Company: iHeartMedia, Inc., New York, NY
Company Description: iHeartMedia, Inc., was founded in San Antonio, TX with the purchase of a single radio station in 1972. After decades of growing media assets globally, the company has become one of the world’s leading media and entertainment companies, operating as iHeartMedia, Inc. iHeartMedia, Inc., consists of two main media businesses: Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings and the wholly owned iHeartMedia.
Nomination Category: Sales Awards Individual Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Sales Director of the Year

Nomination Title: Michael Soifer, National Sales Director

Tell the story about what this nominee achieved since the beginning of July 2013 (up to 650 words). Focus on specific accomplishments, and relate these accomplishments to past performance or industry norms. Be sure to mention obstacles overcome, innovations or discoveries made, and outcomes:

iHeartMedia is the largest multi-media company in the United States, reaching 245 million monthly listeners and 97 million digital monthly unique visitors. We serve over 150 markets through 850+ radio stations, along with our streaming app, iHeartRadio.com. One of iHeartMedia’s biggest strengths is being proactive in the marketplace. A perfect example of that is the expansion of iHeartMedia’s National Sales Team with Michael Soifer coming on board as its Sales Director.

The Media industry has historically been challenged, and non-responsive, to time, territory and talent. The typical salesperson manages a limited list of accounts that require a substantial amount of time to maintain, making it difficult to focus on new opportunities. The salesperson is also assigned to a specific territory based on their location, having them restricted to only business within that region. Most importantly, the industry has tended not to groom new talent to proactively overcome the current challenges within the marketplace. Michael Soifer’s leadership of the iHeartMedia’s National Sales Team has aggressively dissolved all of these challenges by removing the restriction of territory, focusing solely on new transactional business and making sure we hire the proper resources for this specific role. It’s literally unlike any other sales division within the industry, and especially at this scale.

Michael transferred into the National Sales Team bringing with him extensive knowledge of the multi-media industry and experience with premiere level sales. He quickly used this experience to train and motivate a growing sales staff that had little experience with advertising. He is quick to offer a listening ear and is on the lookout both for team members that are struggling and sometimes overlooked talent that can be developed. As each Seller progressed in the role, he continued to meet with each individually to gather feedback on their experiences and ideas. He used this information to motivate on a larger scale and implement new lead generation and closing techniques. While spending a significant amount of time leading and promoting our team internally, Michael continued to assist our Sellers at a transactional level by providing support and advice on individual sales. Not content to do things as they have always been done, he can frequently be heard saying, "What if we..." or "Have we thought about ..." This consultative approach as allowed many of our Sellers to advance their skill set and sell more complex advertising buys such as digital and premiere level inventory.

With Michael’s insight and direction, iHeartMedia’s National Sales Team has generated tremendous results:

• 2014 finish of $15,026,023, an increase of 1,782% vs 2013 ($798,305)
• YTD ROI of 564%
• 32% increase in quarterly revenue
• Average monthly order size increased from $10,536 in Q1’14 to $13,285 in Q3’14
• Huge success rate with advertisers, resulting in 50% of revenue from repeat business
• Transitioned over $11.8 million in active billing to other niche divisions within iHeartMedia to manage for better alignment
• Launched iHeartMedia’s first ever quota-accountable sales team

iHeartMedia’s National Sales Team has a unique inside business model that drives accountable results balanced with a fun place to work. From the big ideas down the small details, from executive meetings for closing deals to assisting an animal shelter on Volunteer Day, Michael Soifer’s focus and dedication continues to drive impressive results and grow the team into 2015.

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