Alumni Swap!

The last post said I was going to speak with Stevi Nelson for my alumni presentation. As always in the broadcast world, things change and I actually interviewed 2003 alumni Bobby Fisher.


He is one of the very few majors I know that went into broadcast sales - one of the main reasons I decided to contact him. I met Bobby originally when he spoke in Dr. Barner's Broadcast Sales and Advertising class. At that time, he was selling radio, newspaper and internet advertising at Steel City Media. He left that job about a year and a half ago for his current job with Dominion Enterprises in Pittsburgh. Bobby does inside sales for the company's publication The Employment Guide which is simply a paper full of job listings.

Other than finding out what Bobby's career path has been, I also asked him a lot about having a job in sales and any advice he could give someone entering this field. He talked about the top three characteristics of a good salesperson. He said number one is patience. You will not be an overnight success; in fact, Bobby said there's no money in your first year. The number two characteristic was being open to change, especially due to ever changing technology. Finally, number three was attaining new business. He says some of the veteran sales representatives get too comfortable, and forget that about 20% of business is lost to attrition every year. It's so important to increase billing regardless of what your account list and billing already looks like.

Not only did I enjoy talking with Bobby Fisher because he's so helpful, I know he's a contact I can use in the future. He has been in various sales jobs for five years so he's definitely knowledgeable, in addition to the fact that he has a lot of contacts that may be helpful to me as well. In fact, I sent him a copy of my resume today to look at and make suggestions for me. Thanks Bobby!