Fred Jacobs
by Fred Jacobs
With apologies to J.F.K., this “Programming to Win” piece is about sales. By the time you read it, America will have elected a new President, and perhaps there will be a collective sense of optimism as we head into the new year. But for radio, the winds of change are upon us whether the economy recovers quickly or not, as company after company makes the difficult decisions that accompany a genuine crisis.
As we well know, Radio was sputtering well before the economy cratered. At many stations, revenues have trailed ratings in an unprecedented fashion. In fact, the model is clearly broken. There are scores of stations across the country that are regularly achieving their ratings goals, but falling well short in sales. No longer do stations automatically “get on the buy” because of their rank. In fact, operations that had it easy over the years because they cruised along with consistently good Arbitron numbers, now find themselves adrift, frustrated, and confused about where the revenue has gone.
There has been a great deal written about how radio reps need to get away from the time-honored practice of running around with rate cards, selling 30- and 60-second spots. Today, retailers and businesses are concerned about results – not ratings.
While I will leave the major dilemma of how to regenerate sales to the “experts” in that field, this PTW article is about how programmers can reinvent themselves and their stations, and help generate sales for their stations. This may not be part of their job descriptions, but as PDs are finding out, the resources they need to in order to create great content – on the air and online – are dwindling because of falling sales. It’s a nasty cycle, because programming cuts (staff, research, marketing, consulting) will only lead to a more mediocre product, which will beget lousier sales – and so on.
Now for most PDs and jocks, part of the reason why they chose the product side in the first place was because they couldn’t picture themselves in sales. For years in radio, the rift between programming and sales was akin to a Yankees-Red Sox rivalry. Yes, we were all in the same business, but the cultural, economic, and psychological differences between the departments were vast.
That’s not the case today. As my dear old Dad was fond of reminding me, “We’re all in sales.” And those words resonate today as programmers and talent would do well to rethink their job duties and their missions in the current environment. Your music scheduling skills and your deep voice may be impressive, but they will not guarantee your continued employment or the survival of your station and its format.
The fact is, PDs and jocks can make a difference in sales, but it will take some redefinition and rethinking in order to help your station succeed in 2009. Here are some ways to help your station get healthy and survive radio’s recession:
Make 10 sales calls – Get the lay of the land. What are advertisers saying? What are their needs? How has the economic downturn impacted these businesses, and what problems can you imagine your station solving for them? (And make sure you visit quality advertisers, not strip clubs or tattoo parlors.)
Sit in on sales meetings – Get a feel for the dynamic in the room. Who are the salespeople with a future (or a good past), and who’s just passing through? Who can you learn from? Who can you help? What are their needs, and how might your department help them accomplish their goals (while helping you accomplish yours)?
Stop making lists of sponsorable promotions and events – It is no longer sufficient for PDs to simply submit a list of events, festivals, promotions, and stunts that can be sponsored. By now, we know the results – most of them fall by the wayside, rarely generating revenue. Part of the reason could be that the sales reps aren’t always commissioned on these events. But another is that most salespeople may not have the tools or information necessary to make the sale. Or, they’re talking to the media buyer who values cost efficiency instead of recognizing the value of affiliation with a great promotion and your station. Instead, focus on reimagining events, considering desirable sponsors, and crafting ways to integrate advertisers in ways that can generate store traffic and/or sales.
“Reverse engineer” – Instead of just trying to retrofit existing events to potential advertisers, approach it differently. What is the audience into – technology, sports, restaurants, movies, etc. And what do your station’s key advertisers need? Is there a way to marry the interests of your listeners and the desires of your clients to everyone’s advantage? Between features, podcasts, blogs, and other tools, you may be able to create saleable vehicles that meet multiple needs.
Then go out and sell them – No one has more passion for your events, features, stunts, or web promotions than you. NTR is the big opportunity – the only category at most stations that’s increasing. As the programmer, you probably created most of the features and events on the air now, and you may be the most qualified and persuasive in explaining them to clients. The reason why so many events remain unsponsored is that they may be too complex for the average salesperson to communicate. Many reps have been using the “low hanging fruit” sales approach for years, so high-concept events and promotions are daunting for them to sell. This is where you come in. If you truly believe in an event or a promotion, sell it yourself.
Rethink your database – If you have a viable email loyalty club, chances are it is totally under-utilized by the other side of the building. While you never want to simply turn over these valuable legions of listeners to sales, you can creatively use your database to generate sales, and to provide great deals for your increasingly thrifty audience. Resurvey your database, determine who’s interested in receiving clients coupons/discounts, and find out about their consumption and buying habits. Who goes to concerts, buys jewelry, and is in the market for a new car or truck? If you’re using a research company or you have a consultant, put them to work to help you construct questionnaires and systems to accomplish these tasks using web research firms like Survey Monkey. (If they have no idea what you’re talking about, fire them and hire researchers and consultants who have a clue.)
Become your own research company – Many local clients are bootstrap entrepreneurs. They know what they know, but may be out of touch with their base – or potential customers. Once again, here’s where your database comes into play. Once you determine your listeners’ buying habits, you can field in-station Listener , Advisory Board groups that are segmented by category. For example, you could recruit a car buyer’s session that would help your station’s biggest automotive advertiser(s) or a local dealer group better understand market conditions and potentials. As researchers will tell you, when you control the information, you can set your own agenda. Again, your consultant or research firm should be qualified to help you accomplish this task.
Bring your station’s departments together – The “silo system” that defines most radio stations, where sales meets independent of programming, is antiquated and counter-productive to achieving your station’s revenue goals. Break down the barriers and push for meetings where the key departments meet together to discuss the greater potential of station events and initiatives that can work for programming, sales, marketing, and digital. This is the essence of the W.T.D.A. initiative (“What’s the digital application?”) we launched earlier this year, and we’ve seen it work. We’re all in this together, so why not sit around the same table, and work on opportunities as a group?
Upgrade your station’s event execution – For too long, the proliferation of “value added” appearances and events has insidiously eroded their overall quality. There’s not much “value” when the station rolls out a rickety card table with an unshaven intern handing out bumperstickers. While you may be pressed financially, injecting professionalism into events and appearances are part of your station regaining a foothold into making a difference at the local level. Set higher standards, and push your staff to live up to them. Your on-the-ground presence is something that Steve Jobs and the Google guys cannot match. It is your “secret sauce,” but only if you set the bar high, and make events fun and professional.
Don’t use sales copy to market your events on the air – Promos that contain the basic facts without the emotion have less likelihood to be successful. Save the details for the website, and use your air to paint pictures with lots of imagery and passion. Remember that your goal is to get to listeners’ hearts, and not just their ears.
Identify your real on-air talent – By that, I’m referring to the jocks that bring more to the table than just having great pipes and consistent format execution. Who are the DJs with the warmth, connections, and presence that can effectively work with advertisers? All it takes is a couple, and you have the makings of your own sales force. Have them make strategic client calls, hook them up with advertisers who enjoy hanging with celebrities at your promotions, concerts, and sporting events. If you’re paying big salaries to jocks, part of that investment should be in sharing their celebrity with clients and sponsors. Once again, it is a proprietary asset that Sirius, Pandora, and YouTube cannot match. If your G.M. won’t commission them on sales they help generate, you may have the ability to supply them with perks that can make their sales participation worth their time.
Become proactive – Sitting in your office, waiting for sales and revenue opportunities to materialize will not make the difference for your station in the coming year. Become accessible, take charge, and be a leader. You and your department have assets that are probably being under-utilized by the station and your sales staff. If the station’s account reps can’t get it done, take charge, grab the reins, and make it happen.
Redefine your role – This entire piece is about change, perhaps the watchword of this past year. In your own career and your place on the station’s employee flow chart, this is the time to rethink your responsibilities and step it up. At many stations, with all due respect to upper management, there’s often a leadership vacuum. General Managers are struggling to perform their duties, strapped with the task of running multiple stations, while fending off corporate demands. You and your staff can play that wingman role, but it’s going to start with revenue generation – and not just by scoring great rating books.
Adversity breeds opportunity, and there’s no better moment than right now, as you head off to some well-earned vacation time at the end of the year, to reconsider your job and your role. Companies will be asking their staffs to produce more in 2009, but think about how you and your programming staff might make a more significant and meaningful contribution.
We started this piece with J.F.K., so let’s use his wit and wisdom to close it out:
“There are risks and costs to a program of action. But they are far less than the long-range risks and costs of comfortable inaction.”
Fred Jacobs is President of Jacobs Media. The Southfield, Michigan based firm consults many of America’s most successful Classic Rock, Mainstream Rock, and Alternative stations. Fred can be reached at (248) 353-9030 or fredjacobs@jacobsmedia.com.
