6-28-2013
Roy Williams says, ?The risk of insult is the price of clarity."
To be clear, I don?t have a lot of sympathy for stations that have not grown their revenues significantly in the new media environment.
Are you insulted yet?
Radio sales suffer from the "I?m okay-you?re okay syndrome." In other words, because our industry as a whole is experiencing flat or limited growth, it?s somehow become acceptable to not generate extraordinary revenue growth.
Remember when you were a kid and you did something you shouldn?t have and tried to justify your mistake by saying ?everyone else did it?? Your mother probably said something like, ?If everyone jumped off the bridge would you do that too??
I see radio stations and account executives leaving money on the table in virtually every market I?ve visited across North America.
If you don?t believe me, ask any sales manager worth her salt, ?If you could invest two full days a week on the street yourself, would you be able to generate some new business??
The answer would be a resounding ?Yes!?
Why can?t we invest in salespeople to make them as good as, or better than, those sales managers?
By any measure, (reach, time-spent, influence, cost effectiveness, and others) radio does not receive its fair share of ad budgets, let alone capture a superior share that a top-notch sales effort could produce.
The opportunity we have in radio has never been greater. Even the most aggressive new media forecasters predict the lion?s share of local ad budgets, approximately 75 percent, will still go to traditional media for the foreseeable future.
And currently, print (including newspapers), direct mail, yellow pages, flyers, catalogues, brochures, and more, capture the lion?s share of that lion?s share?.and they are totally vulnerable!
The Internet is electronic print. It has replaced expensive print production and delivery costs with much less expensive and instantly updateable and deliverable alternatives, leaving more money on the table for radio in an electronic media mix.
When we delivered the "Electronic Age" message to the Louisiana Association of Broadcasters, Dick Lewis, regional vice president of Clear Channel Baton Rouge, said, ?I was very impressed with Wayne?s message, particularly in light of the new digital media we face. It is a presentation on radio that inspires and positions us correctly against the newspaper, yellow pages, social media, and search media. It is information and positioning that every seller and advertiser should be aware of.?
Yet only a few have invested the time to hear and use the message to capture money from outdated print media.
Focusing on reducing "the cost of sale" has blinded many organizations to "the cost of no sale"!
Most would agree that the image of the typical car salesperson is not exemplary professional selling. Yet, in most markets, the top car salesperson earns more than the top radio salesperson.
Most stations? compensation plans do not attract the cream-of-the-crop-sales talent, and only a few stations invest in training their account executives how to sell radio as part of an integrated media package in the Electronic Age.
I?m appalled at the way some stations commoditize our business with "inventory clearance sales," creating the impression we have a pile of something no one wants, so we?re discounting it.
Jon Pole, president of My Broadcasting Corporation, said, ?If you have 10 problems, and one of them is a sales problem, you really only have one problem.?
Generating extraordinary revenues will solve all of your other problems.
At ENS Media Inc. we say, ?Generating extraordinary revenues requires extraordinary creativity, extraordinary effort, and extraordinary investment.?
Most stations don?t launch extraordinary initiatives, they just keep on doing what they?ve been doing, or less. And you know Einstein?s definition of insanity is ?Doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.?
Some are looking to HD radio, streaming, or in-house digital products to bail them out of their downward spiral. And while these ventures can add to radio?s viability, our strongest U.S.P. (unique selling proposition) still remains to be the intrusive and emotional power of sound in the electronic media mix.
If you?re not offended yet, congratulations. You?re probably one of the few who won?t jump off of the bridge with the rest and you will capture revenue increases above the industry norm with extraordinary revenue initiatives!
Wayne Ens is president of ENS Media Inc, www.wensmedia.com producer of the SoundADvice radio e-marketing system and the Winning in the New Media Economy revenue development system. He can be reached at wayne@wensmedia.com
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Lisa Miller is the President of Miller Broadcast Management in Chicago. She's also one of Radio Ink's Most Influential Women in Radio. Miller can be reached at Lisa@millerbroadcast.com or 312-454-1111.
One cool feature allows users to select a song or show to listen to, then a "recommendation engine" searches music and shows playing on other AM/FM stations. Up to 20 other stations which may be of interest are displayed along with what is current on those stations. Music listeners can request an unlimited number of recommendations until they find something of interest to listen to. Those selecting a sports, politics, or public radio show will see other related talk shows on at that time they can listen to. Robertson says, "There's a comprehensive guide to radio showing listeners what's playing across the entire radio spectrum. An intuitive player displays and plays every station with a single click. Finally a recommendation engine steers people to music or shows of interest."
Buzz Knight is the Vice President of Program Development for Greater Media and he can be reached at bknight@greatermediaboston.com. Knight was named among ?Best Programmers? by Radio Ink Magazine in 2007 and 2010. He has served on the programming subcommittee of the National Association of Broadcasters(NAB) and is currently a member of the Arbitron Radio Advisory Council and the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) COLRAM Committee.