The New New Business: Why Winning Is a Team Effort with Ellen Crane

Ellen works at Merman in the commercial division as head of sales.

Prior to joining Merman, she spent a year covering maternity leave at the NSPCC & Childline as celebrity partnerships manager. During this time, Ellen managed the charity’s roster of high-profile ambassadors and campaigners across events, campaigns, fundraisers, press coverage and social media drives. Talent included Pandora Sykes, Louise Pentland, Emma Willis, Geri Horner, Toby Jones, Russell Kane and Philippa Perry.

Prior to working for the NSPCC, Ellen spent six years working for OB Management, predominately as the head of independent directors, where she represented a roster of freelance directors for widespread opportunities across the advertising industry. Directors across the years included Emil Nava, Oscar Hudson, Alex Southam, Amy Becker-Burnett, Josh Cohen, Shaun James Grant and Coral Brown.

Outside of work, Ellen is a passionate writer. She spent two years freelancing as a Script Reader for BBC Film to hone her understanding of storytelling. She is currently writing her first feature in partnership with director Libby Burke Wilde and used to run a creative writing platform called Seed, a community project dedicated to celebrating the power of stories and photography.

LBB> Tell us about a significant sales win? (What do you remember about how it made you feel?) 

Ellen> Prior to joining Merman, I spent six brilliant years working as an agent at OB Management. A couple of years into agenting, I stumbled across a promising and talented filmmaker via Instagram called Josh Cohen who was multi-skilled as a director, DOP and editor. At the time, Josh was establishing a strong identity for himself in sports and lifestyle. Whilst harnessing those strengths, Josh and I also had extensive conversations about his ambition to tap into comedy, narrative and push the boundaries of his technical expertise. The redirection of his reel was challenging to begin with therefore, we were thrilled when he was awarded a big budget campaign (in our eyes) with BBH and Hogarth for Heinz Seriously Good Mayonnaise. From my experience, getting on the shortlist can often be the greatest hurdle for a director, so once we were in the running, we threw absolutely everything at the treatment, with Josh even going that extra mile to capture some test shots in the garden with his kids to showcase his technical vision for the project. I remember feeling ecstatic when he secured that job because I knew that it would be a significant catalyst for his desired career development, and that has certainly been the case as he’s gone on to direct bigger ads for the likes of Walkers, Samsung, Zup! etc. I’m very proud of him.

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

Ellen>

• Never trust a director who says that they’ll write their treatment on the plane.
  
• Eat something before every event. 
  
• Nothing good happens after 2am.
  

LBB> And the worst advice?

Ellen> ‘You’re only as good as your last piece of work’. I think this is a phrase that’s sometimes banded around to stir up fear amongst directors, but as an industry, I’d like to think that we aren’t this short sighted. Of course, it’s important to be selective about what kind of work you promote in order to honour and preserve your identity as a filmmaker, but regardless, we can all appreciate how the success of a job is made up of so many contributing factors, some of which are entirely out of the director’s control. It should never tarnish your overall talent as a filmmaker and if people think it does, they’re just not your people. 

LBB> How has the business of ‘selling’ in the creative industry changed since you started?

Ellen> For me, the most significant change, or should I say development, would be the forever expanding sources for opportunities. I feel like I’m constantly learning about new places to source scripts. Be it via emerging advertising agencies, or new direct-to-brand set-ups, or via magazines and other online publications. Content needs to be created for such a variety of outputs and demographics these days and therefore, the industry can sometimes feel pretty infinite and that can be a little overwhelming. But it’s also incredibly exciting for someone like myself who loves to connect with new people and seek out all kinds of creative opportunities. For this reason alone, working in sales can be very rewarding.

LBB> What are the aspects of your job that you love the most?

Ellen> The people, the creativity and the endless possibilities for collaboration.

LBB> You recently joined Merman, what has excited you about the company so far?

Ellen> It’s exciting to be working with such a forward thinking, collaborative and ambitious team that are making both uplifting and impactful work across commercials, film, TV, podcasts and beyond. The enthusiasm for creativity and the commitment to the roster is so infectious, I feel lucky to be a part of it.

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

Ellen> I think that ultimately, you can only ever sell something if you are genuinely passionate about the product. So, in order to work in new business, you have to sincerely believe in the directors you represent. Everything else can be taught (within reason), but the love that you have for your roster cannot be faked, and if it is, I don’t think it will go unnoticed.

And regarding personality types, when I first entered the industry I constantly worried that I wasn’t a good enough fit for a sales role because I wouldn’t describe myself as an extrovert. But as I’ve developed in my career, I’ve realised that being an introvert is one of my strengths when it comes to networking. I like to think that I’m an attentive listener, I’m best in 1-2-1 situations and I don’t necessarily think that being the loudest voice in a room is always the most memorable. So, I’d encourage anybody who is interested in new business to give it a shot and to focus on their own individual strengths as opposed to comparing themselves to others.

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 to be done away with completely?)

Ellen> I think that the pitch process is vital, not just for the agency and client when deducing who is right for the job, but also for the director and production company when scoping out their vision. Also, treatments are essentially creative contracts, so I don’t think that it would be constructive to get rid of them all together. However, at the same time, I do think that when three directors get to the pitch stage, it’s inherently important that they are all treated as equal, regardless as to whether one is deemed the ‘wildcard’. It can feel really disheartening for a director when they pour absolutely everything they’ve got into a treatment, only to discover that the client reviewed the reels and they missed out to a more experienced opponent. It would be great if we could set reels aside at the treatment stage and base the decision purely on creative vision and budget. In the past, I’ve experienced AMV to request for all names, logos, telling descriptions etc to be removed from the treatment in order to avoid informing their decision making. I appreciate that sometimes this isn’t so simple, as the director’s identity is woven into the fabric of their treatment, but in essence, I love this approach and feel that it could really aid emerging directors to progress within their careers.

LBB> How do you go about tailoring your selling approach according to the kind of person or business you’re approaching?

Ellen> Research, in a nutshell. Whenever I’m hosting a Show & Tell or meeting with an individual client, I’ll always research the brands that they partner with and the most recent work that’s been produced in order to tailor my approach. However, where appropriate, I think that it’s also important to share the latest and greatest work from your roster regardless. Our industry is forever shifting, and you never know exactly what kinds of opportunities are around the corner or who might move where, so it’s important to not limit or second guess your offering, and ensure that you’re always playing to your company’s strengths.

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

Ellen> This is very true and probably one of the greatest challenges of working in new business. It can feel demoralising at times to not make the shortlist, not win a job or not hear back from a prospective client but for every no, there’s always the possibility of a yes on the horizon. Again, I think this goes back to my earlier point about truly believing in your roster and therefore believing that the hustle will pay off.

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?

Ellen> I think that it makes our industry much more fun and appealing, but at the same time, it can be a delicate line to tread. It’s an odd thing to say (so I hope other people understand where I’m coming from), but sometimes new business meetings can feel like a strange, professional first date. You spend time trying to suss the other person out to see if you gel, all while finding the right moments within the conversation to talk about the roster, the production company as whole and explore what opportunities might be on the horizon. Sometimes I come away from meetings and worry that I haven’t spoken about the work enough! But actually, I think that’s testament to us as Brits. We’re curious people and love to form meaningful connections as the foundation to everything that we do, so as long as both parties acknowledge that we have something professional to offer, I think that these hybrid relationships can thrive.

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

Ellen> Oh that phrase sounds so transaction’y! I’d say that there isn’t one answer to that question. Winning a job is a team effort. So it’s a combination of things such as producing a killer treatment, an open dialogue about the budget, strong communication between the production company and client and a willingness for collaboration.

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? 

Ellen> I don’t think that you can package new business into a training course, instead, I think the most effective way to learn the ropes is via mentors. When I first started at OB Management at the age of 22, I was incredibly lucky to work alongside Otis Bell, Jez Murrell, Luke Tierney, Sam Davey and Kim Jarrett who significantly shaped my approach to new business. And it’s now fantastic to work alongside Siobhan Murphy and Spencer Dodd at Merman who have such honed experience in this field and have an infectious passion for the industry. I don’t think you ever really stop learning to be honest!

I do however think that more general communication skills such as active listening, using empathy above sympathy, the ability to ask open questions etc are incredibly valuable when working in such a people-centric industry. In 2016, I trained to become a Childline counsellor and volunteered with the charity up until last year. The training I undertook was so eye-opening and has inadvertently informed the way that I choose to communicate with people now, both in my personal and professional life. New business is all about building genuine relationships with people so I think that any training or skill that you can develop in this field (be it from a course, a book, a podcast, or by simply interacting with people who challenge and inspire your outlook) will inherently help you to form more meaningful connections.

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?

Ellen> Fully believe in what it is that you’re selling and invest in a CRM system (boring but true). Organisation is key.