Sports radio needs consistent, motivated, driven people to make the engine run. That’s on the air and that’s making the sales. However, not everyone in the industry doing sales is cut out for it. Are you? Take this quiz to see if you are qualified to hold your current sales job:
Are you passionate, motivated, and high performing, at goal and above consistently?
Do you develop and maintain deals with clients using all your platforms and, in every market, possible?
Do you sell your station’s social media to a high percentage of your clients?
When was the last time you included OTT or geo fencing in your digital presentation?
Have you sold one of your music stations in the last quarter?
Did you have a sponsor in a station community or sports event in the last quarter?
Are the top three ways your peers describe you as driven, resourceful, and a problem solver?
Are you considered a champion of diverse cultures, or do you stick with like-minded people?
Do you always understand your client’s goals, objectives, performance benchmarks, and systems of doing business?
Do you understand all your client’s customer and market trends?
Do you customize your proposals to meet what the advertiser needs or take proposals off the shelf?
Are most of your presentations featuring digital, social, and over-the-air elements?
Do you have a recognizable negotiation and closing skill set?
Are you known as the person in the office who develops clients from cold calls to annuals and records it all in the CRM?
Is your knowledge of every station in the cluster above a “B”? Can you explain streaming, website, social advertising, and digital audience extension products to clients without help?
Do you do the following weekly: attend networking events, cold call, go door to door, and get client referrals?
Are you on time, submitting accurate orders, sales projections, and new clients list, and analyzing your competitors?
Do you handle all your client’s billing issues on the same day?
Do you read company research reports as they come out?
Are you committed to your manager’s standard for the staff, or do you have your own?
If you didn’t say yes to all these questions, your company likely doesn’t want you working there. Because when your company goes looking to hire new salespeople, they expect them to have all of these qualities. And, when the ad is written to attract those candidates, it is very standard and generalized if they mention compensation.
It is no wonder the industry has such difficulty hiring new people. This type of job description scares most people away. Not often enough or in detail do companies say what THEY offer in support to get you where you need to be. Management support, sales support, presentation support, sales development assistance, digital education, CRM software, or paperwork assistance.
Interviewees should turn the table on the interviewer and start asking THEM questions. And I believe the industry offers support and tools but could do a better job selling it. I hope we start looking at how we recruit new sellers into the industry. There must be a better way.
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.
