer-centric approach within larger media sales forces starts at the executive levels. When the VP of TV Sales and the VP of Interactive Sales have respectful and trusted relationships with each other and empower their teams to do what is in the best interest of the client, great things can be accomplished. When this does not occur, distrust, selfishness, and pettiness usually does- leading to stunted revenue growth.


Over the past 5 or so years, some publishing companies have started created seperate sales teams specific to online to capitilize on this growing medium. Those companies still most likely initiate strategy thru their print brands, have top-level print management drive the major account relationships, and treat online has an "add-on" as part of an a la carte menu.


The same holds true for broadcast media companies, who view the branded network as the strategy driver, lead with TV in major account relationships, and whose idea of convergent selling is adding some online to the upfront plan funded by some scraps of budget.

It's no wonder interactive sales sometimes feel disconnected from their print or broadcast colleagues, sort of like Ryan in this quick office scene: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8aa8rkmliEM


From a management standpoint, I guess this behavior can be understood. Media pros who've risen to management or executive ranks very rarely have online or digital backgrounds. Only recently has that started to change, as companies like Time Inc and Martha Stewart Living Optimedia are handing executive positions overseeing multiple media brands to managers with online backgrounds. Click here for a link discussing those appointments: http://publications.mediapost.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=63372


Does this signal a change in internal selling strategy? I think it does, and some examples include:

• Dow Jones/Wall Street Journal (soon-to-be News Corp) has a solid integrated strategy in which print and digital media teams have shared revenue goals in each territory and our now led by "Multi-Media Sales Managers".
• Reader's Digest recently (April 2007) announced an integrated sales team to sell cross-platform, McGraw-Hill has a similar structure, etc.
• MEredith has a convergent team approach by the name of 360i that has a good reputation and delivers intelligent cross-platform ideas for agencies and clients.
  

Talking about convergent or integrated selling at the corporate level of media companies is easy and logical, but actually having a salesforce motivated to truly execute that strategy is hard to do.

The key starts at the top, as executives must foster the team convergent sales approach, build trust internally at high levels, and remember the path to exploding sales growth is working together.