Yearly Archives: 2011

Preparing Fish and Tarter

Fish and Tarter Sauce

           Motivational speaker Zig Ziglar once said, “An optimist is someone who goes after Moby Dick in a rowboat and takes a jar of tartar sauce”.
          While the image that quote conjures up might bring a smile to your lips, there is something to be said about tackling a project equipped as if the project was already a success.
          I recently surveyed a group of radio and TV sales people to determine why their digital sales lagged in a world where digital media advertising is growing by leaps and bounds.
          The number one answer might surprise you.
          Most of the respondents lacked confidence in their station’s abilities and resources to deliver quality digital products and results.
          They simply weren’t presenting digital advertising solutions to their clients to avoid embarrassment or letting their clients down.
          If you’re serious about increasing your digital sales, go out and get the tarter sauce! Employ the training, staff and back-end resources to give your account executives the resources they need to feel confident in presenting your digital offerings.

Too Many Directions

Are You Pulled In Too Many Directions?

            A January 2011 study by Booz & Company reveals many executives feel pulled in too many directions and their company’s capabilities don’t support their strategies or initiatives.
  • 64% of executives say that their biggest frustration factor is “having too many conflicting priorities”.
  • 56% of executives report that their biggest challenge is allocating resources in a way that really supports strategy.
  • Half of the executives (50%) consider setting a clear and differentiating strategy a significant challenge.
  • Most executives (81%) say growth initiatives lead to waste, at least some of the time.
           Does this sound familiar? Are you trying to launch new revenue initiatives while making this month’s budget? Or trying to grasp a long-term web strategy while recruiting and training new sales people to sell your core product?
           Is your copy writer expected to pump out 40 spots a day, but one of them has to be an award winner to attract a new account?
          Does your selling system clearly differentiate you from the competition, or are you using the same basic Customer Needs Analysis and media kits as every other media in town?
          Maybe it’s time to outsource some of your initiatives.
          Outsourcing your training, new product launches or new revenue initiatives has a number of advantages;
1.      Consultants do not add fixed costs to your balance sheet. When the project is completed, they’re gone.
2.      Consultants bring more objective insight to all of your projects.
3.      Consultants can free your time to do what you do best.
4.      Recognizing the need for outsourcing is a sign of strength. All top performers from Wayne Gretsky to Magic Johnson have benefited from professional coaching.
 
Randy’s What If: What if you were able to engage ENS Media Inc. to ensure the successful introduction, implementation and completion of just one of the projects on your plate?
 

Perception is Reality

Perception is Reality

          The easiest decision maker to sell your advertising to is one who listens to your station. They listen because they like what you do, and they become part of your culture; familiar with your features, your announcers and your music.
          And demographics and psychographics dictate that most of their friends have the same likes and dislikes and listen to you too, creating the perception among them that ‘everyone’ listens to you.
          But how do you create the perception that your station has a huge and loyal following if your prospect doesn’t listen to you?
          Never underestimate the power of in-market visibility and one-on-one connecting!
          You may be facilitating promotions that place you front and center in various communities within your community to build audience, but I would submit to you these promotions do as much or more for advertiser perceptions of your station.
          That block party promotion that placed your street team and your sponsors front and center where your prospect lives can create an invaluable perception for your station.
          And the business owner who sees your station’s window sticker in dozens of cars on her way to work every morning perceives their prospects are listening to you.
          A recent Inside Radio article said, “Increasingly, it’s what happens off-air, not ‘between the records’, that differentiates stations. Differentiating a station’s brand from its competitors’ has become increasingly difficult in an era when most stations have access to the same music and research tools”.
          DMR President Jim Eldredge says, "Differentiate by connecting in new ways and by connecting holistically, so that you’re setting yourself apart from competitors in deeply meaningful ways. It’s that connection off the air that builds mind share”.
          And this is even more important when it comes to branding your station with business owners who do not listen to your station. What perception does your remote set-up create in the mind of a business owner who doesn’t listen to your station, but sees your set-up?
          What perception does the announcer who meets a business owner at a community event create? And how often is your street team really visible and on the street?
          These off-air promotions might not win a business owner over as a listener, but they certainly increase your odds of being able to discuss including your station in their next ad campaign.
 
Randy’s “what if” you arranged to have your street team set up at a prospect’s place of business for a short period, announcing give-aways.

Budgets Vs Targets

Budgets Versus Targets

           All the signs are there….our economy is slowly on the rise. I’m reading stories about things like a projected 8.7% increase in advertising this year, and talking to happier media people every day.
          Many of the stations I’m talking to are telling me they’ve hit budget three months in a row. But when someone tells me they are consistently at 100 or 101% of budget, I often wonder if they’d still be at budget if the budget was higher. I think they would.
          Many of our budgets were set during less optimistic times. And the problem I see today is not that we are setting our targets too high and missing them, but that we are setting our targets too low and hitting them!
          If you set a 5% increase in your budget, but the market is up 8%, you’re actually falling behind.
          Budgets are usually set for accounting purposes, and keeping them low helps keep our costs low as well. But there should be a difference between your budget and your target.
          Targets can be a great motivational tool to push people to new heights beyond their comfort zones. Targets need to be fluid, not fixed like budgets, to ensure maximum performance and productivity. See the ‘Even Eagles Need a Push’ three-minute video at this link;
            The thrill of soaring can be greater than the fear of falling.
 
Randy’s What If; What if you had additional incentives for achieving realistic targets that pushed your people beyond your budgets?

Clients by Design

Clients by Design

          Over the last few weeks I’ve been reflecting on how ‘lucky’ I am to have such a progressive and honorable bunch of clients.
          Recently I had made a mistake and grossly under quoted a client on a project, but I was willing to live with my mistake. The client found out about my mistake and stepped up to the plate and offered to pay the proper rate.
          Other clients, even though they’ve been in ‘the biz’ for years, continue to surprise me with their willingness to change and grow.
          Upon further reflection, I‘ve come to the conclusion that all of us get the kinds of clients we deserve by design!
          If we’re hard selling, slick talking, or underhanded in our business practices, we’re going to attract low-life clients. If the only way we capture business is through self-interest packages or deep discounts, we’re probably attracting hard to please, low profit and slow pay clients.
          ENS Media Inc. has literally NO slow pay clients! And while I was thinking about my good fortune, my wife and business partner (who used to be a car salesperson J) said, “I’ve never met anyone in business with as much integrity as you.”
          Maybe we have great clients by design?
          Think about the kind of clients you enjoy doing business with and the way they do business. Then do business with the same ethics and principles your best clients exhibit. I’m betting you’ll attract the clients you deserve…clients by design! 
 
P.S. Thanks great clients!!
 
Randy Redden’s What If: What if instead of fighting about rate with your bottom feeders, you focused on super-service and a premium customer loyalty program that rewarded your best customers?