The folks at FMQB recently featured me in a “Programming To Win” column – and instead of writing about programming, I wrote about sales.
That’s because radio as an industry is in dire need of a better sales story. That’s been Bob Pittman’s message for much of 2011, and you heard it repeated in various forms by several different people at the recent Arbitron Client Conference/Jacobs Summit.
But a better sales effort starts with programmers. Because radio is not getting its fair share on the streets and in the halls of agencies, it is incumbent upon PDs to step up and market their assets – to advertisers, to their staffs, and to their corporate bosses.
How many great promotions, community events, and major milestones at great stations go unsold every year? Sellers have lost the ability to market their brands on their own merits, and instead have become totally dependent on the numbers. As a wise man once said, “Live by the meter, die by the meter.” Even the best stations get attacked or face unforeseen adversity.
But it’s not enough to help the sales reps. Programmers need to tell their story internally. As station staffs are pared and everyone is doing multiple jobs with shortening attention spans, your people are not going to simply intuit all the great content that is being created. They may be so busy that they don’t even have time to listen to the station. So help them out.
Station newsletters – on paper or electronically – are a start, informing staffers about what’s going on now and what’s in the pipeline. And this isn’t just about information. If there was a “morale-ometer” at most stations, it would very likely be at an all-time low right now. It’s up to local managers to set the tone no matter what’s going on at corporate.
And while you’re communicating your station’s accomplishments to the staff, don’t forget to “sell up.” If you think it’s difficult for your company’s out of town executives to know about what’s happening with your station, you’re right on the money. It is essential to keep them in the loop because chances are, their impressions of your station (and of you) were formed a long time ago or during their most recent market visit (which also may have been a long time ago). You can’t change perceptions if you simply hope that by osmosis, corporate will figure out what you’re doing.
Arbitron now tells us that the quality and depth of your brand may be one of the biggest determinants of your PPM (or diary) performance. Brand-building emanates from creating great content, growing personalities, developing a powerful message, and getting it out there – company memos, social media, your email database, and all the other avenues available to you.
Finally, there’s the matter of your personal brand. As one talented radio programmer, jock, and executive after another find themselves out of work during the next wave of cuts, the value of carving out and marketing your strong reputation has never been more important.
Back in the day, being a diamond in the rough, a hidden gem, or a company secret was a good thing. Today, hiding your successes isn’t just a questionable idea – it’s a bad idea. It is essential that the industry knows who you are and what you’re doing. Individuals are brands, too, and programmers who take control of their careers, sell their stories, network with others, contribute to the industry trades, and become valuable within their own companies are building an important career framework.
It’s about telling your story. Making your case. Proving your value.
Welcome to the Sales Department.
Jacobs Media has consistently walked the walk in the digital space, providing insights and guidance through its well-read national Techsurveys.
In 2008, jacapps was launched - a mobile apps company that has designed and built more than 1,300 apps for both the Apple and Android platforms. In 2013, the DASH Conference was created - a mashup of radio and automotive, designed to foster better understanding of the "connected car" and its impact.
Along with providing the creative and intellectual direction for the company, Fred consults many of Jacobs Media's commercial and public radio clients, in addition to media brands looking to thrive in the rapidly changing tech environment.
Fred was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 2018.
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“radio as an industry is in dire need of a better sales story” “Sellers have lost the ability to market their brands on their own merits”
No, no, no! Fred, I usually agree with and support you, but here I must disagree STRONGLY!!!
Radio does not need a better sales story, because major sales are not made via sales stories…ever. Sales are made two ways in 2012 – either through metrics – delivery vs. cost (which invokes the live and die by the numbers issue) or by uncovering and solving a problem.
Fred – You need to listen less to Bob Pittman and he needs to pay more attention to you. I remember the first time I met you. You didn’t tell me a sales story about Jacobs Media – you laid out specifics about my station, its problems and how you would go about solving them; challenge by challenge, issue by issue. That’s what radio needs to do.
Radio does need to change its sales strategy – from marketing THEIR brands to marketing THEIR CUSTOMER’S brands. No one gives a you-know-what about radio’s reach. Everyone is familiar with it and few if any care…never have, never will. If radio wants to improve its share of the ad dollar it needs to bring greater value – not by telling stories, but by harnessing its assets in specific, issue by issue ways to solve marketing challenges for its clients.
What this means for radio is no more tying comp or job security to pushing this or that digital asset with little or no media value. It means hiring, training and encouraging sales talent that can reach decision makers, uncover their real issues and present solutions that are focused on those issues. THEIRS, not YOURS. Solve your customer’s problems and watch yours vanish…
Want a metric you can trust? Short the stock of any radio company that says they need to tell a better sales story…
Bob, as always, I appreciate your comments and you occasionally playing the role of Jiminy Cricket. You are correct that radio skirts around listener problems – oftentimes because we’re not aware of what they are. That’s the essence of what some of radio’s competitors have gone after over the years, from satellite radio to Pandora. They may be flawed in their own ways, but the provide values that radio cannot or does not want to provide. Still, radio does a better job of creating store traffic, sales, and awareness, and fails to get its fair share.
The other point to this post that I believe is important is the necessity for programmers to think more like sales marketers. Back in the day, a good rating book sufficed. Today, programmers have to take control of these issues, selling their brands to clients, while managing up and down more effectively. Just running a good music log or doing aircheck sessions are old school job duties that have much less to do with success by today’s standards.
Bob, I value your opinion and hope that you continue reading the blog and contributing. All the beset,
FJ
Re: “Still, radio does a better job of creating store traffic, sales, and awareness, and fails to get its fair share.”
Fred, I believe this statement is at the heart of radio sales problems. Unless you supply quantifiable metrics to support the claim it’s subjective, and nothing more.
The radio industry still relies on quoting reach and traffic-driven data by using statistically extrapolated numbers (from any of multiple sources). What it’s faced with today is competition from digital sales that feed facts – supported by server logs, online sales queries, registrations, checkout data, etc.
With today’s technology it’s possible to design over-the-air commercial campaigns that track response (I’ve done it). With a station’s web site, one can give near exact numbers on response – and also help a client improve a campaign’s performance. Only, how many times do you come across a radio sales strategy that wants response tracked, or gets involved with improving response? These actions have become standard practice from quality online sales teams.
“Radio does a better job of creating store traffic, sales, awareness…” The new problem is that media buyers are now gaining an understanding of analytics and metrics enough to reply “prove it to me.”
Ken, good points all, and more evidence that radio needs to rethink its pitch. The “leap of faith” methodology no longer cuts it with agencies or retailers. However, for a different kind of statistical “evidence,” check out today’s post: bit.ly/xNc2PN
Thanks as always for your viewpoint, and for reading our blog.