The Story of How Norm Feuer Started in Radio

10-4-2013

Somehow, I think I?ve always known Norm Feuer. He?s a wonderful man with a warm and winning smile, and a personality.  But the memory of Norm that?s engraved in my mind is the photo I have of him from the mid-1980s lined up with Jeff Smylan, Norm Pattiz, Carl Hirsch, and a couple other owners celebrating the expansion of their respective companies and the growth of radio at an NAB. These men, who looked like teenage boys grinning from ear to ear, had just brought forth a new generation of owners who grew up with transistor radios under their pillows. Norm has always made radio fun and reminds you of all the reasons why radio is the best business in the world.

Now, in his own words, Norm tells us how he got into radio?

The first 10 years of my business career were at New York ad agencies all in media and media documentation. I moved to Life magazine (a weekly at the time) and was a marketing associate, when one day John Crandel, the Ad Director of Life, walked into my office and introduced me to a young kid and said, ?We hired this MBA graduate and he?s going to save the magazine?teach him everything you know." So I taught him everything I knew and then we went to lunch. We?ve been best friends and partners in business ever since. That ?kid? was Herb McCord.

Herb got hired away to CBS Radio spot sales by Charlie Warner. Herb set up an interview for me with Charlie. Charlie and I hit it off. There were no openings at spot sales, but Charlie set me up with the CBS TV guys and the CBS FM guys.

Coming off an interview with TV, I bumped into Charlie in the hallway and he asked me to come into his office. Unbeknownst to me, an opening had occurred at spot sales so Charlie began to interview me like we had never met. I was caught off guard and blew the interview. Herb called me and asked what happened. I said, "I just blew it...he caught me off guard." ?What are you going to do??  "I?m going to call Charlie and do it again." So I called Charlie the next day, a Friday, and asked him if I could see him on Monday. He said he was going to be traveling Monday but he could see me that afternoon.

There I was in the same wrinkled suit I wore the day before, I needed a haircut, my shirt was frayed, and I was wearing an ugly tie, and in desperate need of a shoe shine. There was a cleaner on 43rd Street, where you literally stood in a barrel, gave the cleaner your pants and jacket that he pressed while you stood in your underwear. I bought a new shirt and tie, got a haircut and a shoe shine. I showed up at Charlie?s office and my first job in radio was the result of a switch pitch. Charlie taught me that, as a national rep, a switch pitch was worth 10 orders to the station guys, so from time to time I would lose an order just to switch pitch it.

Reach out to Norm at nfeuer@bcaradio.com

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.

To read more "How I Got Into Radio" columns, click HERE.

So, how did you get into radio? We'd love to hear the story about why you're passionate about radio.

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(SALES) Lean In And Let's Get Started

9-30-2013

Come on, come on
Feel it, feel it
Feel the vibration
It's such a good vibration
It's such a sweet sensation
     -- Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch

Great sales reps have that vibration. They are magnetic and electric. You can feel them when you're in the same room and they often take over the room. Be careful if you're in the same area they're in. They can be infectious and dominate you.

Radio is a good metaphor here. Many of you who are reading this article know this law of the universe: If you are vibrating high, you attract high vibration people; if you are vibrating low, you attract low vibration people. If the radio dial had 100 at the top-100 frequency and you are vibrating at 98.5, you are bouncing really high and your waves are magnetic. You can control a room. I also tell sales reps if they are having a bad day, stay off the phone. People can feel you on the phone too.

Last week I was in Houston and spent a good deal of time at my local Starbucks. It?s a great place to "people watch" and I also see a lot of good sales reps come in and out of Starbucks. Some of us need that caffeine.

One evening, I came through the door at 9:30 p.m. Often I can feel energy shifting when someone is dominating the room, or in this case, the inside of the Starbucks. As soon as I opened the door I felt something different. I noticed a young woman to my right addressing two gentlemen at a table and speaking with authority. Her back was to me as she was facing the wall and she had one man on her right and one on her left. I would find out later that the man on her right was an associate. I sat behind her about six feet away and watched and listened. I could hear most of what she was saying and noticed how each man was reacting. She was making a sales presentation. After about 10 minutes, they all left.

I continued working on my computer until 10:00 p.m. when Starbucks closed. I walked outside and the woman was sitting at a table. I pulled up next to her at another table. She was on her smartphone. When she was done, I leaned over and asked her what she did. She replied that she was in sales.

Obviously. She came over to my table and we struck up a sales conversation. She asked me what I did and I gave her a copy of my book "The Liquid Fire." She then controlled the conversation by asking closed-ended questions that can only be answered with a yes or no. Closed-ended questions guide and lead you in the selling process. ?Isn?t that what you want?? ?That?s right, isn?t it?? ?You want to feel success, don?t you?? Hmmm. Who does this at such a young age? I would find out she was a University of Colorado graduate, 25 years old, and a real estate agent.

This night, she was selling another service on the side, for a communications company. 9:30 p.m. making a sales presentation! Hungry sales rep! She was professionally dressed head to toe. I asked her who trained her, as I thought it was highly unusual for someone of her age to be so well trained in sales. Her real estate company had trained her and she had just got back from a John Maxwell leadership conference. Enough said. I thought she would be a great rep for media sales and I?m always looking to recruit good talent. I also told her I wasn?t looking for a date. She blew me away with her sales presentations skills. She shifted the energy in Starbucks as I had been in there quite often and had felt the difference with her presence. She was vibrating high and really had a passion for what she was selling. I was impressed.

She then asked me several open-ended questions and one was: What are your favorite quotes? Who asks these things at this age? Hmmm. I responded with:

Peter Drucker: A manager?s number-one job responsibility is to control his or her own energy and, number two, control the energy of those around them.

Tom Peters: Life is simple. You do some stuff. Most of it fails and some of it works. Do more stuff that works.

Maya Angelou: People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.

She told me that she had a problem closing the sales calls and that sometimes she was afraid to ask for the money. I told her that, as I listened to her presentation and observed her, she had the prospect right in the palm of her hand half an half hour ago and he was waiting for her to close him. She nodded and understood. She asked me if I could help her with her closing technique. I leaned into her and told her from now on, to lean into the prospect and look them in the eyes and tell them, ?Let?s get started!?

She took the neuro-linguistic (mirroring the other person?s body language) cue and leaned into me and said, ?Let?s get started.? Somehow, I think you were "stringing me" the whole time, Sonia.

Sean Luce is the Head National Instructor for the Luce Performance Group and can be reached at Sean@luceperformancegroup.com or www.luceperformancegroup.com.

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