Are you a bully? How relationships in media get you more.
re·la·tion·ship
/rəˈlāSH(ə)nˌSHip/
noun
1. The way in which two or more concepts, objects, or people are connected, or the state of being connected.
Relationships are hard. That’s what you always hear people say. Relationships are only hard because they take work. Work takes time and effort.
Working in media is all about relationships. Relationships with our clients, internal relationships and relationships with our media partners. As the Director of Traditional Media at BLM I have a lot of relationships! I am so lucky to have all of these, but they take a lot of work.
In almost all of my relationships in my life, I think connection is the most important factor. When you connect with people, you begin to understand wants and needs, and different perspectives. Working internally at BLM to make our clients happy and deliver the best customer service on Earth is our main goal. We work hard every day to accomplish this, and it takes a lot of work. We don’t just send emails. We talk to each other; we meet face to face and we problem solve. We have learned how to work very well with each other to make good things happen.
A huge part of my day is communicating with “reps” from all different companies across the country. We represent over 100 clients and work with well over 250 reps. That is a lot of people to talk to! At BLM we strive to do our best for our clients when it comes to promotions, added value, campaigns, out of the box ideas and ways to grow their businesses. In order to do so, we need to have great partners. We push hard for the best rates, we demand excellence, we ask for the above and beyond – and our media partners deliver because we continue to communicate with them, build ever growing relationships and treat them with respect.
A lot of us at BLM have come from the media sales side. We understand the industry. We understand the grind. We truly understand the need for the respect that is deserved. We work with a lot of local reps across the country. We don’t bully. We approach every idea and campaign with the best interest of our clients. We have worked hard to gain respect in every market across the country as the agency that fights for our clients, but treats our reps with respect. We answer every email and return every call. We want to know about any opportunity that may be beneficial for our clients.
Am I a bully? No. Is our agency a bully? No! Do we demand the best possible service, the best rates and the follow through from our reps? Absolutely!! We demand this, because that is what we do for our clients and each other internally every single day.
It is so important to treat everyone you work with on a daily basis with kindness and respect. It is what everyone deserves. We pride ourselves on our customer service, so we expect the same from our reps.
The interaction we have with people on a daily basis is abundant. Some reps are so extraordinary, and some have some work to do in the journey of their career in media.
We are able to do what we do for our clients because of the strong relationships we have built.
Remember to send thank you cards on a weekly basis to someone who has helped you. Pay it forward weekly or monthly if you can. Kindness goes a very long way. Relationships are the hardest part of every day, but if you put a little time and effort into them, they will go way further than you ever thought possible. Remember to smile while you’re working. That works too 🙂
At BLM we will work hard for you and treat our media reps as you would treat your family and clients as we work together to grow your business.