Last week I was in Washington, D.C. for the Barrett News Media Summit, which was two days of the news media industry coming together to talk about what is happening now and what might happen in the future that we need to be prepared for. This was the second summit I have attended. I was also in New York for the Barrett Sports Media Summit in March. I came away with the same couple of thoughts from both as it relates to sales, even though from the outside looking in, you might see the summits as more for programmers, managers and executives. So, let’s talk seller to seller about why we should see more salespeople at these events.
I want to let the Account Executives, or whatever it is your company calls you, in on a little secret. However, I don’t want to tell everyone, I just want to tell the sellers who really understand what it means to prospect and to come up with ideas and solutions for clients.
I want to talk to the sellers who are in early and leave late, who make the extra calls, who put in the work to make sure they are working towards the goals of their clients. Those sellers are really the only ones who will understand this – you are missing out on some great opportunities to brainstorm and get ideas from some of the brightest minds in the industry if you are not investing what it would take to attend a summit.
If you do it right and take advantage of all of the discounts offered, you should be able to do it relatively inexpensively for what you will get out of it. Do the math and see what it might mean to come away with even just one great idea that you might be able to sell over and over again. What if it is the idea that finally sways that big client you have been chasing, would it be worth it then?
My sales brain never stops after selling in media for nearly two decades and I am constantly listening for ideas that would be great to turn into something I could take to a client. And here is the real secret to attending events like these – if you play your cards right, you will come away with several different ideas, which could lead to several sales opportunities for you.
Now, don’t get me wrong, you aren’t going to see a session listed as ‘Sales Ideas for Radio Sellers’ so you are going to have to put some work in. You need to ‘play the room’ and learn who are the really bright stars you might want to talk with and gain some knowledge from. You will hear some of it come out on stage, but the real magic happens when you can spend one on one time talking to people and picking their brain.
I had several different memorable conversations at the news summit that gave me ideas. I spent the entire plane ride home going through my notes where I marked certain things to look back on or think about more. And the one overall thought I kept thinking to myself is why more of you don’t attend.
I recall seeing a saying or a meme once that talked about if you want to be better, put yourself in rooms with people who will make you better, with the smart people, with the ones who are just as into what you are doing as you are. This is where you will find those people.
This is where you can ask questions from people that are not ones you talk to daily, are not in your market, people who might be with a different company. At these events, everyone is willing to share ideas. It is an industry event and the one thing we all have in common when we attend is everyone wants what is best for the industry.
Great sellers have to be great listeners and if you are a great listener when you are surrounded by the types of people who attend the summits, you will pick up on ideas and strategies you may have never thought about before.
Here is an example of just one thing that was talked about at the summit. A Market Manager answered a question about finding new talent in news/talk radio by talking about a program they do with a local college where they have younger hosts who hosted an overnight show to gain experience. He said as it turns out, this turned into permanent jobs for a couple of the students.
What a brilliant idea! Guess what, if I were managing a radio station right now, we would be in a meeting TODAY talking not only about how we could execute that, but how we could find advertisers to support it. What a great pitch: working with students, developing talent, creating jobs and a company being able to brand themselves with that type of opportunity. What is that Seinfeld line, ‘That’s gold, Jerry! Gold!’
So, as you can see, this was an idea that came from a panel discussion which included the topic of recruiting the next generation of talk show hosts. My point being, the topic of this great idea wasn’t going to be listed in the program. It just happened. Where lots of ideas happen, where lots of people are wanting to share their successes.
If you are in or around the Chicago area, the next summit happens Thursday May 8th and Friday May 9th at the MCA’s Edlis Neeson Theater.
Schedule the time now, if you are interested in new revenue-generating ideas that is.
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.
