Yellow Pages Industry Faces Sales Force Transformation, Simba Report Finds

Oct. 19, 2010 - PRLog -- The yellow pages industry has gone through many dramatic changes over the past decade as it has faced the onslaught of the digital world. One of the most difficult changes is the transformation of thousands of sales reps, primarily focused on print sales, into the demanding role of full-time media consultants, according to media industry market research firm Simba Information’s Sales Force Effectiveness 2010.

According to the report, yellow page companies are arming their new media consultants with fresh technology, from tablet PCs to BlackBerrys, and commanding new CRM systems to maximize efficiency. As opposed to solely selling print ads, media consultants will focus on bundles of exposure, including internet space, in order to compete with their digital counterparts.

“The print sales person is a job of the past as publishers invest heavily in retraining long-term employees and on-going training for new hires,” says David Goddard, senior analyst of Simba’s Yellow Pages Group and lead author of the study. “Those new hires are not sales reps; they are media consultants and they have to be good at it.”

The financial crisis may have sent tremors through some industries, but it was more like an earthquake to the yellow pages, driving down industry revenues by 7.4%. According to the report, this change in the sales force structure is expected to cut costs and increase the ability of yellow page companies to compete in the long-term, effectively gaining positive revenue by 2012.

Sales Force Effectiveness 2010 provides an overview of the industry, a comparison of sales staff vs. total employees, and revenue per employee and sales rep, as well as a look at revenue based on circulation and number of books. It is available at: http://www.simbainformation.com/redirect.asp?progid=79762....

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