Recently, Hubspot reported that six out of 10 of us consider generating leads our biggest challenge.
No shit. If you are new to radio sales, you probably spend almost 80% of your time (the other 20% in meetings about why you don’t have more appointments) looking for people to meet with about advertising.
With so many new sales reps quitting the business because of this activity, why hasn’t the radio industry embraced hiring an in-house expert at lead generation or outsourced the task? I am serious about saving radio sales jobs. We all go through countless hours of trial and error and waste most of our energy on the anxiety around finding clients interested in making an appointment about buying something.
George Leith was a PD, announcer, and AE for CJYM/CFYM radio in Canada for six years in the ’90s. He went on to publishing and sales consulting. He is now the Chief Customer Officer at Vendasta, a software company for digital solution channel partners to work with small- and medium-sized businesses. Vendasta, a private company, has over 500 employees listed on LinkedIn and serves over 5 million businesses. They specialize in Reputation Management, white-label software, mobile web development, social marketing, and digital advertising. Given Leith’s skill set, I asked him some questions about the radio industry and why sales development specialists for lead generation could work and let salespeople sell. I also commented along the way.
Jeff Caves: Are any radio groups outsourcing their lead generation?
George Lieth: We are starting to see radio groups beginning to outsource their lead generation and lower Annual Contract Value deals. I always suggest channel partners use modern demand generation tactics to drive new logo (client) acquisition.
Imagine the opportunity to sell a Christmas or back-to-school advertising package via the internet. And, the best part is, you can do it yourself even if corporate isn’t. Learn how to make offers online and create leads for yourself.
JC: What are some digital tactics to increase inbound leads for broadcast and digital radio salespeople?
GL: Use the “megaphone,” airing:30/:60 commercial inventory or infomercials, to address the problems your digital solutions solve. Educate the market that you are the trusted local expert to solve their challenges.
Push your production department to be creative in producing and running commercials for the sales department. These could be :10, :15, :30 or : 60 spots. Sit down as a staff and design an annual campaign with several themes. Produce a 30-minute infomercial that can air when you get another 30-minute program and run them adjacent to each other. This should be some of the best work we do not the last rip and read generic spot produced. I would even consider hiring an ad agency to write and produce these as a bartering project.
JC: What other industry that you consult uses outsourced business development that radio could pattern itself after?
GL: Independent software vendors, publishers, and large digital marketing agencies.
Get on google and search these companies out, or listen to the Conquer Local podcast with George to hear these companies’ stories.
JC: What are the general costs associated with hiring in-house or outsourcing lead gen?
GL: In-house is best if you can find the talent and your business model supports this cost structure. Outsourcing is usually less of an investment, but there are always communication and delivery challenges.
Which sales staff wouldn’t want a person, maybe even a former salesperson, who spent 40 hours a week creating leads? If large digital marketing agencies can afford it, so can radio.
Jeff Caves is a sales columnist for BSM working in radio and digital sales for Cumulus Media in Dallas, Texas and Boise, Idaho. He is credited with helping launch, build, and develop Sports Radio The Ticket in Boise, into the market’s top sports radio station. During his 26 year stay at KTIK, Caves hosted drive time, programmed the station, and excelled as a top seller. You can reach him by email at jeffcaves54@gmail.com or find him on LinkedIn.
