Platforms

Sales isn’t about working harder, it’s about working smarter (and letting the right tools do some of the heavy lifting). From tracking leads and nurturing prospects to researching decision-makers and actually closing the deal, today’s sellers have a powerful lineup of platforms at their fingertips. Whether it’s HubSpot keeping your pipeline organized, ZoomInfo serving up the intel you need, Microsoft Teams keeping conversations moving, or a few other game-changers in the mix, these tools are here to make selling smoother, faster, and way less chaotic. Scroll on to see how each platform can help you sell like a pro, and maybe even shave a few headaches off your day.
 
Let’s get started, your future pipeline is already thanking you!

Communication

Microsoft Teams: A centralized hub for real-time communication, collaboration, and file sharing within the company. It combines chat, video meetings, calls, and shared workspaces. 
How it’s used: 
  • Direct messaging and group chats for quick communication. 
  • Video meetings and screen sharing for team check-ins or client prep. 
  • Dedicated channels for departments, markets, or projects to organize communication and share updates. 
  • Integrated file sharing through SharePoint or OneDrive. 
How it impacts sales: 
  • Speeds up internal collaboration on proposals and client updates. 
  • KEY: Reduces email clutter and ensures faster communication with your team. 

Microsoft Outlook: The company’s primary email and calendar system for managing communications, meetings, and scheduling. 
How it’s used: 
  • Email communication with clients, prospects, and internal teams. 
  • Calendar management for calls, meetings, and reminders. 
  • Task lists, flags, and folders to organize follow-ups and correspondence. 
  • Integration with Teams seamless scheduling. 
How it impacts sales: 
  • Keeps client communication professional and organized. 
  • KEY: Syncs with your CRM (HubSpot) for automated tracking of outreach. 
  • Helps sellers manage time efficiently with reminders and shared calendars. 

The CMG Hub (SharePoint): Your source for everything CMG

SharePoint: A secure internal platform for storing, organizing, and sharing company documents, resources, and templates. 
How it’s used: 
  • Hosts company announcements, onboarding materials, and shared assets. 
  • Provides access to additional platforms by department (listed below) 

KEY PLATFORMS YOU CAN ACCESS VIA THE CMG HUB:  
  • KEY: The Digital Marketing Library: Central repository for sales collateral, training documents, product guides. (Click Here to Access)
  • Concur: accessed through the Finance department page, this is your platform to log and submit Travel & Expense reports (Click Here to Access)
  • Thrive: HR Platform to view or update your HR data, enroll in benefits, view your paycheck and more (Click Here to Access)
  • Edgucate: Online training platform for self-directed career trainings (Click Here to Access)  
  • CMG Tech Connect: issues with your tech, use the tech connect page to chat with IT or submit an ticket (Click Here to Access)

CRM

HubSpot: A Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system that manages all sales, marketing, and client interactions in one place. 
How it’s used: 
  • Tracks leads, opportunities, and active clients. 
  • Logs emails, calls, and meeting notes automatically. 
  • KEY: Manages your sales pipeline and forecasts revenue. 
  • Automates follow-ups through sequences and task reminders. 
  • Integrates with Outlook, ZoomInfo, and Current for full visibility into the sales cycle. 
  • KEY: Supports prospecting through the use of Sequences  
How it impacts sales: 
  • Keeps all prospect and client information organized and accessible. 
  • Provides transparency into where every deal stands. 
  • Saves time through automation, helping sellers focus on relationship-building. 
  • Supports better forecasting and accountability for the sales team. 
  • KEY: Pushes deals into CURRENT for proposal creation 
Click Here to Access Hubspot

Sales Enablement

Current: A proposal, analytics and campaign intelligence platform used to build, customize, and share sales presentations and proposals using live audience, impression, and market data. 
How it’s used: 
  • Creates data-driven proposals and presentations. 
  • Pulls in real-time digital campaign insights to show market opportunity. 
  • Customizes product recommendations based on audience behavior and targeting. 
  • Helps demonstrate value and ROI during the pitch process. 
How it impacts sales: 
  • Makes proposals more compelling, credible, and tailored to client needs. 
  • Differentiates your sales presentation with data-backed insights. 
  • KEY: Reduces prep time for client meetings and proposals. 
  • Bridges the gap between marketing data and sales storytelling.  
Click Here to Access Current

ZoomInfo: A data intelligence and prospecting platform that provides detailed company and contact information for potential clients. 
How it’s used: 
  • Identifies ideal prospects by industry, location, company size, or job title. 
  • Provides verified contact details (email, phone, etc.) for outreach. 
  • Shows firmographic and technographic data to qualify leads. 
  • Integrates with HubSpot for one-click lead import and activity tracking. 
Why it matters for sales: 
  • KEY: Helps sellers build targeted prospect lists efficiently. 
  • Improves outreach accuracy and response rates. 
  • Reduces time wasted on bad data or unqualified leads. 
  • Supports smarter conversations by arming reps with insights before the first call. 
Click Here to Access ZoomInfo

TopLine: a sales enablement tool designed for media and marketing sellers. It provides audience insights, industry research, and data-backed storytelling tools to help you create more compelling VBRs and increase your consultative prowess with prospects. 
How it’s used: 
  • Research client industries and market categories to prepare for discovery and prospecting calls. 
  • Access audience insights, category data, and business challenges to personalize pitches. 
  • Use TopLine’s “Instant Impact” and “Category” reports to show prospects relevant data that supports their business case for advertising. 
Why it matters for sales: 
  • Differentiates you with insights and data instead of generic pitches. 
  • Builds credibility and trust with advertisers by showing that you understand their business and customers. 
  • Helps turn prospecting conversations into consultative, needs-based sales discussions.  

Billing

WideOrbit: is the company’s traffic and billing system — the operational platform that manages inventory, scheduling, orders, and revenue tracking for broadcast and digital advertising. 
How it’s used: 
  • Enter, manage, and schedule advertising orders for radio, TV, and digital campaigns. 
  • Track available inventory, rates, and campaign delivery to ensure accuracy. 
  • Integrate with proposal systems and billing to streamline the sales-to-traffic workflow. 
  • Generate reports on revenue, pacing, and booked business. 
Why it matters for sales: 
  • Ensures accuracy between what’s sold and what runs on-air or online. 
  • Supports efficient operations by connecting sales, scheduling, and billing. 
  • Reduces errors that can delay campaigns or impact client satisfaction. 
  • Provides visibility into available inventory so sellers can price and position campaigns effectively. 

Creative

Pipeline: project management tool used by our creative department 
How you'll use it:

Request spec creative, campaign creative and updates to current creative 

Click Here to Access Pipeline

Sales Training Resource

The Center for Sales Strategy (CSS): is a professional sales training and performance development system used by many media organizations. It focuses on helping sellers and managers improve through talent-based hiring, consultative sales processes, and revenue-focused coaching. 
How it’s used: 
  • Provides structured training on the sales process, from prospecting to needs analysis and solution-based selling. 
  • Offers talent assessments and coaching tools to help managers understand each seller’s strengths. 
  • Delivers ongoing sales training content, workshops, and certifications focused on media and marketing sales. 
  • Reinforces best practices in relationship selling, time management, and client retention. 
Why it matters for sales: 
  • Strengthens selling skills through proven frameworks (like TALENT + TRAINING + STRATEGY). 
  • Improves conversion rates by focusing on high-quality prospects and client needs. 
  • Creates a consistent sales culture and process across the organization. 
  • Empowers managers to coach more effectively and sellers to build long-term client partnerships. 
Click Here to Access CSS