It isn’t often that you can make a news/talk radio analogy by using a popular movie, but here we go. In the Judd Apatow classic, Knocked Up, Katherine Heigl’s character goes into labor, and Jay Baruchel’s character walks in to see how things are going. Well, the scene is absolutely chaotic, and after blood-curdling screams from Heigl for him to get out, he scrambles out of the room.
Rattled, Baruchel’s character returns to the waiting room, saying, “I shouldn’t have gone in there. Don’t go in there.
“Promise me you won’t go in there.”
Kinda like your experience going to a sales meeting?
Funny, right?
In media, it’s always seemed to be a cliché thing: On-air talent doesn’t quite get sales, and sales doesn’t quite get the on-air side.
On-air folks, almost to a person, can never understand why everything isn’t sold all the time.
“This is such a good segment, it should be so easy to sponsor.”
“Sports, everybody sponsors sports.”
“We should get (Insert local business) to sponsor us. They’re a perfect fit. I don’t get it.”
Guilty as charged on at least two of those exact statements.
After breaking down the wall this week and going to a sales meeting, I am here to urge everyone in production or on the air — go to a meeting.
It will do a few things. First, it will confirm that you belong right where you are. It also will confirm that the sales job is far from an easy job.
The reason for my visit was to update the crew on what we were up to, and then, the head of the station group presented us with a refresh of all the sales material.
I recommend you give it a try.
In all seriousness, having open lines of communication with sales can only help. Back when I was an actual journalist, I would refuse this kind of contact, as if it would somehow jeopardize my integrity.
Now?
Well, clearly, that’s been out the door for quite some time. Oh yeah, be serious. It’s obvious that in order to what I call “survive with the chance to thrive”, we need to work together.
They succeed, we stay on the air doing the most fun job we’ve ever had.
A few things will humble you from the experience, while the language of discourse will absolutely confound you.
Here’s how, starting with humble.
I am notorious for taking certain things personally. You can rip me, rip the show, even make fun of my hair! No problem. But if you don’t call me back? After a second call? That’s personal.
I may write you off forever.
It’s a blind spot, I know … but it’s pretty true. I’ve grown to the point where I can overcome it, especially if the person eventually calls me back, yet it really irks me to the core when people can’t return a call.
In the sales meeting, I expressed some frustration over not being able to contact a potential guest, and one sales rep came back with (paraphrase): “It can take 17 calls to make a connection.”
17? 17!
If you doubt it, all I will say is that the collective response to that statement felt like “Praise Be!”
I could never eat that kind of humble pie.
Then, there was the language, oh, the language. Not F-Bombs but acronyms. For everything.
NTR. CNA. KPI. DOMO. IQP. DJT. Ok, DJT is Donald J. Trump, but the rest are real, I promise.
I was the only person there who had no idea what was being said. It was dizzying.
After all the lingo and humble pie that needed to be eaten to sell stuff, I realized how positive the whole thing was for both sides.
I got the chance to talk to the crew beyond the flippant “Hello” while walking past their offices. I also learned how they felt about the show. About the station. About me.
That was both validating, sobering, and ultimately energizing.
Yes, it lasted almost three times the length of my one required regular weekly meeting. Yes, there were times that I thought I was in a foreign land. And yes, there were moments when my only glimmer of hope was the sunshine coming through the window.
But I have to tell you, I will definitely do it again because it was worth it … just perhaps not every week worth it.
Brian Shactman is a weekly columnist for Barrett News Radio. In addition to writing for BNM, Brian can be heard weekday mornings in Hartford, CT on 1080 WTIC hosting the popular morning program ‘Brian & Company’. During his career, Brian has worked for ESPN, CNBC, MSNBC, and local TV channels in Connecticut and Massachusetts. You can find him on Twitter @bshactman.
