entry level sales representative

inside sales representative

advertising sales representative

inside sales

sales representative

Power-Play-Marketing

The job description is pretty straightforward.  Telesales job selling print advertising for sports yearbooks and USA today magazines.  100 call minimum per day.  Pitch decision makers only (business owners/presidents/etc) so roughly 10% of your calls will be spent pitching and the rest trying to navigate gatekeepers and voicemails, but that comes with the territory.  

Pay is a draw system, meaning you make the same base salary until your quarterly commission percentage exceeds what you'd make in salary, after which you are paid the difference in bonus.  This is uncapped, although it will take a few years to build to that.  There are also smaller, monthly bonuses available for hitting various thresholds of sales.

The office is a single, medium sized room so everyone can see and hear everything you say and do (including your sales numbers), but it's a well kept space and the larger office building it's in is quite nice.  Hours are 8:30-5:30 with an hour lunch and breaks at your own discretion as long as you don't abuse them.  Major holidays are paid and you get a paid week off at Christmas time, however that gets deducted from your personal PTO balance so you aren't left with many days off that are in your control.  There are also benefits, although HR services are outsourced and a bit disorganized so it may take a few months for them to take effect.

You are given a lot of freedom to call whoever you want, although certain publications have confusingly vague "category protect lists" you must navigate around.  But as long as it's not protected or owned by another rep, any lead you bring in is fair game.  This can obviously be a positive if you find a niche you are most comfortable selling in, although it does require quite a bit of research that you simply don't have time to do during the day (you're expected to be on the phone pretty much at all times) so you'll have to do some of that on your own time outside of work if you want to build a sizable bank of leads.

But most importantly, know this.  This is not a "starter job" where you're afforded time to learn and grow into the role.  You are expected to bring in results within a few weeks of completing training, and if you don't, you won't last much longer than that.  There's definitely some money to be made here if you can build up your business for a few years, but the overturn rate is very high and many reps don't make it past the first few months.  So if you're considering working here make sure you are either experienced in this type of sales or highly confident in your ability to deliver right away.

First of all, this is NOT a salary position. It is paid hourly.  What you will be doing is making a minimal of 100 phone calls a day trying to speak to business owners.  Once you get them on the phone your job is to pitch them, and get them to buy advertisement into USA Today publications.  The leads that you will be given are leads that have been generated through past employees doing internet research.  Basically the leads are awful and sometimes the companies don't even exist anymore.  The leads just remain in a continuous cycle.  If you want to be successful you have to generate your own leads on top of making 100-150 phone calls a day. Have fun working 80 hours a week for a garbage "salary".  

Secondly, nobody is happy to be there. Sitting at a desk all day and being told by business owners over and over again, we do not want to do print advertising, makes people moody.  Also, you cannot even give any descriptive numbers to business owners about the publication.  For example, they don't know how many copies are sold, they don't know their target demographic, etc. The reason for that is because the numbers are so bad that if you did tell owners, they would say, "no thank you".

Lastly, and my favorite, is the Management.  Once a week, the office would get together for a "meeting" where the manager would go over our sales performances individually, publicly. They would eventually get so off topic and waste our time from making sales calls, then they would ask why we had low calls that day.  One time this guy started yelling and sweating about how many "Denny's Grand Slams" they would make in a day, as if that has any correlation with us selling.

A little extra.  Be careful of what you read in the reviews section.  After working there, it is quite evident that they have someone in their back office writing a review, that's so positive and fantastic about the company, but is clearly fluff, to get people to work there.  I won't be surprised if they delete their company profile just to change the reviews, because of the frequent bad reviews.

Do yourself a favor, just check a few other places out.

Do your 100-150 calls, pitch to the "right" people and stick to their script because it is their "proven" method. You CANNOT ask your piers for help or ask them about any advise that could help you improve because the manager does not like that.  Forget communicating and getting to know who you work with and spend 9 hours of your day with because trying to conversate for even for 3 mins is getting off track and keeping you from making your 100+ calls. Very much a lack  of work culture that makes it hard to stick around and creates demotivating environment, heavy need of team development or something to keep employees and management lacks connection with employees. Interview was also a bit off...had fill out a lengthier application at interview and interview itself was way too  casual and unprofessional, also a lot of yapping about the company and not the position itself. There is also no job description....just an exaggerated summary of the companies services and not exactly what the position is. Very low reviews for a reason and most definitely high expectations for "Entry Level" position and a bit micro managed. Simply you are just another number and do not recommend for New Grads looking for a step into  business or marketing.  They do not go over work policy, benefits or any of that during training  which I did find odd.

PPM is an advertising rep firm with a portfolio of over 600 print and digital programs, partnering with prestigious organizations, such as USA TODAY, NFL, NHL, MLB, NBA, D1 Universities, etc. Advertising sales reps are given the opportunity to call on local business owners and regional & national executives, and offer them a broad range of advertising and hospitality options. Each rep is given initial and ongoing sales training, in order to ensure everyone's success. This  position offers a great base salary, medical & dental befits, paid time off, a great work/life balance, and the ability to make unlimited income via a generous bonus/commission structure. 

The right candidate for this job, is outgoing, articulate, energetic, intelligent, coachable and extremely tenacious. You must be willing to work hard, make 100 + outbound calls a day, and create & sustain client relationships. This is a sales job, so you're handsomely rewarded, based on your effort and success. 

The office provides a positive environment, with a great manager, and support network across the company. Overall PPM is a great place to work.

Power Play Marketing really was a  great experience. High volume sales position where a typical day consisted of 100 to 150 outbound phone calls, 90% of those being cold calls. This position taught me a great deal about the law of average and how to qualify potential customers over the phone. My VP was great, extremely helpful and knowledgeable in the world of print advertising. 

The hardest part of this job is staying focused and committed. It is very easy to get deterred from a position such as this one seeing that there is so much rejection on a daily basis. However, in my experience, if you believe in the product you're selling, so will the client. It really is a great feeling when you make a sale, whether it be for $500 or $20,000, due to the fact that everything from finding the decision maker, getting them on the phone(my opinion the hardest part of the job), gauging their interest and overcoming objections, is all done by you. Smile and dial!

PPM is a great place to make some money and sharpen your sales skills. It’s a salaried job as long as you come in & don’t show up late, which should be absolute basics. You have to have a strong work ethic and want to succeed to do so. 

There is a high turnover, but it’s because people assume that they can come in whenever they want, mess around and not meet the minimum requirements of the job. The job can be tedious, yes, but it works if you do. 

The management team here will help you and do all that they can to make sure that you’re on the right path as long as you show that you want to be here. As long as you’re working hard, asking questions and being intellectually curious about the projects that you’re working on, and genuinely trying, you can do well here.

The job involves cold calling businesses all day. To succeed you have to find your own leads as the leads they give you are not very good. The publications you are trying to sell ad space into are not audited because the company knows that they do not sell. Your clients will never see a return on their purchase of the ad's but the company bribes the clients with tickets. The way this company stays in business is selling ad space to a client who will not benefit from the ad but will use their companies money to see a sporting event or concert for free. The manager will frequently show up late and leave early. Will waste your time with pointless meetings. Overall a shady company. Should have known this job would not be great when the manager was late to the training sessions every day.

Selling print advertising over the telephone is a super tough job, even for an experienced salesperson. Add to the fact, you need to include sporting event tickets and have an  100-200 call sales a day quota, and I knew this would have burned me out in no time. The job wasn't for me, but I'm not going to throw stones at the company for giving me an opportunity.

The manager has extensive experience in the print business and YOU WILL LEARN if you have active listening skills and soak in his knowledge. 

To those college grads, this is a steppingstone job that will build character and make you a better person with thicker skin. Keep in mind, this is totally an entry level position.

The manager is a great person, but as time went on, things opened up. Always keeping track of your call count, which usually has to be between 100-200 calls per day. Always feeling you have someone watching your every move in the business or listening in on every call you make. Completely lied to me at interview, saying I would get paid instantly off commission from closing deals and getting companies on board. That’s not the case. Won’t start getting 20% commission on sales until long after you start closing them. Joke of a company, work environment, and micromanagement to add on to that.

100 cold calls a day min. Great pay with monthly incentives. Friendly environment. Open office space. The training was very helpful, I didn't feel unprepared in anyway. Whenever I had a question, no one hesitated to help. The VP was passionate about the company and work we did. Fun office parties during the holidays and when monthly goals are met. Young and progressive atmosphere.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
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