Yearly Archives: 2017

Your Most Valuable Radio Sales Lesson

This is a first! We don’t usually publish an ENS on Sales this time of year because of the low open rates during the holiday period. We’ve made an exception this week for two reasons:

1.)  Roy Williams’ last Monday Morning Memo just before Christmas was so profound we wanted to bring it to your attention, and

2.)  We’re assuming those who are picking up their emails during the holiday period are the industry’s movers and shakers.

So here is what Roy wrote in his final Monday Morning Memo just before Christmas:

“The thing that makes me look at the ground, shake my head and sigh is the dangerous myth of the Zero Moment of Truth. But then again, Google is the new Yellow Pages, so it shouldn’t surprise us that they’ve repackaged and renamed the old Yellow Pages scare tactic.The fundamental premise of the Zero Moment of Truth is that the customer is going to go online when they’re ready to purchase what you sell.I have no argument with that.But the dangerous, underlying assumption is that all contenders are equal during the Zero Moment of Truth. But that simply isn’t true.The company most likely to get the click, the call, and the sale is the company the customer has heard of and has good feelings about.The tortoise patiently wins the hearts of the people long before the race is begun. He says he’s ‘bonding with tomorrow’s customers’.‘Stupid tortoise,’ says the rabbit, ‘he still believes in branding.’Have you heard how that race turned out?

‘Knowledge is power’ is another dangerous myth.

It doesn’t matter what you know.
What matters is what you do with what you know.

So what are you going to do?”

 -Roy Williams, Monday Morning Memo, December 18, 2017

You know Roy’s words of wisdom are true, but what are you doing to prove it to your local advertisers?

 

Our local TOMA, Top-of-Mind Awareness, surveys prove what you know to be true, and they open new advertisers’ doors and minds every week. Roy says, “I’ve long suggested that radio stations fund a TOMA study every two years. Few things are as valuable in the eyes of advertisers as these revealing market snapshots.”

Your local TOMA survey will:

 

1.)  Prove your listeners prefer to click on the businesses they’ve heard of when they do their online search

 

2.)  Prove the link between share of voice, share of mind and share of market

 

3.)  Give your salespeople a powerful tool to capture new business appointments

 

But wait…there’s more! Click here to arrange an online demo of what our TOMA and SoundADvice radio e-marketing systems can do to increase your sales in the New Year.

Your Most Valuable Radio Sales Lesson

This is a first! We don’t usually publish an ENS on Sales this time of year because of the low open rates during the holiday period. We’ve made an exception this week for two reasons:

1.)  Roy Williams’ last Monday Morning Memo just before Christmas was so profound we wanted to bring it to your attention, and

2.)  We’re assuming those who are picking up their emails during the holiday period are the industry’s movers and shakers.

 So here is what Roy wrote in his final Monday Morning Memo just before Christmas:

“The thing that makes me look at the ground, shake my head and sigh is the dangerous myth of the Zero Moment of Truth. But then again, Google is the new Yellow Pages, so it shouldn’t surprise us that they’ve repackaged and renamed the old Yellow Pages scare tactic.
The fundamental premise of the Zero Moment of Truth is that the customer is going to go online when they’re ready to purchase what you sell.
I have no argument with that.
But the dangerous, underlying assumption is that all contenders are equal during the Zero Moment of Truth. But that simply isn’t true.

The company most likely to get the click, the call, and the sale is the company the customer has heard of and has good feelings about.

The tortoise patiently wins the hearts of the people long before the race is begun. He says he’s ‘bonding with tomorrow’s customers’.

‘Stupid tortoise,’ says the rabbit, ‘he still believes in branding.’

Have you heard how that race turned out?

‘Knowledge is power’ is another dangerous myth.

It doesn’t matter what you know.
What matters is what you do with what you know.

So what are you going to do?”

-Roy Williams, Monday Morning Memo, December 18, 2017

You know Roy’s words of wisdom are true, but what are you doing to prove it to your local advertisers?

Our local TOMA, Top-of-Mind Awareness, surveys prove what you know to be true, and they open new advertisers’ doors and minds every week.

Roy says, “I’ve long suggested that radio stations fund a TOMA study every two years. Few things are as valuable in the eyes of advertisers as these revealing market snapshots.”

Your local TOMA survey will:

1.) Prove your listeners prefer to click on the businesses they’ve heard of when they do their online search

2.) Prove the link between share of voice, share of mind and share of market

3.) Give your salespeople a powerful tool to capture new business appointments

But wait…there’s more! Click here to arrange an online demo of what our TOMA and SoundADvice radio e-marketing systems can do to increase your sales in the New Year.

A Politically-Incorrect Message  

Those of you who have been receiving our ENS on Sales over the last twenty years, know it’s time for my annual politically incorrect “Merry Christmas” message. (Although, I’m increasingly convinced that ‘politically correct’ is an oxymoron because I don’t know any politicians who are ‘correct.’ They all seem to care more about getting elected than they do about doing what’s right.)

I used to agonize over whether I should say “Merry Christmas” because not everyone celebrates this Christian event.

But I believe in recognizing the role that history and heritage play in making people, nations, businesses, and cultures what they are, and Christmas is a part of the North American heritage I’m not ready to deny.

I’m not offended when a friend wishes me Happy Hanukah, and I feel honored when another friend invites me to her faith’s New Year’s celebration in November. There is no denying that Christianity played a role in making North America what it is today…..good or bad.

And I’ve never seen anyone from any faith object to getting a day off on December 25th, even though they know how the holiday originated, so Merry Christmas everyone!

‘Tis the season to rejoice and count our blessings.

As you take time over the holidays, I invite you to reflect upon how fortunate we are to be in this business.

We get paid for helping other people, it doesn’t get any better than that!

Whether we’re helping charitable organizations with a fund-raising campaign, or helping a business to grow and provide more employment with our advertising campaigns, we’re helping, informing and entertaining people every day!

Those people who punch a clock or work on an assembly line can only fantasize about having the opportunity to work with the diverse and creative group of peers we see every day. Some of us are wacky, some disciplined and some adventurous and others are focused…..together we produce a product and service like no other!

And we have a purpose bigger than ourselves! We transform lives. We help needy children by promoting Christmas toy drives. We entertain people, adding laughter, music, and insight to their otherwise boring lives. We keep people informed, make them think, and even let them know if they’ll need an overcoat on the way to work today.

We help them avoid traffic jams and to make enlightened decisions at election time.

For the most part, our jobs are not hazardous, we don’t brave the elements on a daily basis, and I don’t see a lot of calluses or sore backs in our business.

I heard an interview with country singer Kenny Rogers where he said: “Find a way to get paid for doing something you love and you’ll never have to work a day in your life.” I think that’s where all of us in broadcasting are.

So merry ….happy……greetings……season’s…… wishes….. however you say it, we wish you all the best in 2018 and beyond. Merry Christmas from Wayne, Angela, Rick and Belinda at ENS Media Inc!

It’s About Respect!

Salespeople often talk about the importance of establishing great customer relationships, but often drive a wedge between themselves and their ‘internal customers.’

What’s an internal customer?

An internal customer is anyone in your station who can have an impact upon your sales and your advertisers. It’s the creative, production, programming, promotions and traffic people whom you depend upon to deliver the promises and the results that you promised your external customers.

One of the most common disrupters to harmonious internal customer relationships is deadlines that are too tight, or worse yet, deadlines that are not adhered to.

I hate to say it, but with few exceptions, there are no “emergency” broadcast orders.

Broadcast entities are not a hospital or accident scene, and no one dies if the order starts Tuesday instead of Monday.

Our ’emergencies’ are self-created when we don’t educate the client about the necessity of our deadlines, or when we’re just plain negligent and simply wait until the deadline to get our butts in gear.

Short or missed deadlines increase your margin for error, show a total lack of respect for the work of others. If you can’t say ‘no’ to late orders you are not really an account ‘manager’ at all.

Some clients will push the envelope as far as you have educated them that they can get away with. The irony is, they’ll get better creative, fewer errors, and better results if you managed their campaigns further in advance.

The most productive sales forces I see across the continent are the ones where sales is not a ‘department’ but is a harmonious part of the entire station team where everyone has fun and fosters respect for each other.

As we near the Christmas season, I’m reminded of stations I’ve seen where traffic and production people had to work late into the afternoon of Christmas Eve to process ‘late’ orders, while the sales people are out doing their last-minute shopping.

If you are one of those stations, I can promise you your sales are suffering because you’re fighting an uphill battle with your internal customers all year long. On the other hand, creating longer, firmer, deadlines will produce better internal customer relationships, which in turn produce better campaigns, better results and merrier Christmases and happier weekends for everyone.

Transitioning from the Front Lines, to the Front of the Front Lines

There is no denying that experience can be a great teacher. But all too often we promote our best ‘experienced’ sales people to sales managers with no management training or safety net.  It’s not fair to the newly appointed manager, to their staffs, nor to the company.

Having a successful track record in sales enables the newly appointed manager to capture the respect and credibility necessary to lead; that’s a good thing.  But the skill sets she/he acquired as a sales person do not necessarily equip them to be great managers.

I’ve had the heart-breaking experience of seeing dedicated passionate sales leaders crash and burn in management roles. Not because they didn’t have the work ethic, desire, intelligence or integrity to succeed, but simply because they were given the title, an office, and told “good luck”!

And it can be intimidating for a new manager saddled with a truckload of new tasks to ask for coaching or training for fear they might appear weak or incompetent in their new role.
I do admire the intent of companies that prefer to promote from within.

If you do promote from within and want to see your candidate succeed, consider doing two things;
1.) Hire a management coach to confidentially mentor their growth.
2.) Invest in management training to ensure their continued success.

To not do so is unfair to your new manager, their staffs, your customers and your company.