The New New Business: How Small Voices Can Prompt Significant Changes with Tunahan Yildiz
As business development director at DAC Group, Tunahan Yildiz is primarily responsible for new customer acquisition in the DACH-region. With a strong background in data science and a career that most recently included positions as sales manager at StackAdapt and head of growth at Spyke Media GmbH, he brings a rare combination of technical know-how and sales expertise to his current role.
LBB> What was your first sale or new business win? (Was it a big or small job? How difficult or scary was it? What do you remember about how you felt? What lessons did you learn?)
Tunahan> The very first business win I had a small part in occurred when I was 16, working at my Father’s Wholesale Food Company. My involvement began with frequent inquiries about why a certain product was expensive. This persistent questioning eventually led my father to reevaluate our vendors, illustrating to me how even small voices can prompt significant changes.
While slightly scary, it was certainly challenging to bring my opinion across as a kid among adults. I remember feeling an immense sense of pride when a new vendor came to our company for a meeting. Being allowed to sit in and listen was a recognition of my contribution, albeit small.
The key lesson? Comfort can often be an obstacle to improvement. It’s necessary to question existing processes, no matter how settled they seem. This lesson sticks with me to this day.
LBB> What was the best piece of advice you got early on?
Tunahan> I’ve received so much great advice over the years, making it hard to choose the best one.
One that particularly resonates with me - “Stay on top of things”. This came from my supervisor in a past Performance Marketing Agency I was part of. The advice is very simple yet effective.
By staying on top of things, you learn to maintain full control over the situation, allowing you to act swiftly and decisively if the circumstances change. Prioritising tasks or the ability to be proactive rather than reactive are just two of the factors that spring from this.
LBB> And the worst?
Tunahan> I phase out advice that I do not consider to add any value so I cannot think of anything here. :)
LBB> How has the business of ‘selling’ in the creative industry changed since you started?
Tunahan> I remember being able to send out long walls-of-texts including lots of features, benefits, and hard call-to-actions. Trust was given, and rapport was built in the tenure of the relationship.
Today, the business of selling has taken a massive turn. You now have to consider many factors of the buyer journey before you can even start talking about features. The impact of digitalization has transformed the way we present our work, with storytelling playing a crucial role.
In addition, Personal Branding is becoming the norm in this new era. Your brand image and online presence are central elements that reflect your identity and values. People buy from people, after all.
LBB> Can anyone be taught to sell or do new business or do you think it suits a certain kind of personality?
Tunahan> I think anyone can be taught to sell but not everyone enjoys selling. My social battery lights up whenever I get the chance to spark conversations with new people. If this resonates with you, it means that you have a personality cut out for Sales. If, on the other hand, you are unable to speak to strangers, I think it will be very hard to get into the sales business, especially when negative responses start raining in. While I don’t think that you need a certain, special personality to work in Sales, you should be driven, ambitious, resilient and most importantly, adaptable.
LBB> What are your thoughts about the process of pitching that the industry largely runs on? (e.g. How can it be improved - or does it need done away with completely? Should businesses be paid to pitch? What are your thoughts about businesses completely refusing to engage in pitching? How can businesses perform well without ‘giving ideas away for free?)
Tunahan> It’s very hard to judge this part for me as you need to consider both sides of the coin.
On the one hand, pitches are a necessary part of the industry. They allow companies to efficiently evaluate multiple proposals and select the one that aligns best with their goals and values. This process ensures a level of competitiveness and innovation, as agencies strive to outperform each other in creativity and strategy. It's a way for companies to quickly gauge the compatibility and potential of a partnership before committing resources.
On the other hand, the pitching process can be limiting. An agency's true value goes beyond what can be encapsulated in a single pitch. There's a wealth of experience, unique creative approaches, and a depth of intelligence and service that often can't be fully showcased in a pitch. This can lead to a superficial assessment of an agency's capabilities and overlook the understanding they bring to their work.
Regarding whether businesses should be paid to pitch, there's a strong argument for this. Developing a pitch involves significant resources, and compensation can ensure that agencies are not unduly disadvantaged, especially smaller ones that may not have as many resources to spare. Then again, it causes even more cost for the business and might hurt the decision-making process additionally.
LBB> How do you go about tailoring your selling approach according to the kind of person or business you’re approaching?
Tunahan> It all begins with Research and Understanding. Prior to approaching a prospect, you have to ensure that you’ve informed yourself accordingly. This includes latest news, insights and trends that are relevant to the prospect.
Next, it’s about having an empathetic approach to the conversation. This involves active listening in order to understand their specific needs, concerns and aspirations.
What follows this is natural - it’s time for your customized solution and value proposition.
Do they handle the Brand? Do they handle the Performance Channels? You need to understand who you are selling to and what their main driver is.
Summed up - you need to understand who you are selling to and what the main driver behind this person is. Do they handle the Branding channels? Do they oversee the Performance Channels?
LBB> New business and sales can often mean hearing ‘no’ a lot and quite a bit of rejection - how do you keep motivated?
Tunahan> Taking it one step further, in most cases, you are not even hearing anything.
Getting back to the question though - you stay motivated by treating it as strictly business. The NO is for the process that you are trying to introduce, not you as an individual.
Instead, do this: Do not take it personal. Ask for feedback.
You need to understand why the rejection happened. Did it come from an overly-aggressive sell? Too much spam? Time or budget constraints?
Use the feedback to refine your approach, treating each rejection as a learning opportunity. With this mindset, you can focus on your growth while turning these challenges into stepping stones.
LBB> The advertising and marketing industry often blurs the line between personal and professional friendships and relationships… does this make selling easier or more difficult and delicate?
Tunahan> It’s hard to state whether it makes selling easier or more difficult - I actually think it's both as it depends from which perspective you are engaging the topic.
It gets easier when you’ve already proven yourself as a trustworthy and strategic advisor over the duration of the relationship. Selling into this relationship - if mutually beneficial - is significantly easier. On the other hand, selling to a person that might be very well connected to another agency but clearly sees the importance of your offering. Will they decide based on facts or emotions?
LBB> In your view, what's the key to closing a deal?
Tunahan> Consistency is the number one factor to closing a deal.
Consistency includes the ability to:
Add value to each exchange
Guide the conversation
Determine next steps
Maintain Engagement and Follow-Up
Build Trust and Credibility
LBB> How important is cultural understanding when it comes to selling internationally? (And if you have particular experience on this front, what advice do you have?)
Tunahan> Cultural understanding is the foundation of selling internationally. I’d go so far as to say that without the appropriate cultural understanding, your offering will be significantly weaker regardless of its output.
I’ve written before about my experience of selling into the APAC market, particularly Japan. Here is a snippet from my advice:
Patience is Virtue - Japanese businesses often operate on longer timelines, valuing thoroughness over haste.
Understand Respect and Hierarchy - The Japanese have a profound sense of respect, and recognizing this is vital. Every single gesture and word within the meeting holds deep significance.
The Significance of Gifts - The Japanese culture values the act of gifting immensely. They symbolize gratitude and respect.
LBB> How is technology and new platforms (from platforms like Salesforce and Hubspot to video calls to social media) changing sales and new business?
Tunahan> Everything is being tracked and every process is subject to optimisation. This is the basic foundation I see that CRM-platforms are building for Sales Organisations. In terms of data-driven decision making, this is amazing.
We are now looking at AI-personalization, hyper-contextual outreaches and automation. The age of selling is undergoing a revolution right now - a revolution that will be pioneered by sales people that are able to handle the newest tools to make the most out of their pipeline.
From Video to Voice Memo to Screen Recording to Phone to Mail to DMs - you can craft your approach as unique as you like.
LBB> There’s a lot of training for a lot of parts of the industry, but what’s your thoughts about the training and skills development when it comes to selling and new business?
Tunahan> My tip is to connect to fellow peers - not just from within your company but also from other businesses and industries.
There are many courses (such as Negotiation Mastery at HBS) that aid you in fine-tuning your processes. From my personal point of view, what helped the most is to connect with people on LinkedIn that are successful at what they do and do not mind sharing their ideas or frameworks.
LBB> What’s your advice for anyone who’s not necessarily come up as a salesperson who’s now expected to sell or win new business as part of their role?
Tunahan> Don’t be afraid to make mistakes and be confident. Confidence comes naturally when you've mastered your role. Speaking from experience, I started my career as a freelance app developer and worked as a data scientist before transitioning into Performance Marketing and then Sales.
You should own your rich background and understand the many positives it brings you. Therefore, if you can confidently say that you’ve fully grasped the product or offering you are selling while combining this with your prior experience, you’ll be set for success.
