I am writing to you this week from the BNM News Summit in Washington, D.C. For those of you who have attended the BSM Sports Summits in the past, the news summit operates in a similar fashion. The idea is to bring some of the best minds in the business together to share ideas, to inspire thought and to look down the road and see how we can all be more prepared for the future. Sharing ideas is what I want to focus on for this week’s sales meeting.
The thing that makes getting groups like this together so great is that we are all dealing with a lot of the same challenges. It is good to be around people who understand your struggles. Sure, you can talk to other people about certain business challenges such as hiring staff, but media people know media struggles and it’s just different when you are able to commiserate with a fellow media comrade.
Gathering in groups as ‘media’ versus one station or outlet allows the industry to help one another. And we should do more of it. As sellers, you should consider trying to get two groups of people you can visit with from time to time just to talk about ideas and what is happening in the business.
The first should be a group of local sellers in your market. I know some might think it is taboo to mingle with the competition, but the truth is there aren’t really any secrets in this business. Too many people have worked for multiple media companies in the same market for any secrets to be kept.
Plus, if I want to know what your radio station, for example, is doing I can just listen, go on the website or look through social media, it really isn’t a big deal.
I had one former media salesperson say to me not that long ago, he believes more reps should work together across companies. His example was a company that has a male 25-54 audience and is looking at your sports station. However, he is also a fit for rock but your cluster doesn’t have a rock station. You have a Hot AC and you are going to work hard to get them to change their mind and go with the Hot AC, but the issue is it isn’t going to work.
Now, as we all know, the industry looks bad.
So, the suggestion is to partner up with some people that have different formats and make a group that meets every now and again to discuss the business and what is happening. At the same time, this group works together to try and, hold the phone here, do what is best for the client!
Absurd thinking, I know.
The other group you should have is a group of reps from around the country who sell a similar format to you in a like sized market. If you work for a big corporation, this will be easy, you can just find people in similar market sizes and formats from your own company.
For those that are smaller, consider reaching out to reps in other cities who work for smaller, independent companies. Schedule a monthly or quarterly zoom together and talk about ideas that have worked, new categories they have gone after, promotions that have worked.
Anything to spark an idea is what you’re looking for. Success stories are great, too.
Say you are partnered up with someone in a market and they are doing a campai gn with an HVAC company that is a content segment called ‘Hot or Cold’ and it has sound effects and sounds big on the air. You can now take that and pitch it to companies in your market who now think you created an idea just for them.
Could be the same thing with ad copy. I think we all know our ad copy need to be better as an industry. Nothing like getting some samples thrown at you from peers who have ads that have really worked and sounded great. Again, something you as a salesperson can go out, do a CNA with a client and then bring them a killer ad. It’s really killer since you know it has tested well somewhere else.
A great place to start with this is always the Radio Advertising Bureau – there is a ton of information they have gathered and shared that is just sitting there for you to use. Click on their Sales Tools or Creative tabs and you can get lost all day in finding things that can help you.
As often as you will hear managers say media sales is like, “having your own business,” it is also not meant to be done alone. It can get rough out there and we can use a buddy to lean on at times.
Find those people not only in your office but outside of it as well. Let’s work together more and make sure we share all the success with one another.
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.
