Will Durant, the American philosopher and historian wrote, “A great civilization is not conquered from without until it has destroyed itself from within.” Think of all the civilizations from the Roman Empire to Hitler’s Germany, and you’ll understand that the most vulnerable civilizations are those which first decayed from within. Every business, including broadcasting, is in itself a civilization with its own unique culture.
And the toughest selling job you will always have is within your organization, not externally.
Your sales people are beat up on the street every day with objections like “Your rates are too high” or “radio is dead, I’m using social media” or “Your competitor has a better audience.”
Over time, these objections can take their toll on their confidence levels. Your organization can slowly be undermined from within if you do not have an internal marketing plan; a plan to continually ‘sell the sellers’ on the merits of radio, your station and your company. If your infra-structure, staff morale, training, mission statement, vision and all of the other components which comprise your ‘civilization’ or culture are strong and in tact, no external competitor or market condition can destroy you. Stations which blame their competitors for their low rates or that blame new media, the economy, or any other external conditions for their shortfalls should look inwardly rather than pointing outwardly. The other advantage of focusing on strengthening your civilization is that you control it. You have no control over what the marketplace or your competitors throw at you. You do, however, control your internal beliefs, convictions, systems and culture. Those other civilizations can not bring about your demise if you do not destroy yourself from within.
