What are the benefits of using a yield management tool combined with human insights to price your TV advertising?

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.