Pavlick sees 'glory days' ahead for Roanoke-Chowan Publications

Many “experts” say the heyday of newspapers has passed. Brian Pavlick, director of advertising for Roanoke-Chowan Publications in Ahoskie, N.C., disagrees.

“Effective sales managers are able to convince their reps that the glory days have not passed and are right in front of us,” said Pavlick, formerly of the Shelby County (Ala.) Reporter, who has been in his current role since December. “Reps look back to the ease of selling half- and full-page ads. Good sales leaders encourage the team to display all marketing products for all customers. Instead of a single print product, a rep has a variety of chances to make a sale.

“In days past, ‘No’ meant ‘your paper can not help me.’ With the variety of products our newspapers can provide, ‘No’ now means, ‘What else do you have that can help me?’”

Thanks to Pavlick’s leadership, the Roanoke-Chowan sales staff’s learning curve on multimedia, proposal-based selling has been short.

“A manager in an advertising department locates the strengths of every rep and plays to those advantages for the team’s success,” he said. “An effective manager develops minimum standards for each sales call. The rep is already determined to make the calls, so the manager encourages digital components, niche publications, and minimum lengths for all proposals. Some one-on-one coaching by watching and listening to those sales calls will encourage the rep to let the customer say no instead of the rep saying no for them.”

Pavlick and his three-person sales team have helped the newspaper launch a daily news e-mail, will soon launch a daily “What’s for Lunch?” e-mail targeting restaurants in the readership area, and have grown revenue in core products such as Crossroads, which is the newspaper’s annual Progress edition, and FYI, a magazine for newcomers and visitors.