Pick 5 and only 5 major advertisers in your market that are not using you.

Must be direct and you must have access to the decision maker.

Come up with a 6 week campaign, very high frequency (maybe 100 spots per week)  Put a very low price on the deal,  Really low.

Try to come up with a demo spot to help move the sales along.

Then explain to the advertiser that Jan and Feb are 2 of the worst months in radio advertising so we have a great deal of unsold inventory.  Be honest with them.  This is a one time offer.

Tell them you are offering it to only 5 advertisers and will limit the buy to only 2 of the five, So first come, first served.  Offer will expire on 31/12/2011.  Bonus the salesperson something that they will really like. (like money)

And stick to it.  ONLY sell 2, and don't negotiate the price.  And at the end of the year, if you've only sold one, that's it.  Stick to your deal.

There may be questions and I'm happy to respond on email or Skype.  bud.stiker

After so many years in the radio business I often wonder if I can really learn more, and it takes a Conference in Kovacica to show me that I can and do.       

How can you not learn when you listen to the wisdom and solid advice from Rich McClear ?And hear new and exciting things from Lenja Papp. (Lenja is by herself, worth the price of admission)

And Chris Price gave an amazing presentation on creativity and breaking the rules.

Then of course I always learn from the questions asked in the open sessions.  Terrific experience.

The most important thing I feel I learned was the the early struggles forming the RAB are worth it.  It has a bright future but much work needs to be done.  I can only hope to be invited the the RAB Serbia's 10th Anniversary Party.

My best to all, Bud

1)  As you start the account on the air, implement ideas on how to enlarge your Circle of Influence at the client.

2)  A good contact list includes the President, VP Sales and VP Marketing.  Maybe different titles but try to meet the "influencers".

3)  Make sure all the key people get station premiums, pads, T shirts, coffee cups etc.

4)  Invite those keys folks to the station.  Buy a sit down working lunch or coffee and rolls in the conference room.  Have them meet the some of the presenters, especially the morning team, take pictures and post them on your website plus get them framed and hand deliver to them.

5)  Make sure they all have a name tag so station personnel can call them by name AND thank them for their business.

6)  Send all those key a monthly update on what's going on at the station.

7)  And very important keep the copy fresh!

8)  Simply put ladies and gentlemen, you are locking up this business and not depending on that one person any longer.  So everyone at the client tells the NEW person, "We value our relationship with (your station here) we love their people and they work hard for us.  New person will have a tough time ignoring that support. 

Three men doing time in an Israeli prison recently appeared before a parole board consisting of a judge, a criminologist and a social worker.

The three prisoners had completed at least two thirds of their sentences, but the parole board granted freedom to only one of them.

Guess which one and know the reason why.

CASE 1  (heard at 8:50 AM) An Arab Israeli serving a 30 month sentence for fraud.

CASE 2  (heard at 3:10 PM)  A Jewish Israeli serving a 16 month sentence for assault.

CASE 3  (heard at 4:25 PM)  An Arab Israeli serving a 30 month sentence for fraud.

A hint.  There was a pattern to the boards decisions.

So what was your answer?

Here's the story behind what happened.

As I wrote above, there was a pattern to the boards decisions.  But it wasn't related to the men's ethnic backgrounds, crimes or sentences.  It was about timing.  Yes, timing.  Researchers discovered in analyzing over 1,100 decisions over the course of a year, that prisoners who appeared early in the morning received parole about 70 percent of the time, while those who appeared late in the day were paroled less than 10 percent of the time.

The odds favored the prisoner who appeared at 8:50 AM and he did in fact receive parole. But even tho the other Arab Israeli, serving the same sentence for the same crime -fraud- the odds were against him when he appeared at 4:25 in the afternoon.  He was denied parole.

Why ? you may ask.  The researchers found that the mental work of making decision after decision wore them down.  Mental fatigue.  Simply put, the majority of people are more positive in the early morning, and more negative in the afternoon.

And the next question is, how does this relate to selling radio advertising ?

The Answer and the Lesson:

If you are an owner, a sales manager, or a sales person, make visits to get decisions in the morning.  Get out of the office and make eye ball to eye ball visits and get those clients closed and on the air.

You and your station will make more money.

In order to be the best salesperson you can be you NEED to do homework AND you need to plan ahead.  Now is the time to be talking to advertisers about their plans for this autumn and even Christmas.

When making a visit to the client you MUST

  1)   know the name and title of the person you're visiting and is he or she the decision maker ?

  2)  it would be helpful to know something personal about him or her.

  3)  have sent a letter or email saying you've got some great ideas for them.

  4)  you know enough about their business to carry on a business talk with them.

  5)  you have copies of their newspaper ads, tape of radio and TV ads and be unafraid to ask which worked well and what did not work.  (this is not easy but very helpful in setting you apart from every other salesperson)

  6)  ask intelligent questions and try not to sell on your first visit.  You are looking for information on their upcoming plans.

  7)  before leaving, set up the next appointment.  Do it while you are there!

  8)  never say anything negative about any of your competitors 

  9)  under promise and over deliver

  10) and finally, and this is incredibly important, you need to have the client know you are there to help him or her to increase their business.  You're not there to just try to sell them something.

Go forth and prosper.  

Bud