Making Magic Happen Between Programming and Sales
By Buzz Knight
Buzz Knight
2022 is a crucial year for the Radio Industry to show how every opportunity for growth can occur within the often-complicated relationship between Programming and Sales. This dance of turf protection between both departments has been well chronicled for decades like a dark comedy. The tension when you witness the in-person dynamics at many operations can be cut like a knife. Both parties often just think of themselves, not the larger goal at hand.
Many times, a General Manager or Market Manager is designated as the referee or mediator, but this person is left flummoxed to get what is most important done. Then there are the perfectly harmonious relationships which do exist and when you observe them, they resemble a finely tuned orchestra. Both sides enjoy the collaboration and seem to genuinely enjoy each other as people thereby creating ratings and revenue success. When this result occurs, it is rarified air.
In 2022, it’s vital that every opportunity be maximized when it comes to revenue prospects and market dominance. The “we’ve always done it this way approach” by both departments should not be the answer. How can two of the most crucial departments in any radio operation execute this year and perform at the highest level?
A good beginning is for both the programming leader and sales leader to develop an agreed upon brand message. As step one the Program Director should refine and define the elevator pitch for the radio station. The elevator pitch is a very concise presentation of an idea covering all the critical aspects of the brand delivered within a few seconds (the appropriate duration of an elevator ride.) Many times, this important core foundation is assumed to be known and agreed upon by everyone and the work to clearly focus the pitch is not put in by programming and sales. The Brand Manager/Program Director is the person with the keys to the kingdom who lives and breathes with passion the mission of the product and they should boldly drive this conversation. They are the advocate to best articulate these thoughts with extreme passion to rev up the efforts on behalf of the brand. It’s just as important for a programmer to go through the elevator pitch exercise for their internal team as it is for the sales/programming relationship. Whether for the beginning of a year, for client upfronts or for a big sales pitch the PD is the person who should live and breathe this.
If you are a Programmer how ready are YOU to meet that challenge and define your course for the year ahead? Have you sat down with your team to review your elevator pitch for clarity and focus? Just deferring to positioning statements is not enough to properly “sell the sizzle.” In fact, this is the lazy way out. Your station’s unique selling proposition should take your position in the market and add colorful detail. Why should the consumer pick you? Why do they hire you? What makes your brand so special? All important questions to thoughtfully sift through.
I remember some years ago sitting at a big cluster sales roll-out and one of the exercises for that event was the delivering of the “pitch” by the PD to the room of attendees. This was a great exercise because it forced specific planning for this message to be articulated. It was interesting to watch the reaction of those in the room particularly those in sales. If a programmer mailed in this exercise, you could sense it with the body language in the room. Conversely, if a programmer succeeded in identifying the unique aspects of the brand that proved market differentiation the room knew it. Much different than the possible scenario of being caught in an elevator with a C-Suite Executive who checks his watch every three seconds because of his or her type A personality. In that case you better get it right because that moment can define the relationship moving forward.
If you are the GM or Market Manager, you need to work with your Brand Manager to define and distill the brand promise with simplicity and focus. A brilliant elevator pitch is like gold! Clarity and colorful so everyone gets it without ambiguity.
There are some additional great exercises for a PD or Brand Manager to polish their personal brand moving forward: Does the PD know who the top ten clients are? Do they know the existing strongest categories of revenue along with targeted categories for the future? Is a programmer following new marketplace trends that might lead to new business opportunities?
When programming knows who sales is targeting, they are better armed to potentially find solutions to new or existing opportunities. When a programmer shows a keen interest in this process it can open new doors that can enhance the brand with new promotional opportunities that can be of cume urgent interest to the listeners and in turn make an impact on ratings. This is especially crucial in an era of minimal marketing dollars managers of brands. This is another valuable exercise to improve the dynamic between sales and programming. It’s about closing that gap and improving the relationship. If the programmer does not know the answer it does not mean they do not care. Knowing the answer also encourages better creative solutions when dollars are up for grabs in a market. If you are the GM, encourage programmers to seek out this information.
Who is on the top ten target client list? This is another important piece of information that opens the doors to conversations that are critical to the success of the operation. Once again, this may not be readily available information for the PD to have but the programmer should be encouraged to learn this information.
Knowledge breeds creativity and curiosity on how to make something stronger. Let us bring our two important departments together and wow the marketplace. This is a priority nobody can dispute in 2022.
Buzz Knight is a former Greater Media and Beasley Media Group Senior Programming executive who has established Buzz Knight Media, a multi- service firm supporting a variety of multi-media needs and requirements.
