TeamAudio's Cathryn Ramin Uses Good Old Fashioned Sales Tactics to Reach Ad Agencies

At nearly 12 months old, TeamAudio provides some of the best quality audio on the Web. We spoke to CEO Cathryn Ramin about their sales tactics.

"I accumulated a hand-made database of companies that were serious about rich media," said Ramin, a former NY-area journalist. These companies included among others, entertainment companies and large and small agencies.

"I researched them very thoroughly by reading every magazine and newsletter I could get my hands on - AdWeek, Ad Age, Digitrends, Grok, you name it. I read them and I ripped stuff out if I found something about rich media."

These cuttings ultimately became a serious database of hundreds of potential leads. Ramin transferred all her information into Salesforce.com, a program she positively raves about. "It's an automated sales database that keeps track of everything and gives you plenty of latitude to keep the notes you need. It's a major tool."

Collateral material was Ramin's next step. It took seven months to get their kit together, but Ramin's thrilled with it. "It's really unique," she says. The piece de resistance is a silk-screened CD-ROM featuring samples of TeamAudio's work. "It seems to be passed around a lot," according to Ramin. "A lot of times, our sales team will call a new lead and find that they've already got the CD." Of course, Ramin also frequently gives out the CD with her business card.

The backbone of TeamAudio's success is their strong follow up. Ramin's first step in their process is confirming that their targets really are serious about rich media. Once confirmed, out goes the kit. After the mailing, the sales team follows up with a friendly phone call.

Hardly a high-tech campaign, but a highly successful one, nonetheless. "Our response rate had been very high - close to 15%. Maybe even higher."

"We're a small company," admits Ramin. "We can't afford to launch a huge print campaign." They do rely a lot on good, old-fashioned PR, however. Ramin says, "We're as pushy as is practical, and it's paid off. We've had at least five big articles."

She was also industrious enough to create her own high profile speaking opportunity. After attending the @dtech NY conference for four consecutive years, Ramin complained to the organizer that its creative track offered little in the way of creative content. Taking matters into her own hands, Ramin worked with @dtech NY to create a panel of leaders in the creative field. The panel included reps from Deepend, RGA, and of course, Team Audio.

In preparation, Ramin created a customized full-audio PowerPoint presentation. Using her love for vintage television commercials, she demonstrated how key audio is to advertising. Needless to say, the presentation was well-received enough to garner requests for copies afterwards.Ramin also got some new business from it, "That was very successful for us."

Is TeamAudio looking for partners? Ramin says, "We're only looking for one kind of partner: Ad agencies serious about online properties - wireless, interactive television, kiosks, etc. We want them to consider us their one resource for sound." Fees are pretty reasonable, usually about 8% of the cost of the job. And that's 8% from the agency, not the client. (The percentage will vary of course, depending on the overall cost of the job.)

The company focuses on three major products, ranging from Team ID, for which TeamAudio builds a flash version of a logo with branded sound to Total Audio for "a complete sound environment."

Want a sample of TeamAudio's quality? Check out their site at http://www.teamaudio.com

To learn more about Salesforce.com click on the link below:
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