It’s a “What if” Friday in Radio Sales
Good morning sales, it’s Friday
So here we are on Friday, January 15th in the world of radio sales. Does today look painfully similar to every other day within the last year. Your sales people stroll in for their obligatory morning sales meeting. Training may on be on tap for this morning or more likely it’s time to review the week; you listen closely as your sales people list their earlier-in-the-week targeted sales list, broken up into targeted cold calls, new business meetings and converted sales. Dam if the converted sales is never where it needs to be. You listen intently about all of the reasons why certain things didn’t happen the way the sales rep anticipated. You’ve heard it all before and before long the words blend together into a Charlie Brown non descript verbal wah, wah.
Does anyone at corporate know Albert Einstein?
What was it that Albert Einstein said, the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over expecting different results. Do you every get the feeling that this is what occurs daily in your sales staff. What is it that you need to make these Ground hog days, that repeat over and over again, breakthrough to the long await Springtime of sales. It’s Friday and I am sure your calculating how your sales revenue is tracking against the goal that you’ve been given from corporate. How you doing, half the month merry month of January is over? Do you believe in miracles,–me either? Your truth is that you have sales goals that no one believes are attainable and its driving you insane. There’s that word again.
Falling behind
If you’re lucky, you have resources to help support your efforts to reach, get close to your sales goals. But there’s no money. So you have to use your wiles and intellect to come up with better ways to do everything, but unfortunately you are doing twice as much today as you did this time last year; so no matter how good you are, no matter how smart you are, no matter how organized you are, you’re falling behind.
New ways to reach advertisers
Take a closer look at your sales team. You know there good. You just need more time and resources to support them. In our new digital world there seems to be so many more opportunities-ways to do things better and more effectively. There are, and the realities are, that most Fortune 500 companies use new methods to attract and cultivate new prospects and sales. These methods use a combination of the internet-online and traditional forms-offline tactics to reach prospects. Many of your prospective advertisers use the internet to research their advertising options before your reps have even identified them as a prospect advertiser. What happens if they decide radio is the right solution to promote their business? Do they find your station? Do they call your station? Maybe.
Reach prospective advertisers before they choose another station or media
We both know that sales is a numbers game? Imagine if you took all of the sales people that represent and sell every other advertising solution in your market and made them your station reps. Depending on the market size, the total number of reps for all advertising could range from 100 in the smallest markets to thousands in the largest markets. What is there was a way to increase the number of reps that sell your station’s advertising other than hiring 100 more reps. What if, when a business searches online for marketing direction, you knew who they were and could sway their decision to use radio over another form of advertising. What if the resources to pay for the “what if” were locked in the solution itself.
A Friday state-of-mind isn’t necessarily relegated to a Friday and says more about the individual than the day of the week.
From an account executive stand point Friday can be the most productive work day of the week using part of the day taking stock and planning next week’s agenda while establishing priorities. Considering what extras can be provided to clients and prospects thereby letting them know you care. Enthusiastically embracing station sponsorships and marketing programs and bringing them to clients who might benefit from these programs.
Sales manager’s can ask similar weekly questions. What realistic goals can be set for next week and then sharing these with the sales team. Taking time to address the sales challenges and how can they be overcome. Addressing how best to address client’s needs. Plan a weekly session designed to help AE’s gain new skills and insights. Consider what tools can be added to benefit AE’s and clients alike. Address regular internal and external sales training needs. Look at station booking over the next six months. If projections are lagging address this issue now beyond telling the AE’s to “make more calls.”
After many years as an AE and station manger I now have a unique insight as an agency principal with a major retail client. To often I experience the “Friday” state-of-mind: Sales people virtually never call to see what they can provide or how they can help. They never inquire how the campaign is going. Providing client specific research or news stories is off their radar. Sales people far too often fail to follow through on the simplest of tasks including providing rates and schedules in a timely manner. Once a schedule is over only a small percentage of sales people call to see if or when the client might be advertising again. And in the last four years, not one sales manger has called to say “thank you” for the business or inquire what additional service they might be able to provide for the client. And since my client purchases radio across the state it would be nice if once an AE would inform me about a format change in their market or the latest research.
What’s today’s reality? Is new business now king with client service and sales support an afterthought? Does station management see ongoing sales training as an expense as opposed to an investment? Do ad schedules take precedent over client based solutions? Is there a greater focus on providing what’s good for the station as opposed to how best to help the client? Does station management embrace new Internet and/or social marketing solutions as part of an integrated marketing solution?
Achieving greater sales might be more about attitude than about day-of-the week. If a sales manger thinks every Friday “looks painfully similar to every other day within the last year” then can AE’s be expected to think any differently?
Management owes it to their staff to demonstrate leadership. This alone will help change Friday attitudes to something more positive and dynamic.
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