Ever wonder what you’d say to your younger self, the person you were when you just started in sports media sales? Here’s what I’d say:
Dear Younger Me,
Welcome to your first day in radio sales, kid. Buckle up.
The first thing you need to do is learn how to listen. Having not been a strength of yours coming up, this will be especially difficult for you. However, this skill, above all others, will be one that makes the greatest difference between success and failure. Listening is underated and is something not many people are great at. Become great at it and it will help you in sales, in management and in life.
Remember the times mom would say, “never burn a bridge?” Listen to her advice. Someone you meet the first week on the job that is currently a board op on the weekend, may be the head of the company when you run in to them next. The business you are entering, while a large industry, seemingly operates like a small town where everyone knows everyone, and everyone knows everyone’s business. Never forget it.
Make sure you’re a sponge. You’re going to have so much thrown at you over the next few years, take it all in. Learn every possible thing you can about the business, meet everyone you can and learn what everyone does. Look for good, look for bad and learn from both.
Be kind and appreciative to the people in the thankless positions. It takes a lot of people to get an account from sold to on the air to billed and collected, so if these people aren’t some of your best friends, you might be doing it wrong. If you aren’t constantly making sure these people know how much you appreciate what they do for you, you’re definitely doing it wrong.
Treat every client like they’re your top client because they may be someday. Spend more time getting to know them and listening (there’s that word again) to what they say about their business. The depth of your relationship with a decision maker could save your bacon more than any other factor down the road. Make sure they see value in not just what they buy from you, but also having you and your knowledge as part of the package.
Don’t ever be afraid to ask for more. A lot of people are going to tell you that you can always come down but cannot ever go up when it comes to pricing. Like mom, listen to them, and don’t let anything or anyone, other than the client themselves, tell you what they can afford. Put ideas together that you believe have great value and sell the value, but make it about the client and what your idea is going to do for them and their business. At the end of the day, they shouldn’t be concerned about their level of investment, they should be thinking about what the return is going to be on that investment.
Stay away from the negativity and distractions. Trust me when I tell you there will be enough distractions, at times, where you could spend entire days focusing on the wrong things. Don’t allow yourself to get caught up in it, ever. You are there to make money for yourself and your family, that is what you should focus on at all times.
Take a deep breath and relax. Heed the advice of Warren Buffet who said, “You will continue to suffer if you have an emotional reaction to everything that is said to you. True power is sitting back and observing things with logic. If words control you that means everyone else can control you. Breathe and allow things to pass.”
Work hard. The more you do now, the less you’ll have to do later, and trust me when I tell you that your later self would appreciate that very much!
Good luck to you, pal. It’s a jungle out there.
Sincerely,
Older Me
P.S. In late October of 2018, there’s going to be a lottery drawing for $1.6 billion dollars – pick 5, 28, 62, 65, 70 and Mega Ball 5!
Dave Greene is the Chief Media Officer for Barrett Media. His background includes over 25 years in media and content creation. A former sports talk host and play-by-play broadcaster, Dave transitioned to station and sales management, co-founded and created a monthly sports publication and led an ownership group as the operating partner. He has managed stations and sales teams for Townsquare Media, Cumulus Media and Audacy. Upon leaving broadcast media he co-founded Podcast Heat, a sports and entertainment podcasting network specializing in pro wrestling nostalgia. To interact, find him on Twitter @mr_podcasting. You can also reach him by email at Dave@BarrettMedia.com.
