Ad Agencies
Each newspaper has their own way of dealing with agencies, but there are some general tips for the salesperson that can help insure that the relationship runs smoothly. The difficult question is, if the account is a client in your territory but reserves space through an ad agency, what level of contact should you have with each?

An ad agency usually likes to have total control over their accounts and want you to deal exclusively through the agency, and not try to sell the advertiser directly. The problem is, to varying degrees the ad agency might not be looking out for your newspaper's best interests, and that might be precisely the reason they don't want you talking to their advertisers directly. The agency might have other ideas for where their accounts money goes. So, in some cases you may feel that the newspaper would be better represented if you met with the advertiser on a regular basis in addition to meeting with the ad agency, and if this is the case you should discuss it with your manager.

Some papers will discourage salespeople from directly contacting an advertiser with an ad agency at all and only deal with the ad agency. Other newspapers require the salesperson to stay in contact with the advertiser as well as the agency, so that the advertiser is sold properly. I worked for a newspaper once who used to say to ad agencies "Look, the advertiser and our newspaper will be around longer than your ad agency, so we're going to keep an ongoing relationship with your advertisers. If we make a presentation to the account, however, we'll make sure you know about it." Now, this is not the way to win friends and influence people, and we don't recommend saying just like that. But it's a good point. Many advertisers switch ad agencies often, so if you want a good ongoing relationship between the newspaper and the advertiser, keep in touch with the advertiser directly as well. But before you do this, check with your manager to make sure it's OK, since different newspapers have different policies.

A couple of other times when you might not want to deal with an ad agency's account directly: when the ad agency is giving you all the business you think an advertiser would ever give you anyway, or if the advertiser asks you to only deal with the agency. But again, ask your manager about your newspaper's policy on this. Without permission from your manager, never try to go over their heads. If you try to bring a spec ad or a presentation directly to the client or even to the ad agency, the agency will almost always be offended because they feel that creating the ads is their function exclusively.

There may be times when under the advice of your manager, you do need to contact the advertiser and agency. Remember to make sure that in any of your dealings with the client, you make an effort to include the agency in the communications loop. For example, after a meeting you could send the account and the agency a letter thanking them for their time, and restating any actions that were decided upon or need to be decided upon. Keeping a friendly and non-adversarial relationship with the agency can only help you, the account, and the newspaper. And remember, the agency most likely is handling other salespeople's accounts at your newspaper as well, and if you upset an ad agency, the agency could not only pull your advertiser's ad, but the other salespeople's ads as well. And that won't make you the most popular salesperson at the newspaper.