6-19-13
Many of us grew up in radio learning how to sell using the Ken Greenwood system. Some of us were lucky enough to know him and get to speak to him. He was always positive, always a teacher. And as you'll read below this story, everybody loved being around him. In addition to his radio accomplishments, Greenwood was a regular sales trainer at RAB shows for years and wrote many articles for Radio Ink Magazine. Ken Greenwood died this
week at the age of 89. (Portrait courtesy Don Reynolds)
Ken Greenwood was President of Swanco Broadcasting radio group for almost 10 years, then served for several years as Chairman of the Communications Department at the University of Tulsa, where his mentorship launched many successful careers in broadcasting. A born trainer, Ken pioneered formal sales training in radio, television, and cablevision through Greenwood Performance Systems. In 1993, Ken was honored by the Radio Advertising Bureau as ?The Dean of Broadcast Sales Trainers.? Greenwood was inducted into the Oklahoma Broadcasting Hall of Fame in 1989.
Services are scheduled for Monday, June 24, 1 p.m., at St. John?s Episcopal Church in Tulsa.
"I could fill up a page or two with small fonts with big reasons I loved being around Ken Greenwood."
NAB
EVP Radio
John David
Few people in any business are able to command universal respect, admiration and genuine affection. I think the reason Ken was such a person in our business is because he showed everyone he met these very same qualities. He truly reaped what he sowed. Razor sharp and gentle as can be, at the same time. There was no one like him.
David Kennedy
"Ken Greenwood 'invented' the best sales management tool I have ever seen. Sometimes called the Greenwood sheet, or Pipeline Planner. It is so simple but so great. When I first saw it I thought to myself: so good, so simple, why, why didn?t you think of this? It is so outstanding. We use it with all our sellers to this day."
CEO
Renda Broadcasting
Tony Renda
"I worked for him and always thought of him as one of the greatest broadcasters and human beings I ever met. A great man and a big loss."
Larry Patrick
Managing Partner
Patrick Communications
?This is a sad day. Ken was and will always be one of my heroes. Everyone he touched became smarter and, frankly, just better human beings. One of my cherished memories is fly fishing with Ken and dear friends Bob and Shelia Gourley near Ken and Marion's second home in Dubois, Wyoming.?
Erica Farber
President and CEO
RAB
"I was privileged to be a National Sales Rep of Ken's Swanco Radio Group back in the Roarin' Sixties. We became pals. Ken was a marvelous sales and management trainer and consultant. I went to listen to Ken once a year while we played golf in his Tulsa hometown. No one taught me more about managent than Ken
"For instance, he taught me that we usually fired people for the wrong reasons. We let ourselves and our key associates focus unfairly on an employee's weakest suits, fire him, and hire someone who showed us only his shiny sides. We never wanted to know what the new guy's short suits were. Ken said I'd be better off working on helping that employee to minimize his shortcomings. Lastly, how expensive sales turnover is -- in real money and rebuilding credibility on the sales street.
"Ken never got fancy. All Ken ever did was to make sense. Ken's biggest competitors were his biggest admirers. They knew best just how good Ken was. He was a man of high principles. For instance , Ken said he'd quit the radio station business at age 50 and teach radio at University of Tulsa. Ken did exactly that. Hell, Ken was the only teacher teaching rate cards, ARB and Negotiations. After a few years, he came back to form his very successful sales training company...buy a few small market stations.
"Ken and Marian, his wife and best friend, had a cabin in West Wherever, in the wilds of Wyoming. Ken was a passionate hunter and early partner in Ducks Unlimited. We're going to miss Ken Greenwood. They don't build his kind any more.
Frank Boyle
?My first memories of Ken Greenwood, were sitting in a hotel room at RAB convention in early 80?s with all the sales managers and general managers of Bloomington Broadcasting Corporation, listening to Ken sale us on buying his Greenwood Performance System. He did make that sale and our company used his training for many years afterward. He was a true broadcaster and taught selling from the client point of view. It was all about marketing the business and getting results for the client. Our company would stay connected to Ken over the years and even brought him in to our markets for more training with our sellers. He was one of the reasons I stayed in radio, he made me feel like we were in a real profession and not just selling spots. He was a true mentor to our generation of broadcasters. My last memory of Ken was a few years back, when traveling through the West on a father son vacation, we stopped by his home on the Wind River in Dubois , Wyoming. It meant a lot to me to get to introduce him to my son as one of my mentors. After talking a lot of fly fishing , he showed us his favorite hold, just behind his house, gave us a tour of his adopted home Dubois. As we departed that evening he gave my son a copy of one of his many books. He lived an incredible life doing what he loved and he touched so many people in our business, both on a professional level and a personal level. He will be missed by all who knew him.?
Don Raines
Bloomington Broadcasting
(6/21/2013 1:26:27 PM)
Radio has lost a giant. The sales systems and philosophies that he taught to us will live on and continue to make our industry better. It was my good fortune to begin my sales career at a Swanco station during Ken’s presidency. We always looked forward to his market visits as a time to learn and enjoy the presence of a warm and friendly leader and a great teacher.
Bob Lawrence
Radio Advertising Bureau
(6/21/2013 9:11:37 AM)
I met Mr. Greenwood when I was a Mass Communications major at the University of Tulsa. He was responsible for recommending me for my first radio sales job. Over the years, he remained my friend and mentor. He is one of the two gentlemen I credit with my career. When I founded Bryson Broadcasting International, I went to "sit at the feet of the mastor". He gave me wise counsel and was always available to encourage and to clarify my objectives. I, too, grew up with his training. I was priviledged to appear on some of his early training videos. My last visit with him was two weeks ago. Once again, he gave me guidance and insight on my next project. Our industry has lost one of the great minds of our age. He will be missed.
(6/20/2013 9:15:33 PM)
Ken was a lion in media's forest. He was truly an original without equal. Kind, generous, thoughtful, he loved the radio business and, most of all, he genuinely enjoyed helping others to reach their potential. I had the unique privilege of knowing him for childhood. My dad worked for Ken at KRMG. Later, during my years running a group, we became clients of Ken as one of the first supporters of The Leadership Institute for Managers, his collaboration with another great - Norm Goldsmith.
(6/20/2013 8:57:41 PM)
He was a masterful teacher and I use what he taught every day! God Bless Ken and his family - he blessed his radio family!
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