Selling is a craft. It’s a performance. It’s also a bit of a mystery. Why is it that two salespeople who work for the same manager have different results? Both salespeople sell the same thing, to similar clients, at the same price. If one salesperson complains about an underhanded competitor, another salesperson has little trouble dispatching that same competitor. Let’s agree to call this “the variability of individual results.”

Physical retail maintains strong pull despite e-commerce growth, offering local media and agencies key targeting opportunities.

Despite e-commerce growth, 76% of consumers consider in-store shopping a holiday ritual, with three-quarters saying it's essential to feeling festive and connected. Physical stores drive higher-value purchases, as 70% of shoppers feel more comfortable buying premium items in-store versus 30% online, while 72% trust in-store quality more than online options. The research challenges Black Friday's effectiveness, with 84% of consumers preferring deals spread throughout November and December rather than concentrated one-day events. For local media sales reps and agencies, the data suggests opportunities in sustained promotional campaigns, experiential retail messaging, and targeting Gen Z shoppers who show the strongest affinity for in-store discovery.

The 2025 Marketing Brew Summit revealed that agility is now the defining skill in marketing, with 87% of marketers calling it essential as the industry rapidly evolves toward 2026. Marketers are shifting focus from AI upskilling to experimenting with new channels—especially social, influencer, and emerging platforms—while simultaneously prioritizing better attribution and outcome-based measurement. Despite this ambition, most teams remain under-resourced and structurally slow, forcing marketers to “do more with less” and improvise speed within rigid systems. For local media sales teams and agencies, the insights signal opportunity: agile local campaigns, modular testing packages, and measurable ROI can outperform national one-size-fits-all models. The future of local marketing success will depend on turning experimentation into strategy, measurement into proof, and community engagement into long-term brand value.

Creating realistic and engaging role-play scenarios is crucial for sales training as it helps participants develop and refine their skills in a controlled, practice-based environment. Below, I provide two detailed examples of role-play scenarios that can be used in sales training workshops, each aimed at enhancing different aspects of the sales process.

Richard and Maurice McDonald revolutionized the food industry in the 1940s by creating the “Speedee Service System,” a streamlined, assembly-line approach to fast food that emphasized speed, consistency, and affordability. Their innovative model caught the attention of Ray Kroc, a milkshake machine salesman who saw the potential to scale the concept nationwide. After partnering with the brothers and eventually buying them out, Kroc transformed McDonald’s into a global empire through aggressive franchising, operational standardization, and strategic real estate investments. While the McDonald brothers laid the foundation, it was Kroc’s vision and ambition that turned McDonald’s into one of the most recognizable brands in the world. Their story offers powerful lessons in innovation, branding, and the complexities of business partnerships.

Mary Wells Lawrence, the first woman to found and lead a major advertising agency, revolutionized Madison Avenue by blending theatrical flair with emotional storytelling. Her agency, Wells Rich Greene, created iconic campaigns like “I ♥ NY ” and “Plop, plop, fizz, fizz,” turning brands into cultural touchstones. She believed advertising should feel like cinema—bold, visual, and deeply human—and used style as both strategy and statement. Despite facing industry sexism, health challenges, and the eventual closure of her agency, she remained a mentor, a visionary, and a relentless advocate for reinvention. Her legacy lives on in every ad that dares to be bold and every woman who dares to lead with both brilliance and elegance.

Large language models are rapidly becoming standard tools in advertising—speeding up planning, reporting and workflow—but they’re still being kept away from the moment where real ad dollars are actually spent. Across agencies and ad-tech platforms, the industry is drawing a firm line between automation that helps humans move faster and automation that replaces humans at the point of financial accountability. The hesitation isn’t just cultural; it’s driven by flawed measurement signals, unreliable bidstream data, and the risk of scaling today’s attribution blind spots into machine-driven decisions. For now, the industry is modernizing infrastructure and using LLMs in orchestration layers, while keeping core bidding logic deterministic—because the real battle is less about AI capability and more about control of the money.

Too many sales reps are dull in their sales conversation. You can blame this on onboarding processes that gaslight reps into believing that their company and solution are the most important things. This establishes parity with competitors, meaning one salesperson is no better than another. Instead of being average and turning yourself into a commodity, aim to be a more dynamic, engaging salesperson.

The headlines often tout that many parts of the US economy have returned, or even exceed, pre-Recession levels – GDP, employment, wage growth, housing, the stock market, etc. The majority of the US population that lives in urban and suburban communities has been enjoying this renewed prosperity for a number of years.

U.S. retail sales rose 1.4% in March 2025, driven by auto purchases and supported by tax refunds, lower gas prices, and modest income growth. While the National Retail Federation forecasts core retail sales to grow up to 3.7% this year, consumer confidence remains shaky amid ongoing tariff uncertainty and global trade disruptions. For local media, this presents short-term ad revenue opportunities in sectors like auto, home improvement, and financial services. However, advertisers are expected to be cautious and demand more ROI-driven, flexible advertising solutions.

Independence is a fundamental belief of Americans and more of us are declaring our independence from the traditional workplace by becoming freelancers and contract workers and seeking additional income from side hustles. It’s another significant cultural disruption of the 21st century and with implications for businesses of all sizes, consumer habits and the retail environment.

AI is delivering speed for local media reps and agency teams—but it’s also quietly raising expectations, widening job scope, and bleeding work into breaks and after-hours. The risk isn’t just burnout; it’s weaker judgment, lower-quality output, and clients overwhelmed by too many “options” instead of clear recommendations. The winning edge in 2026 won’t be who prompts best—it’ll be who builds smart guardrails so AI accelerates the work without consuming the people doing it.

Booming Market: The U.S. eye care market is experiencing significant growth, driven by factors such as an aging population, increased awareness of eye health, and technological advancements. According to a report by Grand View Research, the market size is expected to reach $37.5 billion by 2032 (Source: Grand View Research). Essential Health Service: Eye care is a crucial component of overall health, with optometrists playing a pivotal role in diagnosing and treating various eye conditions.

Kick off the week strong with these must-run co-op campaigns your customers will be excited to promote!

• Bring Outdoor Spaces to Life With Miracle-Gro! — Help customers grow vibrant gardens and lush landscapes with trusted Miracle-Gro products.
• Subaru Spring Service Event! — Keep vehicles running smoothly with seasonal service specials designed for the road ahead.
• Serta Perfect Sleeper Closeout Sale! — Upgrade sleep with unbeatable savings on Serta’s popular Perfect Sleeper mattresses.
• Vermeer’s Biggest Cash Back Deals of the Season! — Power through tough jobs with major cash-back offers on reliable Vermeer equipment.
• Volkswagen Driver Days! — Celebrate the joy of driving with limited-time offers on Volkswagen vehicles.
• Whirlpool Spring Savings! — Refresh the home with great deals on dependable Whirlpool appliances.
• Can-Am Yellow Tag Event! — Get ready for adventure with bold savings on Can-Am off-road vehicles.