Author Archives: ensonsales

About ensonsales

Duane Christensen leads ENS Media and is the owner / operator of 9 Yards Marketing. For more than 20 years, he’s worked alongside local radio stations, advertising clients and media sales teams—helping businesses communicate better and helping salespeople become more useful to their customers. He writes ENS on Sales with one goal: practical ideas radio and media sellers can actually use.

Things That Go Bump in the Sales Department

Halloween has always been a lot of fun for me.

The costumes. The creativity. The candy. The perfectly reasonable excuse for a grown adult to dress like a 7-foot banana.

What’s not to love?

And if you’ve spent a good chunk of your life in radio sales, you’ll realize something.

We don’t need Halloween to encounter some interesting characters.

The Ghost. 👻
That prospect who loved your proposal, promised to call Tuesday, then vanished into thin air.

The Vampire. 🧛
That client who wants to suck every last dollar out of your rate card.
“How about some bonus spots? Live mentions? A free remote?”

The Zombie. 🧟
That prospect who’s been saying “Call me next month” since approximately 2017.

The Werewolf. 🐺
The client who transforms into an expert copywriter when they don’t quite “get” what you’ve created for them.

And finally, The Mad Scientist. 🧪
My personal favorite.

The salesperson who experiments. Tries unusual ideas. Writes commercials that sound different.
Sometimes the experiment blows up. Sometimes it creates a monster of a successful campaign. But at least they’re creating something.

So, this Halloween, I’ll leave you with one thought:

You are the mad scientist, and the world is your laboratory.

Go experiment. Try something weird. Have some fun.

And if something blows up, well… that’s why laboratories have fire extinguishers.

Happy Halloween! 🎃

Want a useful Radio sales idea like this every week in your inbox?
ENS on Sales is FREE and written for Radio salespeople and managers who want to sell smarter, create better advertising, and grow more revenue.
Subscribe to ENS on Sales →

Could your entire sales team benefit from having a better reason to contact advertisers every single week? You bet it could! SoundADvice gives your entire radio sales team practical, advertiser-focused content designed to help open more doors, protect more clients, and create more revenue.

Email me at [email protected] and I’ll send you the important details about our SoundADvice program. It costs less than three lattes a week.

Not Every Business Needs Radio

Sometimes I think I look at billboards just to torture myself.

I saw a billboard for a company that rents townhomes. At least, I THINK that’s what they do. Their name was enormous, but I practically needed binoculars and a stoplight to read what they actually offered.

It was basically a very expensive name tag. I didn’t even recognize the name.

Could the billboard be better? Absolutely. Something like, “Outgrowing Your Apartment? Rent a Townhome.”

But wait. That might convince someone to start looking for a townhome… but does nothing to convince them to rent from THIS company.

Their advertising could end up making their competitors very happy.

So, could Radio work for them?

Absolutely. Especially, when I can use 30 or 60 seconds versus seven.

But first, I’d want some answers. How many vacancies do they have? What makes their townhomes special? What’s a new long-term renter worth to them? Are they planning to grow?

If they have plenty of vacancies and something truly unique that we could build some emotionally compelling ads around, I might get pretty excited about selling them Radio.

But if they’re just looking to fill a handful of vacancies, Zillow or some well-placed Google Ads might make more sense.

Just because a business CAN buy Radio doesn’t mean it SHOULD.

And that brings me to PROSPECTING.

Are you spending your valuable time chasing businesses simply because they might buy Radio? Or are you pursuing businesses with the potential to become happy, long-term advertisers?

Be selective. Look for businesses with growth potential, passion for what they do (this is a big one), adequate budgets, and a willingness to invest in building their brand over time. Businesses you can truly help grow.

Because the more happy, long-term clients you develop, the less you’ll stress about whether you can hit your numbers or not.

You’ll be happier. Management will be happier. Your clients will be happier.

And those short-term advertising dollars you pick up along the way?

That’s just gravy.

Sometimes the smartest sales decision you make is deciding who NOT to sell.

Email me at [email protected] and I’ll send you the important details about our SoundADvice program. It costs less than three lattes a week.

Hello?! You’re Selling the Leader!

Somewhere along the way, radio salespeople started acting like AM/FM radio was the underdog.

Like we need to apologize for selling it.

HELLO?! Have you looked at the numbers?

According to Edison Research’s Share of Ear study, AM/FM radio accounts for approximately 70% of all ad-supported audio listening time among adults 35 and older (you know the ones – those people who tend to have more disposable income).

Podcasts? Around 15%. Ad-supported streaming music? Roughly 10–13%.

Radio isn’t fighting for scraps. It’s still the biggest piece of the pie!

Everywhere you look, there’s another headline about podcasts, streaming audio, and other digital platforms. And yes, they’re growing. But with all that noise, it’s easy to forget who’s still dominating ad-supported audio listening.

And don’t confuse all those fancy digital reports filled with impressions, completion rates, and other metrics with actual advertising effectiveness.

But since when did having more reports make something a better advertising medium?!

Think about billboards. Advertisers spend thousands on them with little more than estimations. Nobody gets a report showing exactly how many drivers looked up from their steering wheel and actually noticed the sign. Yet billboards keep selling! Funny how some advertisers demand a microscope for radio but are perfectly happy with a traffic count for billboards.

AM/FM radio delivers enormous reach, habitual listening, and opportunities for consistent repetition. And when paired with great creative, it can build a business into a household name.

Sure, digital advertising provides useful reporting. But a spreadsheet full of impressions doesn’t automatically translate into more customers or more money in the cash register.

And neither does a poorly written radio ad, no matter how many people hear it.

Your job is to understand how radio works, learn how to make it work for advertisers, and SELL THAT VALUE with confidence.

Stop selling schedules and start selling good strategies and 48 to 52-week contracts. Stop apologizing for the medium you’re representing.

You’ve got a powerful product. Learn the research. Know the numbers. Explain the benefits. And write better ads!

You’re not selling yesterday’s medium. You’re selling one of today’s most powerful ways to build tomorrow’s customers.

Cheers!

Want a useful Radio sales idea like this every week?
ENS on Sales is free and written for Radio salespeople and managers who want to sell smarter, create better advertising, and grow more revenue.
Subscribe to ENS on Sales →

Would your sales team benefit from having a better reason to contact advertisers every single week? SoundADvice gives your entire radio sales team practical, advertiser-focused content designed to help open more doors, protect more clients, and create more revenue.

Email me at [email protected] and I’ll send you the important details about our SoundADvice program. It costs less than three lattes a week.

If You’re Waiting for Renewal Time, You’re Already Late

When do you start working on a client’s renewal?

If your answer is, “A couple weeks before the contract ends,” you may already be too late.

Especially if you want more dollars.

Waiting until the last minute usually creates one of two outcomes:

“Let’s just do what we did last year.”

Or…

“Can we talk about this in a few weeks?”

Congratulations. You’ve successfully scheduled another meeting. I’ve done it more than once – and kicked myself every time.

A renewal shouldn’t begin with a contract. It should begin with a conversation – preferably 60 to 90 days before the current agreement ends.

And don’t walk in saying, “It’s renewal time!” Nothing gets the blood pumping quite like those three words.

Instead, start talking about next year.

What does the client want to accomplish?
What could be working better?
What should you change?
What new idea could help them grow?

Then go back to work.

Create a better campaign. Bring them a promotion. Develop a new ad idea, slogan, testimonial campaign, sonic identity – something that gives them a reason to get excited about spending more money with you.

That’s the difference.

An advertiser rarely gets excited about paying more for the same thing.

But they might get very excited about a better idea.

Starting earlier also makes you less pushy, not more. There’s time to think, adjust, create, discuss budgets and get other decision-makers involved without the expiration date breathing down everyone’s neck.

So, pull up your account list. Who expires in December? January? February?

Don’t wait for the renewal date.

Start earning the renewal now.

Email me at [email protected] and I’ll send you the important details about our SoundADvice program. It costs less than three lattes a week.

Your First Draft SHOULD Be Too Long

When I write a 60-second radio script, my first draft is sometimes closer to two minutes.

The first draft is where I dump out an idea, start writing, and see where it leads.

The next few drafts are where I decide which words deserve to survive.

Speaking and communications coach Phillip Humm calls a common communication mistake “spray and pray.” We give people every detail. Every feature. Every reason. Every teeny-tiny nugget we’re afraid to leave out.

Then we hope something sticks.

It happens in sales presentations too.

You’ve got 37 slides, research, coverage maps, ratings, demographics and enough charts to make your PowerPoint need a cigarette afterward.

But what’s the ONE thing you want the prospect to understand?

Humm recommends a great exercise: explain your idea in two minutes. Then one minute. Then 15 seconds.

You’re not practicing how to talk faster. You’re forcing yourself to decide what matters.

Try it with your next radio script.

Write everything you might want to say. Then start cutting.

Creative is too important to treat the first draft as the finished product. Kill the weak sentence. Lose the second-best benefit. Remove the clever line that doesn’t move the idea forward.

Keep the strongest words, images, emotions and specifics. Specific details give listeners something they can actually see, hear or feel – which makes them much harder to forget.

Great writing usually isn’t created by adding more. It’s uncovered by removing what doesn’t belong.

Most advertisers will happily give you 90 seconds of information they think absolutely has to be in the ad. Your job is to protect them from themselves (which should be a topic on its own).

Whether you have :60, :30, or :15… your job isn’t to fill the time…
Your job is to make the time matter.

By the way, this article was at least 25% longer when I started.

Would your sales team benefit from having a better reason to contact advertisers every single week? SoundADvice gives your entire radio sales team practical, advertiser-focused content designed to help open more doors, protect more clients, and create more revenue.

Email me at [email protected] and I’ll send you the important details. It costs less than three lattes a week.