What is Radio's Sales Problem?
It's been a flat to slightly up revenue year for most of radio in 2012. Lower comps and high hopes for an abundance of political advertising revenue set the bar high for the year and it appears the industry will fall short of its expectations. Why is that and how did it happen? What's going on out there on the street and how can things be turned around and revved up in 2013? Is radio destined to be a flat to slightly up industry as TV and Digital make gains at our expense?
We asked Dave Gifford and Matt Sunshine all of these questions hoping to give you more ideas on how to improve your sales game immediately. Gifford and Sunshine are out in the field every day working with salespeople and listening to the feedback they get from clients about radio. We hope you'll be able to use some of what they say to get an edge over your competitors starting today.
Listen to our latest Sales Meeting Podcast HERE
How to reach our guests:
www.saleshowto.com
Dave Gifford
www.csscenter.com
Matt Sunshine
(12/28/2012 8:00:38 AM)
Love Matt Sunshine and the people at CSS and I have no issue with anything they said in the interview. Yet, at the end of this session, I found myself thinking of the term "refried beans" (yeah, I know the beans aren't actually refried). Point is, I spent 30 years in radio sales and I first heard most of this stuff early in my career. I'm just heart-sick that the industry has mostly paid lip service to it. Honestly, most business development efforts I've seen center around reading Miller Kaplan X-Ray reports and monitoring services, then challenging reps to go after it. It's a reckless, largely fruitless exercise. Beyond that, it keeps us running in the same concentric circle--chasing the same 5% of spending the industry already gets. The low-hanging fruit is where most smart sales managers who want to keep their jobs and make their numbers spend 90% of their non-admin sales focus.
I believe the solution to growing radio sales is beyond the reach of large, publicly traded media groups because it requires counter-intuitive action. More is More. Hire more qualified talent and pay them like other serious, growth-oriented industries pay their talent (more). Unfortunately, corporate radio has slashed its bottom line to a point of no return.
Gif gets's it right.It is about identifying needs and finding advertising solutions. Radio is one solution. Today we have access to many other solutions that can contribute to our radio stations revenue stream.
Ideas create new accounts but the only ideas that really count are the ones that turn an account into a long term marketing partner.
Dean of Portland Radio.
(12/27/2012 11:47:32 AM)
I've grown a deep respect for Gif, based on his passion for selling radio. Matt Sunshine and CSS Center I'm not familiar with. Both, though, along with the interviewer may be showing what radio's sales problem is; in over 30 minutes, the word "accountability" was not used.
Ad buying is changed, with growing emphasis on providing ROI. That term was used once in this discussion (19:05), in a sentence with the word "relationships." Relationships was highlighted from there. ROI, ignored.
Learning to sell is important. Offering solutions is too. But more ad buying is done today on a "show me data that says your media is an efficient use of my money." Radio has taken no step in satisfying this request - and that is radio's main sales problem.
"Brazil: Tests Tech Before Implementation"
"After extensive testing of both HD Radio and DRM, the Secretary of the Ministry of Communications Electronic Communications, Genildo Lins, said the tests of the two technologies have had poor results,"
http://www.engineeringradio.us/blog/2012/12/brazil-the-place-where-they-test-tech-before-it-is-implemented/
Have you listened to radio lately?
As Adam Savage of Mythbusters is wont to say "There's your problem."
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