Radio Ink Magazine September 28, 2020

DEBORAH PARENTI EVP/PUBLISHER STREAMLINE PUBLISHING DPARENTI@STREAMLINEPUBLISHING.COM Watching a cardinal outside my window the other day, I was struck by how free it was to fly about, especially compared to our current human circumstances, when the phone rang. It was a friend, a market manager. We try to make it a habit to chat every so often. It keeps me in touch with what is happening in the “real world,” and in turn, she enjoys what she terms a “global perspective.” After we caught up on family and mutual acquaintances, we got around to business. “Deborah, while we are beginning to see some small signs of recovery, my biggest challenge is making sure our reps are ready.” Ready — for recovery? Not excited or enthusiastic, but “ready”? I thought about that cardinal and how…

There is a famous quote from John Wanamaker: “Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted. The trouble is, I don’t know which half.” Wanamaker sent us on a quest to determine “what is working.” It is a worthy quest. Enter the Yellow Pages. They figured how to twist the Wanamaker Question to their own advantage. “Put a different phone number in your Yellow Pages ad, and when people call that number — boom! — you know the ad is working.” Brilliant — for the Yellow Pages. Here is what those yellow demons knew: that it would make them look good. Think back to the days of the Yellow Pages, when there was no Internet. Did you ever do this? “What was the name of that HVAC company again? It was Joe something.” You…

As we all know, we really don’t sell anything. We just provide enough information for people to make an informed decision to buy, right? That said, in order to succeed, we need to understand, with enough depth, the strength of our offering, the depth of our product’s reach, and its ability to satisfy a prospect’s needs. At the same time, we need to have just as deep an understanding of the prospect’s needs, wants, aspirations — and his or her likes and dislikes (even if we disagree with them) in order to find that sweet spot: the intersection of our offering and their needs/wants. We need to go one step beyond that; we also need to have the same understanding of the prospect’s customer’s needs, wants, and aspirations. Think of it…

BUZZ KNIGHT BUZZ KNIGHT VP OF PROGRAMMING FOR BEASLEY MEDIA GROUP HE CAN BE REACHED AT BUZZ@BBGI.COM Leaders come in all shapes and sizes, but no matter what business sector they come from, they face similar challenges. As collaboration becomes more crucial to a team’s path to success, the role of curiosity is worth examining as a vital cog that holds it all together. Radio leadership at this time can benefit from understanding the role of curiosity. Geoff Tuff is the co-author of the amazing national bestseller Detonate: Why — and How — Corporations Must Blow Up Best Practices (and Bring a Beginner’s Mind) to Survive, and he says, “For decades, the safest way to lead was to paint between the lines, following conventional wisdom of the organization and one’s forbears to improve…

It’s been the call of duty for many years now: managing teams of salespeople that span many stations. The job of a director of sales and general sales manager is to get everyone on the team to feel like every product they sell is a great product and every product they pitch will bring the client results. We reached out to several Radio Ink Radio Wayne DOS and GSM finalists for their input on how they are pulling it all off. What is the key to being a successful manager of salespeople and multiple stations/clusters? There are many things that being a successful manager can be attributed to — especially today. But the most important factor to remember, in my opinion, is it’s not a one-size-fits-all approach. Each and every person on…

Most broadcast managers come from backgrounds in programming, sales, finance, or law. Traffic and billing systems, e-mail, document storage, program automation, and web functions are mostly thought of as utilities. You turn on the tap and expect water to come out. These systems have streamlined our industry, allowing us to shave expense, reduce headcount, and improve the product. Yes, most of us experience occasional glitches, but they’re generally infrequent and without significant revenue impact. A call to the help desk generally sets things right. Meanwhile, we have moved more and more of our enterprise infrastructure to the public Internet. Gone are the expensive leased telephone company circuits that connect studio and transmitter. The Internet provides the connection. Orders, scheduling, billing, receivables management, the program log, and the programming we air all…