Director of Advertising & Sales
CPI Media Group
Total years of experience :24 years, 11 Months
I am responsible for a 2 pronged team approach, to:
• Train
• Help
• Direct
• Harmonize
• Deliver sales revenue through this dynamic which currently incorporates 8 coordinators driving new leads and interest on a 360 media pitch.
All leads are passed to Accounts/Snr sales team across Digital/Print/Events/Golf Days* etc. The sales team objective is simply to convert sales and manage a said number of Key Accounts per head.
What are we delivering?
There are 22+ brands in the company all of which maintain a captain, someone that is responsible for a clean delivery of the product in hand, be-it digital/print or an event. The sales team individuals are driving, ad-hoc, targeted and yearly campaigns, ranging from $2, 000 through to $1, 000, 000 plus in converted advertising solutions. Working with executives through to CXO’ across broad industry sectors, in Infrastructure, Oil &Gas, SME’ up to Governmental Organizations, we deliver the right audience for their brands!
Role Scope:
• Organise commission goals.
• Set KPI’s.
• Drive sales.
• Recruitment.
• Training/Development.
• Create marketing strategies.
• Create new Events/summits & conferences.
• Set and manage yearly forecasts for print/digital & events
* I also execute all golf or sporting events within the group.
My role covers a wide range of Executive titles in Print/Digital/Events & Sponsorships, managing a team of industry professionals, maintaining and increasing sales structure/targets/KPI’s/Recruitment & development and brand awareness across the Middle East. Our flagship publication, Arabian Business sits at the forefront of every businessman's mind. Delivering unbiased editorial, smart content, top brand advertisement and exclusive 1-on-1 interviews with the very best in their field to the Middle East. All served in English and Arabic content. Also within the portfolio the distinguished C.E.O Magazine a monthly edition and Start Up a well-executed on the pulse SME magazine. In addition to the digital and print success stories, my role includes our team delivering sales into 17 plus annual events/awards ceremonies and sponsorship avenues.
Additional info:
• Recruitment
• Setting forecasts digital/print
• Team meetings for scheduling/features/sales and with editorial team
• Reported to managing director & Publishing director only
• Restructure of commissions
• Created a sales manual for relationship selling
• Sales training sessions 1-on-1 & team activities
"Dubai Week Magazine, ” launched the 5th February 2015. Working from start-up I have grandfathered in existing accounts, (campaigns from AED15, 000 TO AED600, 000), to run their advertising campaigns through this new, exciting, fresh and innovative weekly magazine for the Dubai community. Based on the sister edition in Abu Dhabi we have made a stamp in an already saturated market, distributing over 60, 000 weekly to an affluent Dubai market! My day to day role includes, networking with c-level clients on a B2B relationship, creating a new database and building the work to form a long lasting relationship with our print media. The property and classified section is thriving against its rivals, I work to create good space and smart placements of ads and a strong editorial to compliment my clients. Money is always an important factor and every day I am working on proposals to fit the budgets and requirements of every individual business. Everything I personally work on is complimented by a fantastic well addressed editorial team so my work is staying as the proverbial K.I.S.S! Other areas of work updating sales reports, weekly meetings on direction and sales with M.D. weekly meetings with Editorial and face to face business meetings and tele-sales.
Within Turret Media, this role was for the Launch Event "TASTE OF ABU DHABI."(Held in Du Arena, Yas Island).
In the 6 months I worked here I brought in more than $200, 000. Utilising cold calling and an existing database from our other events (Dubai Christmas Festival, Taste Of Dubai), and our clients from Abu Dhabi Week magazine, I was able to bring on big brand recognised names. Brand examples that have come on-board with me are
In this role I worked on a digital platform called YallaBanana.com, (dealsite)
Within 6 months of my time with this dealsite, I created 1200 new offers, (my accounts would bring in AED 200, 000 to 250, 000 monthly).
Ranging from F&B promotions Hotelier Stays, Clinical promotions, Adventure and much more. Between myself and my colleague, (GM), we turned YallaBanana into a profitable business, from making smart promotions with Abu Dhabi based Businesses, and increasing our Brand strength in Dubai.
The success of our work meant we could increase our team and increase our database. We moved our business to pushing through "Break Even" each month and exceeding AED 500, 000 easily. This enabled us to move forward with our partner database "YellowPages.UAE." We moved from a strong 90000 database, to more than 750000.
YallaBanana is now considered one of the top Dealsites in the UAE.
I worked for 4 years with Absolute a pioneering company within Holiday Ownership and Real Estate spanning more than 40 countries worldwide.
Koh Samui was a unique spot in Thailand offering high end beach life paradise. Here we had a team to manage of 20+ reps working cold line sales together we were selling Vacation Ownership, and or Fractional Investment. Being very seasonal our figures would generate anything from 150, 000euros to 250, 000euros.
My day-to-day role would be, taking morning meetings, sales training, pricing all completed presentations and organising contracts. Additional work would be to set targets for the sales deck and to set short, mid and long term goals with each sales person.
Our Phuket operation was the head office and a lot of my strengths in sales &management came whilst working/training with the teams here. Phuket was the forefront for their Thai Boutique Hotel Brand, (award winners in property and quality).
This was Europe’s 5star and globally most reputed Timeshare destination, when I started here I worked as a sales rep on the English cold line till mid-2006, I would meet cold customers on holiday and tour them though the resorts and help show them the benefits of holiday ownership and how it could compliment their lives, monthly I would gain anywhere from 5 to 13 new clients a month generating personal sales of 50, 000euros to 130, 000euros.
In 2006 I took an opportunity to work in In-House on the British line, where I had great success in my 1st full year I came 3rd in the whole dept. attaining figures of 1.7 million Euros Nett, selling T/Share, Points (Anfi not RCI) and creating individual client portfolios of business up to 200k Euros to transfer into real estate on a new golf development, then having kept the consistency I rose to becoming a working T.O.
Portugal, Mallorca, Gran Canaria
1st time in the industry when I joined the company. Whirlwind training and out, selling a points based product, for holiday ownership.
When I started it was really in the deep end, as the American part of the company was in “chapter 11” (administration).Dealing with this and still making business was a huge learning curve for me.