The Sales Traits That Will Never Go Out of Fashion with Tom Barbour

Tom Barbour is a proven commercial leader with 13 years of experience driving revenue growth for prominent ad-tech businesses. Most recently leading the successful launch of Vistar Media's programmatic digital out-of-home offering to top tier media agencies in London.

Prior to Vistar Media, Tom worked for a raft of digital media companies including Opera Mediaworks, Blis and GumGum. At GumGum he was managing a team of five and looking after the revenue of major agency holding companies including Dentsu, Publicis and Omnicom. Growing this agency patch from circa £1m in 2019 to £15m+ in 2024.

Tom’s career trajectory reflects deep expertise in programmatic advertising, international sales management, and business development across the evolving digital media landscape.

Tom recently sat down with LBB to encourage those getting into new business and sales not to take rejection to heart and why ‘Always Be Closing’ might not be the best approach…

LBB> What was your first sale or new business win?

Tom> My first big new business win was a multi-market Nike campaign via Mindshare in 2014 when I was a sales executive at mobile advertising specialists, Opera Mediaworks. I was (and still am) a Nike fanboy and so I was ecstatic to get them as a client. After that initial hit, I knew I wanted more and haven’t looked back since.

The win was secured by knowing the brand, getting to know the clients well and building proactive ideas for them – lessons I’ve taken into my whole career.

LBB> What was the best piece of advice you got early on?

Tom> Don’t take things too personally. Getting rejections can be brutal but once you learn it’s (probably) not your fault that people aren’t responding to you, or that they didn't go ahead with that campaign, it frees you to push on and not hold back.

Always try to add value. Share relevant case studies and articles, build proactive strategies, ideas or mock ups, and don’t always ask for something in return. People will remember the value you offered and come back to you when the time is right.

LBB> And the worst?

Tom> ABC: Always Be Closing. It’s a bit aggressive, isn’t it, and doesn’t work in the relationship based industry of media. Sometimes it takes months, even years, to nurture a relationship and get the timing right for a campaign.

Every sales person has learnt this way, seeing a prospect switch off or cringe after you jumped in too fast with a ‘so, what budget have you got for me?’

LBB> Can anyone be taught to sell or do new business or do you think it suits a certain kind of personality?

Tom> I think it certainly helps to be extroverted, as it means you’re less likely to hold back and people may warm to you quicker. I wouldn’t say it’s essential, though. I am now, shockingly, in my mid 30s and I’ve become less extroverted but actually better at my job over time, because I’m a more intent listener.

In sales, the traits I’ve always found most valuable and that go beyond introversion or extroversion, are trustworthiness, confidence, reliability, humour, and, of course, a top-tier understanding of whatever it is you’re selling.

LBB> New business and sales can often mean hearing ‘no’ a lot and quite a bit of rejection – how do you keep motivated?

Tom> I keep things moving by always planting new seeds. If one opportunity falls through, there’s always something fresh starting to grow. I always have relationships and opportunities at various stages of this growth cycle, which keeps things interesting, keeps pipelines full and keeps me hungry for the next win.

A good example is our recent efforts with Publicis. By the end of 2024, we’d secured our first major UK win by becoming Haleon’s global preferred DOOH platform. As that partnership grew, I nurtured relationships with brands like L’Oréal and Perrigo. Soon, while Haleon’s first campaigns were wrapping and results rolling in, we were launching our first campaigns for these other advertisers… and the cycle continued.

To answer this question from a career perspective, rather than day-to-day; whenever I have moved companies, I’ve always chosen the role that offers an opportunity for huge growth, joining emerging sectors poised to take off within the adtech industry. That always comes with a little bit of a risk, but the excitement of building something from the ground up has been a huge driver for me.

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?

Tom> This can be a difficult line to tread. As previously mentioned, this is very much a relationship based business – people buy from people. But, inevitably, spending lots of time with people in and outside of work can blur the professional and social lines.

Closer personal relationships offer more trust which can lead to better access to briefs, information and a higher win rate. However, it can potentially lead to awkward situations when expectations on either side don’t match.

LBB> In your view, what's the key to closing a deal?

Tom> Well, firstly, make sure your proposal is excellent! Understand the brief and your client’s needs, ask the right questions, know your products inside and out, and know what you are up against.

Secondly, nail your objection handling. This will be unique for each business and product but having this on lockdown will put you in good stead.

Finally, make sure you are front of mind when the decision is made. Ultimately, your relationships will be key for remaining in consideration for an opportunity that likely started months before the closing stage, at your first meeting, or even based on your personal brand via word of mouth or LinkedIn. My best relationship advice would be to win over every possible stakeholder on the client side and focus particular attention to the people you see as most likely to object.

I can attribute almost all of my big client wins throughout the years to following this tried and tested methodology.

LBB> How is technology and new platforms (from platforms like Salesforce and Hubspot to video calls to social media) changing sales and new business?

Tom> A robust CRM system is vital for staying on top of leads, proposals etc. The data helps you make informed decisions as to where to most effectively spend your time and ensure you don’t forget anything. When managing a sales team the data becomes invaluable, as you can’t be across everything the team is doing. We’re in adtech, so we’re always telling clients to make data-driven decisions. We should do the same.

I’ve worked with few CRM systems and always seem to miss Salesforce when forced to use another (thankfully, we use it at Vistar!). While it’s a beast, given the sheer amount of capabilities it has on offer, once you work out the parts that are relevant for your role it works seamlessly, keeps everything organised and offers powerful dashboards for directing sales efforts for that day / week / month / quarter.