LAGGARD BEWARE: “NEW MEDIA” ISN’T NEW ANYMORE

WHY AN INTERNET PRESENCE IS CRITICAL FOR EVERY STATION

There is an oft-told tale—probably apocryphal—of England’s tenth-century King Canute, who set his throne on the shore and commanded the waves to cease. They didn’t. The story is usually related to show what a boob Canute was for trying to alter the inevitable. But historians believe that Canute knew exactly what he was doing: showing that no leader, however powerful, was immune to progress. Enter the so-called new media, which isn’t very new any more, and the radio station managers who think they can do without it.

We don’t have to look back more than a few decades to find a couple of major radio groups that surrendered their FM licenses to the FCC because they saw no value in them. Some stations that did keep their FM transmitters lit up continued to broadcast in mono, though listeners and the record industry demanded two channels. Now, in an age when iPods and streaming media receivers of every kind dominate the media landscape, some radio station owners continue a Canute-like approach to Internet streaming.

That attitude will lead to intentional drowning sooner rather than later. Here’s why:

• Streaming on the Internet is how listeners will come to you more and more over the next few years.

• More than that: In the next 15 years, many stations think they’ll actually have more listeners tuning in from cyberspace than over the air.

• A recent study by radio equipment manufacturer Wheatstone reveals that over 61% of standalone stations believe they will have more listeners via “new media” by 2025 than those who tune in traditional radio receivers. Almost 55% of group-owned stations feel the same.

So, what’s the kicker? Those new listeners, stations believe, will not turn to PCs, Macs and laptops for their streaming audio.

For many stations, the streaming future appears to be through cell phone apps. Almost 20% of stations responding to the Wheatstone survey felt that was the media their listeners will primarily turn to within the next 15 years.  Others still cling to the hope that HD radio will be the future transmission standard in the US. In addition, mobile phone manufacturers are embracing radio streaming in their devices and within a very short time, it will be hard to find a cell phone that isn’t radio-friendly.

What, then, is a station that doesn’t even stream on the Internet to do? Start right now.

The technology that permits you to stream your signal is now robust and costs are reasonable. Performance rights fees will finally be settled—someday—although covering commercials voiced by AFTRA talent has been a concern. Still, for many non-streamers, these are minor matters. Local-market stations have no concerns about union talent. That leaves performance rights fees for music stations as a cost factor. That’s why we sell advertising: to cover costs of doing business.

I’m astonished at how many radio station managers still consider selling ads on their Internet streams to be difficult and not worth the effort. Also those who virtually give the time away as part of packages sold for their over-the-air properties.

Get this: In the brave new world new media—much of which is over two decades old, incidentally—you no longer have a signal. You have a product. A brand. And thanks to streaming technology, you also have more ways than ever to monetize your efforts!

Consider:

• Traditional commercials air on your RF signal
• You can choose to also air them on your stream OR sell different spots entirely, thus doubling your inventory
• Now you have visual ads to sell, too. Not just banners and boxes but video, just like TV. You are now the local Howard Stern—King of All Media!
• It’s easy now to air two OR MORE completely different program “streams”—one over the air and others on the Internet—with entirely unrelated material AND advertising (for example, CHR on the air, high school play-by-play on the Internet). Lots of stations do this already; automation makes it easy.

The only real drawback to maximizing profit potential on your brand is your vision.

Fifteen years isn’t much time when a hard-charging technology like Internet streaming and the devices that can receive it are concerned. Do whatever you can to get your programming on the Net. Then look at it the way station owners viewed their AM-FM combos in the 1970s: combine programming when it makes sense, split it when that’s more profitable.

WEDNESDAY: Ways To Split Your Internet Programming to Create Multiple New Advertising Streams

MONDAY SALES BLAST: EFFECTIVE RIDE-ALONGS

TURNING A MORNING WITH A SALESPERSON INTO A

MUTUALLY PROFITABLE EVENT

You do go out on calls with your salespeople from time to time—don’t you? I ask because in a time of dwindling staffs and overworked managers, time to accompany salespeople one-on-one seems to be a fading commodity. Whether you have a sales staff of twenty or two you’ll never get a true feel for how your station is being represented unless you hit the streets with individual salespeople. That’s the first trick to ride-alongs: simply doing them. The second is to make them worthwhile, which is where many managers miss some golden opportunities.

Contrary to widely-held belief, the purpose of a radio station manager's ride-along is not to check up on the salesperson. The numbers will tell you whether a person is really making the calls he claims to be making or seeing the decision-makers she should be seeing.

The real value lies in educating the manager about every client who's on the station.

It’s important not to make that ride-along call too early in the sales relationship, too. Certainly not on the first Client Needs Analysis visit. Probably not on the follow-up call when a proposal is first presented. Somewhere in the vicinity of call number three or four, when the relationship is maturing but still fresh enough to identify opportunities or issues, is perfect.

In this Monday Sales Blast, I’ll reveal three reasons why you should block out a few hours every few months to make calls with each person on your sales staff—and one temptation to avoid at all costs.

1.  Meet new customers/put a face to a name

You score major points with new clients when you accompany your salesperson on an early visit. Bringing “the boss” along just to say hello and show an interest in the business says two critical things to a new customer”:

• Your business is important enough to the station that the manager is taking the time to meet you in person
• Here’s the person who runs the station—you can take any problems straight to the top if you have to

There’s plenty of value to you as the radio station manager in getting to know your customers personally. When account lists are reduced to printouts of who-spent-what and how long it took them to pay, you take yourself out of the sales loop in a meaningful way. Look at your lists: Would you know some of these people if you ran into (or over) them today? Would you know any of them? What their place of business looks like?  What vehicle they drive?

If not, you need to get out of the station.

2.  Catch things your salesperson might not notice

You probably have been in the business a lot longer than most of your salespeople. Which means that your eye may observe opportunities or potential issues that your salesperson will miss. Things on the upside such as expansion of the customer’s physical plant or display space, which signals new products and more need to advertise.

Potential issues you might uncover include age and condition of inventory and fixtures that may speak to cash flow problems. And what about the training and attitudes of the customer’s employees: could they create customer service issues that even the best advertising campaigns can’t resolve?

3.  Provide an extra push in closing a sale—when appropriate

If your salesperson is having a problem getting a new client to “yes” or is unsure about how to handle a problem, your presence can make all the difference. Simply by showing up, you add an air of authority to the proceedings: you‘re the boss, you know the most and you can solve issues, perhaps even on the spot.

You also cared enough to make the effort. How many other stations can say that?

One thing you should NEVER do on a ride-along

Another way you can pitch in is to present a specific part of an advertising idea or proposal.

Warning, however: You are NOT there to take over the sales call!

If you’re going to be part of a presentation, you and your salesperson should work out in advance exactly when you’ll enter the discussion, what you’ll contribute—make it brief yet significant—and when you’ll step aside.

The salesperson needs to handle the presentation, not be stepped all over by you. You’re extra ammunition. Aim, fire, then step back.

A valuable manager ride-along boils down to three things:

1. Taking the time and making a number of calls
2. Orchestrating the involvement you’ll have in each call
3. Doing your part—then stepping back and listening

Lift your eyes from those sales call sheets and account aging lists and go out with your salespeople.

Oh, and if you carry a list yourself and think you’re so damn good—have them ride along with you sometimes, too!

AFRAID TO ASK FOR CREDIT REFERENCES?

TO AVOID COLLECTION HASSLES, INSIST ON CREDIT REFERENCES

Almost unique among small businesses, some local-market radio stations are still hesitant about asking new accounts for credit references. I understand the reasoning: business is harder than ever to come by and stations would rather take a chance than annoy new customers about their credit. That approach may have worked for decades. Now, it’s asking for collection problems. That’s because, in the present economy, the old “If they won’t pay you in 60 days they won’t in 90” has been supplanted by a new universal truth: 

Net 30 Has Become Net Whenever.

I was discussing this with a station owner recently. He said, “It’s fine for some stations to do credit checks but that would be suicide in this market”. (That’s what everyone says about every market, by the way, but let us continue.) “The local business people pretty much know each other. We know who’s a deadbeat and who isn’t.”

Really? Do you

• Read your customers’ balance sheets and have access to their bank accounts?
• Know all their professional and personal financial details?
• Have an accurate update on their personal credit scores?

Of course not. But while personal ethics may say that none of that is any of your business, if you’re going to sell them radio advertising, it definitely is.

We’ve all spent years patiently explaining to the unknowing that no, we aren’t selling “air”. We may be ON the air but what we’re selling is advertising—the wisest business investment ever and the only thing that will absolutely bring customers to them, if it’s done right. Selling “air” is worthless unless one is in the oxygen tank business.

But if you don’t value your product enough to insist on the proper business relationship of “product ordered” and “product paid for”, you’re automatically devaluing the time on your station(s) to nothing but the price of air. Which is free.

Look at it another way: If you walk into an appliance dealer and ask him to let you have a washing machine based on your word that you’ll pay his bill in thirty days, do you think he’ll go for it? Of course not. No matter how well he knows you that washer won’t clean a fiber of your clothing until you’ve crossed his palm with cash, a check, a credit card or a credit application—which will be checked and approved before the machine is delivered.

This is how business is done in even the smallest towns. The dealer knows that. You know that. No one questions it for a moment.

Yet when stations sell advertising based only on a contract (or, even worse, a verbal order) they’re saying “My inventory isn’t worth as much as yours so I don’t have to worry about being paid for it.”

Today more than ever, successful radio stations operate as solid business organizations, even if they’re operated by only one person. There are several ways to get paid for your advertising, all of them standard business practices. In order of preference:

1. Cash or check up front—with a discount, if you like
2. Credit card—the business’s or the owner’s, whatever
3. A completed and approved credit application
4. A signed statement right on the advertising contract that the client personally guarantees payment

If you use a credit app in a smaller market, you need basic info from three creditors: Business name, accounts receivable person’s name and phone number. Then, before one second of a commercial appears on your air, someone needs to call each of those references and politely ask: “We’ve been given your name by _________ as a credit reference. Can you tell me about your experiences with them? ”

Businesses share this information all the time. It’s routine. Most of the time the answer will be positive. Once in awhile, though, a red flag will be raised. When that happens, you have to go back to the customer and say, “We’re going to need payment up front for now, just to get you started. That’s our policy.”

And it is your policy, if you want to get paid in the current fragile economic environment. The cold fact is that any business owner who bristles at the concept of applying for credit or paying up front is absolutely going to be a problem down the road—and it will probably be a pretty short road.

MONDAY SALES BLAST: THE ONLY WAY TO FIRST-CALL CLOSE

A CLIENT NEEDS ANALYSIS CAN ALSO RESULT IN AN IMMEDIATE SALE—IF IT’S DONE RIGHT

What’s the first thing we always tell rookie salespeople when they’ve dug up a brand new client? Don’t try to sell anything on the first call! Do a Client Needs Analysis (CNA). Then return for a second call at which you’ll present a thoughtful, well-prepared and attractive advertising proposal. And that’s exactly what they should be doing. But what if—in the course of that CNA—your salesperson could actually set up a close for that very call? There’s one way to do it

Remembering A Cardinal Rule of Interviewing

Before I reveal how to bring home business after only one sales call, let me first establish an important ground rule: Your salespeople must never create a situation in which the client can say “no”.

I can’t think of anything less productive than going through the trouble of finding, approaching, meeting and conducting a CNA with a new client—then hearing “no” before that first face-to-face encounter is over. At all times, your sales team should keep in mind something that radio interviewers have known for decades: Never ask a question that can be answered YES or NO.

How do we avoid this unpleasant response? We construct a simple yet effective fill-in-the-blanks question instead.

The One Question That Can Produce A Sale The First Time Out

The first-call trial close I suggest belongs only one place: at the very end of the CNA. Ask every other question, clarify every fact, first. Then, as the last thing in the face-to-face fact-finding, ask The Question. Nowhere else!

Here’s The Question:

“If you were to go on the radio right now—today—what would you want to say?”

Throw it out there and shut up. There’s no way to answer “no” to The Question. So just sit there attentively and make the client answer.

If what comes back is “I don’t know”, your salesperson should run back through some of the key information gleaned in the just-completed CNA. This clarification can prove invaluable for the next call.

ON THE OTHER HAND: If the client responds with something specific like, “Our service department is the biggest in the area and they’re all factory-certified” – Bingo! Your salesperson just set up the client to set up his own sale.

Respond by repeating and emphasizing the words the client just spoke:

• So they’re all factory-certified?

• And nobody has the size service department that you do.

• That’s pretty important, isn’t it?

• You know, I was going to get back to you in a few days with some ideas but what you’ve just told me—why don’t I get something written and email it to you this afternoon? On the air tomorrow.

The client’s next response will probably be “How much?”. To keep the momentum rolling, your salesperson can respond with: “I’ll write up two or three different plans and we can talk about them. Right now, let’s just get going on the message you want people to hear.”

At the very least, your salesperson has a motivated client and a quick turnaround.

And if the client is so excited that he wants to do a deal right then, whip out the appropriate form and sign him up! But don’t just take the order and run. That’s the kiss of death and the cause of an enormous amount of client and salesperson turnover. Make it clear that this order will just get him started with a well-planned schedule of radio advertising.

Even though that new client gets on the air right away your salesperson should augment that first-call close with the same well-crafted, CNA-based follow-up that would have happened even if he or she hadn’t been so clever on day one.

TUESDAY: DON'T BE SHY ABOUT ASKING FOR CREDIT APPS OR PAYMENT IN ADVANCE.

BUYING A STATION: “McLEOD’S RULE OF THREE”

THREE MUST-HAVE INGREDIENTS FOR A SUCCESSFUL STATION PURCHASE

There is nothing simple (or cheap) about buying  a radio station, regardless of its location or financial health. In today’s market plenty of stations are for sale at prices that look inviting. But there’s a trap here for the over-enthusiastic. It will spring if the three most important factors in buying a station are overlooked.

It’s easy for first-time buyers to fall into that trap, too. That’s because, despite the down economy and proliferation of new media, the prospect of owning a radio station still carries a certain glamour, a bit of sizzle. And why not? When you turn on the station, wonderful sounds gush forth. It’s cool. Which is why when potential partners—especially non-broadcasters—consider joining a station buying group, one of the first questions they ask is: “What is your format going to be?”

My answer: “I don’t know and I don’t care”.

Establishing a station’s brand with its format is certainly important. But in the early stages of the hunt, it really doesn’t matter very much because format is one of those ingredients that you can always change if it doesn’t work.

There are three elements in the success of any station that are true make-or-break items. Two of them can be changed but not without large investments in time, money and blood pressure. The first, though, needs to be in place up front.

I call them “McLeod’s Rule of Three”.

The One-Two-Three Punch That Makes Or Breaks A Radio Station

Here are the three most important factors to consider when looking for a radio station. If these aren’t covered you’ll be looking up at the world from the bottom of a very deep well:

• MONEY
• MARKET
• FACILITY

Let’s take a look.

1.  Money

Fact: You’re going to need more money than you think you will. Maybe a lot more. It’s the nature of business acquisitions that expenses will pop up everywhere that were not apparent at first glance. This will be the briefest Rule of Three because it’s pretty black-and-white. Either you have a well-thought-out business plan or you don’t. Either you have more money than you think you’ll need or you don’t.

That said, there’s always the question: How much is enough?

Unless the station(s) you want to buy are pumping out solid cash flow month after month and their market looks like it can sustain and grow that level of business, the expenses of buying the station are just part of what’s needed. There are also operating and capital expenses. Simply put, operating expenses keep the lights turned on and people in the building. The capital budget is for equipment, construction and other things that will sustain and improve your business.

Twice the money you think you’ll need is not extravagant. Even more is prudent.

2.  Market

This means the size, location and economic health of the station’s primary service area. But it’s more than that. Put bluntly, there might be a reason you can afford to even look at that station right now, which is probably that it isn’t performing well financially. Does that mean it’s under-performing? Or is that the best it can do?

Knowing the difference can make you very happy or very broke.

If the station is under-performing financially, does its market-of-license have the potential for a turnaround? You’ll never perform more important due diligence than this. In an economic slowdown it’s more important than ever to ask hard questions and take long looks at any market you’re interested in entering.

You have to dig for the info you need. The local Chamber of Commerce is not your friend here. For it, the area is a corker of a business opportunity with a wonderful outlook—and did we mention the schools? Grab some brochures if you like but look elsewhere for hard, actionable economic information.

Many states have economic development departments or something similar. They’re good sources of hard information concerning an area’s population trends, spending habits and capabilities and employment. The U.S. Census Bureau is a fount of valuable demographic statistics.

Get your hands on as much information as you can. Dig deep. It’s vital to get a firm grip on how a market is trending. Yes, times may be a bit lean right now in the local business community but how should they be in three years? In five? In a decade? That info is at the heart of your business plan. (You do have a formal business plan, right?)

Another key element in deciding on a market’s viability is good old boots-on-the-ground personal observation. I know investors who only want numbers and don’t want to be distracted by how the place looks, how well the business district and residential neighborhoods are kept up, whether there are hiking trails or lakes. Not me. I want to meet the place in person.

A few days on stakeout duty will tell you a lot about your potential market. If the business district is attractive, it means a strong shopping environment. Remember, you’re going to live or die on that retail community. Chatting with business owners will tell you a lot, too. If they’re talking about the future in positive terms, that means a lot. Ditto if it’s nothing but gloom, despair and agony.

If the market doesn’t look like it will produce the level of business you need, there is always the possibility of upgrading or moving to a nearby market that’s healthier. It takes time, money, engineering and the FCC but it can sometimes be done.

Which brings us to:

3.  Facility

How well does your proposed radio property cover the market? If your stick is close or your wattage robust, you’re good.

If, like lots of FM licenses that have been granted over the last thirty years, your City of License is either a podunk hamlet or nothing more than GPS coordinates, your challenge is greater. Here is where a consulting engineer is worth his weight in gold. Same for actual in-person monitoring. Don’t trust coverage maps. Many operators have found that just because their signal contours appeared on a coverage map didn’t mean they actually had meaningful market penetration.

Simple rule: Go there and listen. If your FM signal is “fringe” or your AM swims in static, you’re going to struggle against all the nice clean signals in your market.

BUT THE BROKER SAYS THE STATION HAS BEEN UPGRADED!

Great—probably. A number of stations on the market now are listed as having recent upgrades to transmission facilities, studios or both. That’s a common way to improve a property’s value at sale time. Upgrades could save you time and money. OR create headaches if they aren’t done right. There’s a reason a station under-performs. It could be the economy. It could also be the current ownership!

Apply “McLeod’s Rule of Three” to any station acquisition you’re considering. There are good deals out there right now. In fact, this is one of the best times in history to buy a radio station IF you know the right questions to ask going in.

It’s like when a savvy investor asks a broker, “Okay, this stock is cheap. But is it a bargain? Does it have value?” You can always play with the format later on.

MONDAY on The Monday Sales Blast: How your salespeople could close a sale even though they’re doing a Client Needs Analysis!

ALL-CHRISTMAS FORMAT’S SURPRISE DEMO

BING AND HIS BUDDIES’ MOST ENTHUSIASTIC FANS ARE—WHO?

I recently spoke with a friend who has been an air personality—a terrific one, I might add—at a major market soft AC station for many years. This station does very well year-round and, like many of its format ilk, plunges into an all-Christmas music format around Thanksgiving. In fact, it’s already starting. What’s newsworthy about that to me and to radio station managers in any format is how the station’s demographic alters when White Christmas and the rest begin to roll.

Want to take a guess at what consistently turns out the be the most enthusiastic and appreciative age group for Chestnuts, Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree and all the rest? (No fair if you already air the format and have discovered this yourself.)

According to my friend, the soft AC jock...it’s Generation Y.

This demo is loosely defined as people born between about 1986 and 2000—in other words, 10 to 24 years of age. The children aside, what my friend has observed is that listeners in their late teens and early twenties—definitely not your average soft AC P1 demo—flock to the all-holiday format every year about this time. Yes, the same bunch that normally listens to everything from Death Rock to Keith Urban loves to hear the good old Christmas classics, at least for a few weeks out of the year.

Why on earth would this bunch, which was virtually raised on iTunes, get excited about the same old holiday retreads? Ask the air personalities who work the format.

In this case, my friend’s view is that these kids welcome holiday music as a pleasant change from their usual instant-gratification diet of iPod fare. Perhaps, too, a little touch of homey normalcy to an age group that may be the most heavily-scheduled, stressed-out bunch in history. (I have an 18-year-old. I'm right in the thick of it.)

That prompted me to cruise over to the iTunes Store and see what was cooking for the holidays. A lot of holiday music, that’s what! They’re offering a package of up to 20 Christmas and holiday song downloads free for a week. It’s called iTunes Holiday Sampler and includes artists such as Sarah McLachlan, Amy Grant—and who wouldn’t want to fire up We Wish You A Merry Christmas by Weezer?

Not to be outdone, Amazon is also offering some free holiday music downloads through its MP3 store.

So, obviously, Gen Y has plenty of holiday ho-ho available for its MP3 players. But the news to me was that they’re also ready and willing to actually listen to the radio (and to a station they might well never sample otherwise) to help get in the holiday mood.

Which, of course, is solid platinum for sales.

Let’s see, with soft AC (the most common format employing the all-holiday music format, though by no means the only one), we have:

• A large core of steady, loyal listeners already in place
• Incredible TSL numbers, much beloved by Arbitron’s PPM
• And a hefty side dish of unexpectedly young listeners who sample the format

Give me a list, I’m hittin’ the street!

I still don’t go for lighting up the all-Christmas format even before most listeners are lighting up their holiday displays. As I wrote some days ago in this space, it borders on overkill, which will dependably kill an otherwise valuable format. But my friend’s observations about the attraction of Gen Y listeners to the format does make it a solid temporary format—providing no one else in your market is doing it, of course.

There’s only so much room for Bobby Helms.

THE BEATLES ARE ON iTUNES: IS RADIO’S TURKEY COOKED?

WITH THE ”FAB FOUR” ON BOARD, APPLE EXPECTS HEAVY DOWNLOAD ACTION FOR THE HOLIDAYS—WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR RADIO?

Prior to 10 AM EST yesterday (11/16/10), Apple’s iTunes music download store contained many power groups and most of music’s iconic names. But one group whose music customers could never download was The Beatles. Now, they can. The Fab Four’s music is available in the iTunes store for the first time and it’s likely customers will burn up the bits grabbing everything from individual tracks to iTunes albums to the entire Beatles boxed set between now and Christmas. For radio station managers, the development again raises the question: “Is owning a radio station going to become the equivalent of owning a livery stable? The answer: of course not.

Apple’s iTunes venture has certainly changed the way music fans acquire their tunes. All it takes now is a couple of clicks, a credit card and an mp3 player and nothing but favorite tracks will spew into those little white earpieces all day long. No further need for music radio, right? That’s what a persistent Greek Chorus of radio’s naysayers intones. It’s easy to jump on their bandwagon and some in the industry have already done so.

Not the smart ones, though.

LOOK AT THE LAST 80 YEARS

Eighty years ago radio was cutting-edge technology. It provided instant (as soon as the tubes warmed up) and free (at least in the U.S.) access to entertainment and information. No technology since has been able to kill it off.

Talking movies didn’t do it.

Television didn’t do it.

Color television didn’t do it.

Movies on VHS and DVD didn’t do it.

The Internet didn’t do it.

The radio industry hasn’t even managed to kill itself off, although some might say it has tried.

iTunes won’t kill it off, either. Not even close.

WHY RADIO IS ALWAYS IN PLAY

Look at what iTunes can do that you can’t:

• Offer millions of tracks on demand
• Get paid directly when someone downloads one

That’s a lot but that’s all.

Here’s why even music freaks who load hundreds of tunes on their iPods consistently say they still turn to radio:

• Entertainment, as opposed to just music—meaning interesting, funny, relevant air personalities and program material
• Information—you can’t download up-to-the-second news, weather and traffic information
• Companionship—any idea how many people are listening to your station(s) right now because they have no one to talk to, are ignored or just plain bored? The number is huge

So here’s the question: What have you done to make your music format relevant? Is it entertaining beyond simply playing the music?

Do you provide local news and other information, not just recorded community calendars and PSAs?

Can listeners tune in someone who sounds like an actual person or is it Segue City with liners in between?

THE MANAGER’S BOTTOM LINE

No music download system—no matter how customized, no matter how convenient—will replace radio providing that radio keeps itself entertaining, informative and companionable. iTunes can’t be that—only your stations can.

A RADIO GUY BECOMES A POWER PLAYER IN CONGRESS

FORMER STATION OWNER WILL MOVE UP IN THE NEW CONGRESS

The Washington Post recently profiled Oregon Republican Congressman Greg Walden, calling him a conscientious lawmaker who plays well with others (I paraphrase). Regardless of your politics, that’s going to be critical when the new Congress sits down in January with an enormous influx of first-time representatives and senators.

More to the point as far as we’re concerned: Walden is a radio guy.

While he no longer owns his small station group in the Northwest, Walden has retained an interest in radio. And why not? Like many of us, he began his radio career taking out the trash and running the board, announcing and learning the ropes at his family’s stations. There’s no better background for a radio station manager and all that hard work and variety seems to have served him well as a lawmaker, too.

Walden has been tapped to head a subcommittee that will map out rules for the new Republican majority in the House. Look for him to move up to more public positions, too, including—according to the Post—the House Communications Subcommittee. He could do a lot of good for the radio industry in that seat, especially with so many key radio issues dangling out there.

What about YOUR representatives?

Which brings us to the people who were elected from your district(s). If you haven’t taken the trouble to establish relationships with them or their staffs, there is no more important time to do so than right now, before the new session begins.

How do you feel about HD? Let them know

What can be done about music performance and copyright payments? Tell them.

What about FM on cell phones?

Interference issues?

And that slew of new translators—are they killing you or curing you? All these and many more issues have either come into the sights of the Congress already or are about to. And if your idea of making yourself felt on Capital Hill is to let the NAB do the buttonholing, you’re missing a terrific opportunity.

Yes, “all politics is local”. And your local clout as the boss of a radio station or group is something your elected representatives cannot afford to ignore. The only way they will ignore it is if you don’t flex your muscle (or at least start firing off thoughtful emails) with them now.

Whenever you contact an elected representative, keep in mind the golden rules for turning your messages into action items:

• State the issue clearly and concisely—and don’t make political comments
• Tell the recipient who you are and why the issue is important not only to you but to the rest of your community
• Let them know exactly what you want them to do
• Above all: keep it brief, focused and professional

Radio—especially local-market radio—needs strong voices in Washington. The elevation of radio-friendly Congressmen like Greg Walden is important. So is your involvement with every representative who snagged votes in your market.

MONDAY SALES BLAST: WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOUR SALES MEETING?

This week's Monday Sales Blast is all about that good old standard,
the Monday morning sales meeting. How relevant are those meetings,
anyway? And what do your salespeople really think of them?

For some stations, a regular sales meeting is a valuable event that
leaves everyone rarin' to hit the streets. At many others, however, the
weekly sales meeting is a mind-numbing waste of time.

In this Sales Blast. I'd like to take the liberty of quoting from...myself.
The following is an excerpt from my new book, The Zero Turnover Sales
Force: How To Maximize Revenue By Keeping Your Sales Team Intact
(details follow this article).

And I quote...

WHY SALES PEOPLE REALLY HATE SALES MEETINGSNothing was ever sold at a sales meeting. Why then do so many of them blotch the agendas of the people who should be the most productive in the organization? And why do sales people hate them with such virulence?

When I talk to sales people (as opposed to sales managers) about sales meetings, here’s the opinion I almost universally receive: they’re a waste of time. Why? The reasons are many and varied. Take a look at this list of common gripes about sales meetings. Have you been part of a meeting any time recently where none of these occurred? If so, you are lucky, indeed:

Schedule hassles – “The meetings always seem to happen just when a hot prospect wants to see me”

Disorganization – “Why does it take an hour to cover something that’s worth maybe ten minutes?”

Irrelevance – “This has nothing to do with the reality of what I’m doing.”

Rambling – “The boss goes off on every tangent imaginable or gets into involved discussions with one or two people that have no bearing on the rest of us, who just sit there.”

The last three of which combine to form:

Preparation – “Did he know he was running a meeting this morning? If he has to shuffle through his papers or ask someone to go to his office to find something he forgot one more time, I’m outta here.”

And…

Importance – “If these meetings are so !@#$%^& important, why doesn’t she seem to have the time to put them together right?”

Interruptions – “Cell phones, texting, people interrupting other people and trying to dominate the meeting.”

Rah-rah sales meetings – “Don’t try to motivate me, help me sell more. I was motivated when I came here. Now, I’m just tired.”

And its companion…

Phony baloney fun and games – “Really, do grownups need to play these little ‘fun’ games to get motivated? The boss seems to think we do. Wrong.”

The Humor Factor 1 – “The sales manager thinks she’s funny. She isn’t. Boring.”

The Humor Factor 2 – “The sales manager is a too-serious, self-important dweeb. Lighten up!”

Why not just tape a target on my butt? – “They make everyone talk about their individual sales totals, which inevitably puts the spotlight on those who are struggling or
just going through a soft spell. Humiliation in front of my peers isn’t much of an incentive.”

Thank you, Mr./Ms Negative – “All we hear are complaints. You’d think the whole sales staff was a bunch of slackers. What a great way to start the week!”

And one of the most inexcusable management failures:

Time limit? Oh, THAT – “Bad enough that we have to carve out an hour every week for this drivel, now we’re way past that. I have calls to make and people to see!”

Unquote.

Think hard about your weekly sales meetings and how they're run. And if you come from sales, remember what you thought of sales meetings when you were working the streets.

My book, The Zero Turnover Sales Force: How To Maximize Revenue By Keeping Your Sales Team Intact is available in hard cover from AMACOM, the publishing wing of The American Management Association. It's at most Barnes & Noble and Borders locations. If they're sold out, you can find a copy (including for Kindle) at www.amazon.com.

IT'S TIME TO BRING BACK LOCAL RADIO NEWS

WHATEVER HAPPENED TO LOCAL RADIO NEWS?

Local radio news has undergone an astonishing metamorphosis over the last four decades—from too much to hardly any. Where Top 40 stations once routinely aired five-minute newscasts hourly, 24/7, and twice an hour during drive-times, they now air none at all. Where every major market station worthy of the name had a news department, now only the news-talk stations bother. And where local-market stations made news their bread-and-butter, many now don’t even bother to interrupt the satellite to talk about what happened at the city council meeting last night. (Many others, to their credit, do.)

It is not only time to stop this erosion of information—it’s also possible.

Why has local news disappeared from radio in many markets? General managers and program directors offer the same two excuses:

• budget restrictions
• changing listener tastes.

Let’s laser in on these oft-cited reasons.

“It’s the budget, stupid”

When the economy sours and sales budgets nosedive, managers who are looking to lop off a quick limb here and there to cut expenses almost always zero in on news. News is an expense, not a profit center, they say. One station owner actually said to me: “It’s like the engineer. I don’t know what he does but I know I need him. Can’t say the same for news.” Good lord.

A line like that points out an issue in common between engineering and news: unlike sales and programming, engineers and news people are not temperamentally wired to “sell” themselves to management. As far as most engineers and journalists are concerned, they exist to provide a specialized service which requires solid training and expertise.

My father, a mechanical engineer, once remarked, “My name is my resume”. He could have substituted the word “work” for “name”. That’s as far as many news and engineering professionals will go to self-promote.

Programming, on the other hand, can offer ratings as proof of its reason for being. At the very least, they provide the noise that’s heard on the air all day. Sales, of course, is the most easily quantifiable department in the building. Even the office staff produces obvious output such as logs, bookkeeping and tending the phones.

News doesn’t provide any of those “proofs of performance”. It provides the who-what-when-where-why and hopefully punches them up with sound. Good news writers turn even short news updates into sparklers of information. But they don’t play music, spout bombast or sell advertising.

That makes news fair game to many cost-desperate managers.

Here’s a two-pronged fix:

1.  Go back to selling news sponsorships, which were staples of radio advertising for decades. I’m not talking about Old School fifteen-minute newscasts with three :60s plus billboards. Even rookie news people can practice tight writing and conversational delivery while making room for a :30 within a three-minute news update. Or a :15 in a two-minute ‘cast. They can, that is, if you give them the opportunity.

News sponsorships aren’t hard to sell if you make up your mind that you’re going to consistently do so. When you do sell them, you’ve monetized your local news!

2.  View news as a loss leader.  You can also look at local news the way retailers view certain items: as “loss leaders” or “doorbusters” that lure shoppers inside, where they will presumably buy more stuff. Same with your local news: listeners tune in to find out what’s happening in their world and how it relates to them. If you’re the only station in town that actually provides that information—not who won Dancing With the Stars last night but actual news—then they’ve sampled your product and can stay for your entertainment offerings.

“Our listeners don’t want it, dude”

Forget the news-talk stations—focus only on the music stations in your market or nearby. What do they offer as news content? If they bother at all, you can bet it will come from the “morning show sidekick” (often a giggly female) spouting celebrity and entertainment shtick. Yes, Letterman had a funny monolog last night. Oh boy, that Charlie Sheen!

But why is my water bill skyrocketing? Why can’t I get a cop when I need one? Wait, they’re cutting the fire department’s budget?

If all politics is local, so is all news. Almost every national and world event has a local corollary—if you have a local newsperson to work the story. Most of your listeners live with at least one foot in the real world. They have jobs or are looking for them. They have relationships. They have money but not enough. They’re subject to local laws, regulations and taxes.

Their lives are about more than Lindsay Lohan’s rehab.

And here’s a shocker for some radio managers: Every listener does not acquire information from social media and word-of-mouth. Many, many of them want more. Where will they get it if you don’t provide it? The newspaper? Get serious. Social media for local news? Come on.

Here’s another bulletin: Every listener is not 22 years old (or 17). It’s hard for an adult to take seriously some local and cable TV news anchors who are essentially pretty people who sound like they’re 16 years old. You can uniquely provide information within your format that your core listeners will appreciate.

Unlike the younger crowd, these people listen to radio. A lot. In the car, at work, everywhere. As an industry, we've dug up piles of statistics that prove it beyond doubt. So what do you have to offer them in addition to yak about the latest YouTube video that’s gone viral?

When you approach news as something you can actually sell—and as a valuable commodity even if it isn’t entirely monetized—it becomes an attractive business investment.

When you present meaningful information—not entertainment updates disguised as news—it makes a positive contribution to any format and jumps you way over the competition as a valued medium.

A VISIT TO A TOP TELEMARKETER: WHAT RADIO CAN LEARN ABOUT PHONE SALES

WHAT RADIO MANAGERS CAN LEARN FROM A GOOD TELEMARKETER

I spent part of the day recently in the sales office of a local telemarketer. The object was to see what a successful group of telephone sales professionals could teach radio station managers about making money on the phone. You probably have a stereotyped view of these operations and, for the most part, your conception would be accurate. Not in this case, though.

The reasons why give us valuable insight (and reinforcement) into how radio can be sold by phone.

This wasn’t the kind of boiler room operation where a hundred headset-wearing automatons pound the phones relentlessly cold-calling strangers who don’t want to talk to them. Those companies are a dime a dozen and virtually invented sales force turnover simply by their business models. Burnout comes fast and furious along with the caffeine drinks and blasting rock music.

This operation began with a basic way to avoid cold-calling that I’ve championed for years: create circumstances that compel customers to call you, rather than the other way around. I won’t go into exact details about this company but suffice to say they sell a reputable e-commerce service that attracts customers from English-speaking countries around the globe.

The way they attract those customers is through Facebook and Google ads. In the case of local radio, the same thing could be done with flyers, one-sheets, postcards, ads on local websites and, of course, on our own air.

The point is: in not one case did a telemarketer call a customer cold. In every case, the call went out in response to an individual who had first seen the ad, then clicked on the company’s website—and from there had purchased a very inexpensive (as little as $5.00) web template with a credit card. That prospect then immediately became a customer. And that customer agreed to take a call from the company to get set up to use that little website template.

That’s it.

Their customer will now speak with two people.

The “Pre-Qual” or Pre-Qualifier

This individual, in a very friendly and conversational way (even though the conversation is entirely scripted) asks for personal financial information: what credit cards the customer uses, what their credit limits are, what balances they’re carrying, whether they own a home or rent, any outstanding auto or student loans and so on.

Prospects willingly provide all that information, too.

Why? Because they really want the service. And remember, they’re already customers, even at the five dollar level.

If the customer has too much outstanding debt or little room on credit cards, he or she is told that perhaps when they’re in better financial shape they might like to subscribe to the packages of services being offered. Then the call is politely ended whenever that can be comfortably done.

In most cases, sufficient funds are available to make a business pitch worthwhile.

That’s where the second person comes into the conversation:

The “Closer”

For this company, three packages of services are pitched:       

• $6,000
• $4,000 and
• $2,000

In other words, about the size of modest-to-good radio advertising packages.

Before price is ever mentioned, however, the closer asks numerous questions about the customer’s dreams for that website, what they would like to sell, what their likes and dislikes are, perhaps something about their family if that seems appropriate.

Every answer gives the closer an opportunity to point out how his service uniquely and excitingly (without those hard-sell words) fulfills those needs and desires.

It’s only after many minutes of this (the pitch can take an hour at times, depending on how chatty the customer is—no one is ever hurried along) that the packages are offered, large to small. From there it’s a matter of dealing with price objections and questions, as with any sales proposal.

Rising Above the Pitch-Close Cycle

Radio salespeople are too often trapped in the pitch-close-pitch-close cycle, often preceded by endless days of cold-calling. My hours with these telemarketers convinced me of the wisdom of farming for customers rather than beating them over the head with cold calls.

And of being patient, establishing relationships and then making the money pitch. Top salespeople and managers already know this, of course.

Should your station make a serious stab at telemarketing? Depends on your market area. If you have a large, spread-out business community and a small sales staff, a well-thought-out and managed telephone sales effort could pay big dividends.

And no, this does NOT include phone blitzes with classics like “Back To School Safety Reminders”. Come on. Let’s sell meaningful dollars to clients who would like to speak with us again and again. That’s relationship selling. And we’ve now witnessed how it can be done with the right approach to selling by phone.

SALUTE A VET TODAY. IT’S VETERANS DAY IN THE U.S. AND REMEMBRANCE DAY IN CANADA AND GREAT BRITAIN. WE’RE  FREE BECAUSE THEY PUT IT ALL ON THE LINE FOR US.

IGNITING LOCAL HOLIDAY RETAIL ADVERTISING

CREATE AD-HOC MARKETING GROUPS OF LOCAL RETAILERS

FOR HOLIDAY SALES SUCCESS

The fourth quarter is well along and, in many markets, the traditional big bump in holiday sales is looking more like an ant hill. Fortunately, heavy campaign spending—almost all cash in advance—is helping Q4 look better than last year. But what can you do when local retail advertising lags and the holidays draw near? Create your own local groups of advertisers, that’s what. This gives more businesses the opportunity to reach holiday customers and drives up spending by retailers who might otherwise skip (again) holiday radio advertising.

Here’ how to create your own groups of retail advertisers right now:

1.  Pick a geographical area or trade group

The easiest groups to organize in a hurry are located in the same area. They could be located along a particular street, within a specific neighborhood or area of town, or in a known, easily-identifiable area.

Alternatively, you could organize all the hair stylists you can grab into a holiday retail marketing group. It could be gas stations, muffler shops, women’s clothing stores,  a diverse group of family restaurants, whatever. They become a group because they have a type of business in common.

2.  Give your marketing group a unique name

It could be creative or corny. Anything from “West Side of the Square Radio Marketers” to “Home Cooking For the Holidays Restaurant Group”. It doesn’t

matter what you call it as long as the name says something about what or where the group is located and is not used by any other entity in town.

3.  Create 3 Competitive Advertising Packages

I normally don’t like packages. The consultative sell with spot schedules geared to specific customer needs is almost always preferable. BUT: we’re on short notice here and time won’t permit us to do specific needs analyses for every business in each of our new holiday retail marketing groups. SO...we create three ways for our customers to advertise:

Good, Better and Best.

You can name these packages as creatively as you wish. The tried-and-true Silver/Gold/ Platinum. Or Christmas-oriented monikers such as Santa’s Helpers/Mrs. Claus/Jolly Old Elf. Silly is okay for this one. You can name your packages to conform to your format, too: Blue Christmas/White Christmas/Jingle Bell Rock. Or Christmas classics: Sleighride/I’ll Be Home For Christmas/Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire. You get the idea. Have fun and be creative.

4.  Price aggressively but don’t give anything away

You want to create a one-call close if you can so don’t go in at the top of your rate card. Don’t give away the farm, either. And whatever you do, remember what makes radio advertising work: repetition over a short time span.

No two-spots-a-day-for-a-week plans. No sponsorships. And no individual bonus spots! Make sure everyone is on at least three to five times a day for three weeks. More often if you can. You not only want these packages to work right now but to give you good reasons for going back to those customers for Q1 business.

5.  Create a group benefit

Make your custom-named and special-priced group even more unique by doing things for all its members together.

Examples include:

• Airing as many spots as possible promoting the group. Who they are, where they are, why they’re unique, why customers should come in right now

• Remotes from the group’s geographical area, up to and including the morning show, coffee-with-the-coaches show or other high-visibility programs that really put the spotlight on your special group.,

• Giveaways or contests that only include the retailers in your groups.I don’t normally like “Register Here To Win” promotions, either, but when many retailers in a specific area contribute and participate, it really works. It also makes those who choose not to participate wish they had!

• Help organize a holiday-themed kiddie parade or similar activity for kids that’s just in your group’s geographical area—something that will compel adults to come to the area and shop

6.  Print up a one-sheet and get it out there

Make sure one or more are in every retail establishment in the area for which you

want to create your holiday marketing group. Then hit the phones. As you know,

I’m no fan of Old School cold calling but this is the exception to the rule.

Make your offer irresistible—and start closing.

Organizing ad-hoc retail advertising groups for the holidays shows local businesses that you understand the realities of retail in the current economic climate and that you’re going the extra mile to help them accomplish what radio advertising does best: bring customers through their doors.

This idea is not only great for flagging Q4 sales, it also creates a solid base of happy clients that you can call on again—right away—to pump up Q1!