Billboard Insider Columnist Offers Tips on Compensating Reps for Selling Digital Billboards

Kevin Gephart shares insights on how OOH companies can adjust sales rep compensation to drive digital billboard sales.

Published on Mar. 4, 2026

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In a column for Billboard Insider, sales expert Kevin Gephart provides advice on how out-of-home (OOH) advertising companies should compensate their sales representatives for selling digital billboard advertising. Gephart emphasizes the importance of aligning sales compensation with a company's priorities around digital OOH (DOOH) growth, and offers strategies such as setting DOOH sales quotas, differentiating compensation between inbound and outbound sales efforts, and providing specialized DOOH sales training.

Why it matters

As the OOH advertising industry continues to rapidly shift towards digital, companies must ensure their sales compensation models incentivize reps to prioritize DOOH sales. Gephart's recommendations can help OOH businesses maximize their DOOH revenue potential by motivating their sales teams to effectively promote and sell digital billboard inventory.

The details

Gephart advises OOH companies to regularly review and update their sales compensation plans, at least every two years, to ensure they are aligned with current business priorities. He recommends collaborating with the sales team to design a DOOH-focused compensation structure, which could include setting a minimum DOOH sales quota for each rep. Gephart also suggests differentiating compensation between inbound sales (responding to RFPs/inquiries) and outbound/business development efforts, as the former is less costly to acquire. Additionally, he recommends designating an administrative "inbound DOOH sales" role separate from the outbound sales team, in order to preserve the company's top sales talent for generating new DOOH business.

  • In just a couple of years, digital is projected to account for nearly 50% of all OOH sales.

The players

Kevin Gephart

An out-of-home (OOH) sales expert who provides the sales advice featured in this column.

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What they’re saying

“Compensation is an important tool in driving DOOH sales. Some companies pay upwards of 20% for DOOH sales where reps are expected to cultivate demand for your digitals as opposed to answering inbound leads and RFPs.”

— Kevin Gephart, OOH Sales Expert (billboardinsider.com)

What’s next

Gephart offers a live/Zoom DOOH sales training module that could help OOH companies' sales teams gain insights on effectively selling digital billboard advertising.

The takeaway

As the OOH industry rapidly shifts towards digital, companies must ensure their sales compensation models incentivize reps to prioritize DOOH sales. Gephart's recommendations provide a roadmap for OOH businesses to design effective DOOH-focused sales compensation plans that maximize revenue potential.