Hi. I’m Doug Lessells. On behalf of everyone at SalesFuel, we welcome you to this month’s featured Sell Smarter Award — where we honor excellence in media sales.

Journal Star Multi-​media sales executive Michelle Rutledge convinced her traditional HVAC and plumbing distributor to take the plunge on an all-​digital deal.

The 23 location, three-​state client’s only current advertising effort was simply sending out flyers by direct mail. They were content with this, until Rutledge heated up their interest in digital.

Rutledge had only been selling media for six months, but she knew to turn to AdMall to help her educate her client. Using the Digital Audit, she showed them their website didn't score well. The e‑commerce process was difficult, they had some negative reviews on social media, and new dealers and contractors couldn't find them since they didn't show up prominently on Google.

She helped them realize they had problems and they looked to Rutledge for solutions. She put together a very detailed paid search campaign, along with some re-​targeted ads amounting to a nearly $83,000 annual contract.

But Rutledge wasn’t done there. She then turned to AdMall’s co-​op database to uncover funds that pay for half of the promotional campaigns she recommended to them. The distributor is now running a minimum of one promotion per month, generating another $60,000 of revenue just on promotions. Rutledge noted, “It’s great being able to advertise using other people's money such as vendor co-op!”

Congratulations to Michelle and the other quarterly winners:

• Jen Robb from Bradenton Herald
• Baretta Taylor with Tennessee Valley Printing Company
• Beth Dock from Comcast Spotlight
• Danielle McNeely, Brittany Smith and Jordan Estes, all with the Statesville Record and Landmark
• Deby Okum from Daytona News Journal
• John Canfield with The Olympian

To find out how YOU can qualify for a Sell Smarter Award, visit SalesFuel​.com/​ssa.