Sean Riley, CEO of Lamar, stated at the recent Wells Fargo Technology, Media, and Telecom Conference: “You have to sell in the period for the period to make the period.” Lamar is widely regarded as America’s most successful OOH company and one of the best in the world. However, as Jim Collins warned in his book, “Good to Great”, “Good is the enemy of great.”

Even a powerhouse like Lamar could capture more sales faster by evolving to a longer, more strategic view of account development.

When reps focus on near-term deals, several predictable problems occur:

• Deals are pushed through late in the advertiser’s planning cycle.
• You can say everything right to the perfect prospect—and still lose—because the money moved weeks ago.
• Short-term deals are almost always driven by large rate cuts.
• Local sales teams burn precious time chasing urgent, low-yield buys.
• Inventory pressure never builds; therefore, rates don’t increase.
• Churn grows, productivity falls, sales morale slips.

A more successful proven path is key account development.

The undeniable value and benefits of long-term key-account focus are:

• Better advertiser results. Nielsen cross-media ROI research shows long-term strategies deliver 42%–76% higher ROI depending on category.
• Delivers higher company profitability and rep productivity.
• Increases inventory pressure—rates go up.
• Fewer last-minute discounts.
• Predictable pacing for reps and managers.
• Better inventory control company wide.
• Deeper influence, stronger relationships, and longer account life cycles.
• Makes it harder for competitors to “steal” your business.
• Competitors’ (“short-term chasers”) arrive too late—the budget’s already spoken spent.

Gerry Tabio—one of the most respected local media consultants, has decades of research showing that the winning objective is simple: Secure, Grow, and Protect Key accounts.

The Business Golden Rule (“He who has the gold makes the rules.”) requires when your company/manager needs short-term revenue, you deliver it. That’s a requirement of your job.

Simultaneously and doggedly carve out 25%–30% of your week for true key-account cultivation. It builds your future success.

Evolving from “sell in the period for the period” to a long-term strategic model isn’t flip-a-switch easy. It’s a process.

Once it takes hold, powerful changes happen:

• Reps’ income grows faster and more predictably.
• Company inventory fills earlier.
• Reps pacing stabilizes.
• Reps’ advertiser influence grows.
• Reps no longer have the time—or the need—to chase low-value short-term scraps.

This is how top OOH reps become truly indispensable and how OOH companies grow long-term and scale.
This is a part of how you sell more OOH faster in 2026.

If you’d like to go deeper on key-account strategy and build a 2026 sales plan that accelerates revenue instead of chasing it, reach out: KevinJGephart@gmail.com

Check out my website OOHSalesFaster.com for more fresh ideas for 2026.

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