What It Is: RevenueMax, a software program from AgentSmith designed to help TV stations better manage advertising inventory by providing quantitative analysis on sales data. “The key is moving from qualitative-by the gut-to quantitative-by the numbers-analysis to identify current and future demand and receive guidance on how to change prices as a result,” said David Lalich, president of AgentSmith in Baltimore.
How It Works: RevenueMax interfaces with any traffic system to automatically capture information on current ad inventory. The sales proposal component of RevenueMax then enables a salesperson to crunch the data (by advertiser, budget, daypart or other parameters) from the traffic system to build the best package for the advertiser and the station based on current and future inventory projections. “If demand is going to be low in 12 weeks, you can make decisions today about what to do or not do in the future,” Mr. Lalich said. “We give them analytical tools to look at information in a way they haven’t been able to do before,” he said.
Time Savings: RevenueMax can increase sales productivity by reducing by 80 percent the clerical time salespeople have devoted in the past to cobbling together sales reports from disparate sources, said Mr. Lalich. AgentSmith provides a specific return on investment for each customer based on estimated time saved and potential business generated during that time.
Customers: Sinclair Broadcast Group has committed to roll out the product in at least 34 stations and has introduced it to about 20 so far, including its Fox station WBFF-TV and WB affiliate WNUV-TV in Baltimore. By the end of June, RevenueMax had been installed in about 27 stations total.