In the past week, I’ve heard from numerous stations detailing a troubling trend: significant cancellations from an advertiser who initially committed substantial business for Q2. These cancellations have left stations reeling, not just financially but also operationally, as they had structured their rate cards and inventory projections around the anticipated revenue from this client.

In our continuous journey to enhance ShareBuilder CRM and deliver unparalleled value to our clients, we are excited to introduce new features designed to streamline workflows, enhance security, and foster a culture of transparency and collaboration between managers and account executives (AEs). Our latest update to ShareBuilder CRM marks a significant milestone in our quest to provide our users with a comprehensive, secure, and efficient CRM platform.

Greetings, fellow TV station moguls and advertising aficionados! Have you ever found yourself staring at a wall of Nielsen and Comscore data, scratching your head and muttering, "Ratings or impressions? Impressions or ratings? What's the deal with these things, anyway?" Fear not, my perplexed friends, for you are not alone in this comedic saga of advertising metrics.

Activity is starting to ramp up for Q2 business. While Q1 doesn’t give us any solid indicators of how Q2 will materialize, it provides ample data points with which to give our most accurate forecast of demand. Most of the following is common sense, but frequency sells, so getting a refresher is always a great idea.

 

Why would you price differently than your forecast submission?

Welcome to the next episode of Heads Together - your go-to source for insights and information on the latest trends in the media sales industry. Our video series explores the most pressing topics and challenges facing media sales professionals today. We pair our consultants and clients to share their perspectives and advice on issues like pricing strategies and building solid client relationships.

What is the best way to share rates with your sellers?  First, it’s imperative to call the demand in the market to ensure we are pricing to optimize revenue based on current conditions.    ShareBuilders has fantastic tools that can help you determine a realistic forecast based on history while also evaluating the current business climate.  Next, you need to assess your people’s ability to negotiate.  Do you have an experienced team, or is their first inclination to dive to the lowest level?

The Problem We Are Solving

In the ever-changing world of media sales, forecasting accuracy is crucial. However, we've observed a persistent gap between pending dollars and related booked revenue. Our data analysis has revealed that pending dollars can be consistently off by as much as 160% compared to what sales teams actually close at the end of each month.

This discrepancy is a consequence of various factors. Sales reps have different ways of approaching their pending dollars: some are constantly overconfident, or projecting higher closing rates; others may procrastinate in entering their pending deals into the system; and still, others might have an inflated expectation from certain accounts.

These factors and others culminate in an inflated pending amount, leading to a substantial divergence between the forecasted and actual revenue. Such inaccuracies can affect the strategic planning and decision-making process at various levels, ultimately impacting our customer’s bottom line. It is this very problem that we aim to help solve.

Our Understanding

With over 20 years of experience in creating CRM solutions specifically for the media sales industry, our expertise at ShareBuilders is informed by an extensive understanding of the unique challenges and needs of this sector. Throughout these years, we've engaged in comprehensive competitor analysis, direct interaction with our customers, and meticulous study of sales rep behaviors.

We've observed that the human element can add unpredictability to forecasting. After trawling through vast datasets of pending deals and sales team performances, we've gained a profound understanding of how pending dollars are managed, and more importantly, how they could be estimated better. This insight into the intricacies of the sales process and the industry's unique needs has become the springboard for the development of our groundbreaking feature, Precision Pending.

 

Precision Pending

This is just a preview of the decisions and understanding that led us to develop Precision Pending, a revolutionary feature of ShareBuilder AI. This tool is powered by machine learning, custom data modeling, and our proprietary algorithms. Unlike traditional methods, Precision Pending takes into account diverse factors, such as the sales rep's pending precision, pending trends, and the account's history, among others. By integrating these factors into the pending process, Precision Pending offers a more reliable and accurate view of pending dollars. This AI-driven solution brings more predictability to the process, mitigating the uncertainties associated with human predictions. With Precision Pending, we're taking a significant stride toward empowering our customers with the ability to predict revenue more accurately and consistently.

 

A Commitment to Continual Improvement

At ShareBuilders, we believe in constantly pushing the boundaries to empower our customers. That's why we're proud to announce that we're releasing Precision Pending to all of our customers at no additional cost. We see this as a collaborative journey where we learn, grow, and innovate together.

Our initial models project that Precision Pending can help reduce uncertainty between 30-50% from raw pending dollars. This is a significant stride towards helping sales teams to more reliably forecast revenue, but we do not intend to stop there.

As we continue to roll out this feature, we'll carefully monitor its performance and listen to our customers' feedback. Our aim is not only to improve Precision Pending but also to ensure that it continually adapts to the changing realities of media sales.

This is a significant milestone in our journey toward helping companies with confident revenue predictions. We believe that through persistent efforts and close collaboration with our customers, we can continually narrow the gap of uncertainty and revolutionize the media sales landscape. We are excited about the road ahead and hope you are too.

Welcome to the future of forecasting with Precision Pending.

For over twenty years, ShareBuilders has been a beacon of innovation, powering some of the nation's largest media brands with game-changing solutions. As media sales continue to transform, we're not just adapting; we're redefining what it means to furnish state-of-the-art pricing and sales analytics tools, enhanced by our team's unrivaled depth of industry expertise.

As AI reaches a pivotal stage in its evolution, we are harnessing its potential in alignment with our mission statement - we make your data make sense. This commitment propels our mission to deliver solutions that don't just follow trends but set them.

We view AI not merely as a tool, but as a technology capable of forever reshaping the landscape of media sales. At ShareBuilders, AI is more than a buzzword; it's a path to create compelling benefits for our customers, offering a unique blend of assistance, enhancement, and empowerment. Its potential to address the industry's most daunting challenges and unlock new avenues of opportunity is unprecedented, promising to reimagine everything from routine tasks to the most creative and forward-thinking initiatives.

 

Announcing ShareBuilders AI

We're thrilled to unveil ShareBuilders AI, a groundbreaking suite of features designed to elevate the capabilities of the ShareBuilders Platform. These new AI-powered functionalities will extend across CRM and Pricing experiences, delivering all-new data insights faster and more reliably than ever before. ShareBuilders AI encompasses a wide range of artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), and highly complex proprietary algorithms.

Guided by Our Approach to AI

As we venture on this transformative journey, we remain steadfast in our guiding principles of Accountability, Transparency, Inclusiveness, and Purpose. Our commitment to these values ensures that ShareBuilders AI solutions are not just technologically advanced but also accountable and transparent in their implementation.
Read Our Approach to AI

AI Designed for Transparency

To signify the presence of ShareBuilders AI within our platform, we're introducing a new system-wide design language. ShareBuilders AI features are distinguished by a unique icon and purple coloring, providing customers with immediate transparency and a clear indication of AI implementation.

"With ShareBuilders AI, we're disrupting our industry by delivering cutting-edge solutions and capabilities and becoming the most all-encompassing media sales platform on the planet."
-Chris Koller, ShareBuilders VP of Sales & Marketing

 

Our AI Journey Has Just Begun

With ShareBuilders AI, we're merely scratching the surface of what's to come. Look forward to the ShareBuilder AI features, including Precision Pending, Rate Impact, Forecasting, and many more, as we continue to drive the future of media sales solutions.
Stay tuned for our upcoming blog series that will delve into each new ShareBuilders AI feature, unveiling how they can enhance your media sales operations like never before.
Welcome to the future of media solutions with ShareBuilders AI, only available on the ShareBuilder Platform.