More media insight
My brother saw this blog post, and had more insight to share:
Hey Jeff, it's your "Big Brother" Brad here, I'm glad this stuck with you as well. You know, in my experience it's a fairly rare thing to find an "artistic" and a "sales-oriented" mindset in the same person. When we find those persons, who have talent 'n flair for both, two things are guaranteed:
The sales staff will invariably be found semi-joking, "all you creatives do is smoke up wierd ideas, and delay me getting paid!"
The Creatives on the other hand, especially if they know what kind of bucks are involved, invariably feel resentful about how undervalued they are, and how they never get all the creative reign they would like.
My company gave me what they called "Sales Sensitivity Training" when I was a scrappy/artsy young Commercial producer/writer director. In effect they gave me a few clients, and the power to prospect for more. It was eye-opening, gave me a motivating opportunity for few extra bucks, and truly opened my eyes. The only rule: I could not produce for my sales clients.
Then, it seemed I was doing a bit too well at the sales end, and the main reps wanted the clients I was developing. So, a year later they stripped me of my clients and made me Creative Director, so I guess it worked - from an upper mgmt standpoint. I was a bit cheezed, but they did make it somewhat worth my while.
Long and short, both sides have their own sets of challenges. Those who can understand and show empathy for both, will always be a better team player in any corporate environment.
How many times has a salesperson congratulated a Creative on a job well done/happy client? Many.
How many times has a Creative person congratulate a Salesperson on a big sale. Not nearly as many.
Consider the difference.
Cheers!
Brad
Hey Jeff, it's your "Big Brother" Brad here, I'm glad this stuck with you as well. You know, in my experience it's a fairly rare thing to find an "artistic" and a "sales-oriented" mindset in the same person. When we find those persons, who have talent 'n flair for both, two things are guaranteed:
- They'll be extremely successful in their career.
- They'll have huge bargaining power with their employer, until they decide "Hell, I can do this all myself!"
The sales staff will invariably be found semi-joking, "all you creatives do is smoke up wierd ideas, and delay me getting paid!"
The Creatives on the other hand, especially if they know what kind of bucks are involved, invariably feel resentful about how undervalued they are, and how they never get all the creative reign they would like.
My company gave me what they called "Sales Sensitivity Training" when I was a scrappy/artsy young Commercial producer/writer director. In effect they gave me a few clients, and the power to prospect for more. It was eye-opening, gave me a motivating opportunity for few extra bucks, and truly opened my eyes. The only rule: I could not produce for my sales clients.
Then, it seemed I was doing a bit too well at the sales end, and the main reps wanted the clients I was developing. So, a year later they stripped me of my clients and made me Creative Director, so I guess it worked - from an upper mgmt standpoint. I was a bit cheezed, but they did make it somewhat worth my while.
Long and short, both sides have their own sets of challenges. Those who can understand and show empathy for both, will always be a better team player in any corporate environment.
How many times has a salesperson congratulated a Creative on a job well done/happy client? Many.
How many times has a Creative person congratulate a Salesperson on a big sale. Not nearly as many.
Consider the difference.
Cheers!
Brad
posted by Jeff Harrison at
6:22 PM
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