How to Stop Double-Booking Billboards

Two sales reps walk into a Monday morning meeting. Both closed deals on Friday. Both sold Billboard #237 to different clients. Both promised the same start date.

One client is getting a very uncomfortable phone call.

The Double-Booking Disaster

Double-booking a billboard is one of the most damaging mistakes in OOH operations:

1. You lose a client - The one you have to cancel on will likely never work with you again
2. You damage your reputation - The client you keep will wonder if you're competent
3. You waste time - Hours spent on two sales cycles, one of which now has to be redone
4. You look disorganized - Word spreads fast in marketing circles

The root cause? No single source of truth for availability.

The AdGrid Solution: Real-Time Availability

AdGrid treats billboard availability as a live, queryable data layer with status flags, date ranges, and campaign period overlap detection.

Status Flags

• AVAILABLE: Ready to sell
• SOLD: Currently under contract
• MAINTENANCE: Temporarily unavailable
• PENDING_APPROVAL: Reserved while waiting for client confirmation
• DISCONTINUED: Permanently removed from inventory

The Financial Impact

Double-booking costs you real money:

• Lost client relationship: $50,000+ in lifetime value
• Wasted sales time: 10 hours per deal × 2 deals = 20 hours
• Make-good inventory: You have to give the canceled client free boards to compensate

A single double-booking can cost $10,000-$20,000 when you factor in lost revenue and make-goods.

AdGrid's availability tracking eliminates this risk entirely. Zero double-bookings. That's not marketing language; it's system design. The database won't allow it.

Conclusion

Billboard availability isn't a spreadsheet problem. It's a data integrity problem. AdGrid provides real-time status updates, date range validation, conflict detection, and multi-user coordination.

No more awkward phone calls on Monday morning.