(SALES) The Math Of Making Budget

1-25-2013

I never put much credence in closing ratios. Whenever I hear someone say, ?I have a 50 percent closing ratio? I never believed they really knew. After four decades of managing sellers and being a radio seller, I can tell you that I have no idea what my closing ratio is nor can I tell you the actual closing ratio of any seller that has ever worked for me.

I did, however learn the true mathematics of making budget. This formula served me well over the years and never proved wrong. My entire career, probably like yours, has been the assignment of delivering ?the number.? As a salesperson, a GM, a regional VP and a COO, every day was the task of delivering the number. As a seller and a sales manager, the number was my budget that given month, then the quarter, and finally the year?s number. As a GM, and positions higher up the radio ladder, it became a top line and a bottom line number every month, quarter, and for the year. I wasn?t in radio very long before I realized there were few business problems that couldn?t be repaired by more revenue. I could control expenses, but driving that top line number was the key to virtually everything. I never spent energy on increasing closing ratios. I spent all my energy on asking for enough business to insure ?the number.?

Any time I could simplify something, I did. With that in mind, here?s the math to making budget; to delivering ?the number? time after time?.. ANNUAL BUDGET TIMES 10, DIVIDED BY 52 EQUALS THE WEEKLY DOLLAR AMOUNT THAT MUST BE PRESENTED. Let?s say you?re a seller with an assigned budget for 2013 of $500,000. Your budget times 10 = $5 million, divided by 52 weeks = $96,154. You must ask for a minimum of $96,154 in business every week. This will always come in a variety of presentations, from a 30-day campaign for $5,000 to an annual campaign for $60,000. It doesn?t matter when it airs, just never ask for less in any week. They key is honoring the math. The same formula is true for a radio station, a market or, indeed, an entire company. Every week we ask for the right amount, we?ll end up delivering ?the number.?
For years we?ve been told selling is a game of numbers. We just didn?t know the math. Now we do.

Rob Adair is the President of Pinnacle Solving. His company provides revenue growth solutions, branding and differentiation strategies to radio and other industries. Adair is a former radio industry COO and Sr. VP overseeing 25+ stations and multiple major markets. He can be reached at 405-641-0458 or by e-mail rob@pinnaclesolving.com

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(HIRING) Formulate A Recruitment Budget NOW

8-4-2012

With summer over and budget time approaching, do you have a game plan on how to locate and hire new sellers?

It may not be top of mind to many, but it should be. A continual issue these days is the ability to find quality sellers when a station has an opening. Many of us remember the days when there was a line out the door of strong sellers who wanted to be in radio, we had a drawer full of resumes so we always knew who we wanted to hire. If you are still finding that line out your door, congratulations, as you are doing things right. If you are struggling to find and hire those quality sellers, or you have high turnover, you need to set a strategic plan, and one aspect of it is to establish a budget which needs to now be a line item as you plan expenses. Here are some things to think about when setting up a recruitment budget.

-- Marketing materials to use when selling your opportunity.

-- Funds to attend career fairs in and outside of your market; not just entry fees but also for booth materials such as banners.

-- Money for travel ? both for your team to attend events, and to bring in potential candidates from out of town to interview, research your town, look for housing, or moving.

-- Profiling or background checks.

-- Advertising for candidates.

-- Recruitment help for difficult-to-fill positions.

-- Investment in a career page on your website and someone to keep it updated.

-- Training ? both for your managers to learn how to be more effective in hiring, which will help lower your turnover, and also sales training to ramp up the new hire.

 Hiring is not as easy as it once was. With turnover high it builds more pressure on managers to sell while not being able to focus on recruiting, so hiring is done in a reactive versus proactive manner. Being aware of what is needed to attract and hire will help you in the long run in finding those needed superstars.

Laurie Kahn is Founder and President of Media Staffing Network and can be reached at 480-306-8930 or via e-mail at laurie@mediastaffingnetwork.com. Visit the Media Staffing Website www.mediastaffingnetwork.com

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It Is What It Is. Budget Cuts Take Out Local Morning Man in Indy

After today Abdul-Hakim Shabazz will no longer be employed by. After a 7-year run as the morning man on WXNT he was told his services were no longer needed. His replacement will be the syndicated program The Wall Street Journal Report. That's the way our industry works, at times, here today gone tomorrow, but Shabazz is taking it all in stride. He's not upset. He's not bitter. He understands business is business.

Shabazz focused on state and local issues during his program. There wasn't a lot of politics, there was plenty of that being broadcast by the syndicated. Shabazz called his show radio for people who can't stand ignorance and stupidity. And now that his run is over he says it is what it is.  "I was a little upset when I got the news, but that was a natural human reaction.  It wasn't a local decision and it wasn't based on my performance as a host.  However, I've always been a practical individual and learned to accept reality and deal with it.  I also believe everything happens for a reason and what starts out as a negative can be a positive.  I like to tell people I would have never met my wife if my ex-girlfriend hadn't broken up with me.  I ended up in talk radio because I worked for a politician who ran for Governor of Illinois.  He lost and we got fired.  The next thing you know, I'm doing a daily radio show."

Shabazz has an undergrad degree was in broadcast news, an M.A. in Government and Politics and a law degree. He says he was born to do radio. He also writes for a local newspaper so we wondered which job he liked better. "That's like asking which child do you love best?  I like them equally.  My main goal is to have a forum where I can discuss the issues of the day and give an audience food for thought.  Whether it's print, broadcast or Internet, it doesn't matter.  But I had to make a choice, I would rather be seen and heard as opposed to just read."

And what about the radio industry? "I think radio got caught with its pants down and didn't realize that consumer choice was coming.  I told a PD in the mid-90s that good content and great talent can always win the day.  I can get music anywhere.  The same with talk radio.  If you listen to the national shows it all sounds the same.  That's why I love local, relevant talk radio. It's sad what is happening, but I do believe that people who do well in this industry can do well anywhere, because the skills that made them a good broadcaster can make them good at any other job."

Shabazz says he was told corporate HQ made the call that he had to go. "One man's budget cut is another man's budget re-allocation, so I can't say.  However, I have no reason to believe the decisions that were made weren't what I was told.  Coporate radio is under a lot of financial pressure.  I love it, but it is a business and decisions have to be made. And it's cheaper to run syndicated programming than pay local talent.  I don't bear any ill will to anyone. I was glad the run lasted as long as it did."

Reach out to Shabazz.
His telephone number is 317-727-1250
E-mail attyabdul@gmail.com
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