Radio Sales Café

Hi there all! 

I have been doing radio sales for 1 month. I made a sale within the first 10 days for a 52 week live happy hour with one of the local new restaurants. Now I have a few proposals out and I am in limbo on those. I am awaiting decisions on most of them. 

So, first of all, how do I close?

Next, I have no list. I live in a city of 80,000, and it has been hard finding businesses that want to advertise, or even to talk to me. 

Is there certain businesses that I should be targeting?

It seems like I have gotten involved with a few businesses that just don't have the budget for it. No stone unturned is what I am told but when I do this I run into very tiny budgets. All of the big giant accounts are held by my senior sales reps.

I love this career choice, and I love the challenge but I am having a down day and also kind of a scared feeling, because my company will only extend my salary another 90 days, and I cannot afford to make less than what my salary is. I am starting to panic a bit. Most of all though I had set a personal goal to not need my salary at the end of my first 90 days, which at this point doesn't look like it is going to happen, but is there a way to make sure I don't need it at the end of the second 90?

How do I get that appointment??? How do I get in the door to do a CNA??

I expect a lot from myself and I am disappointed that I am not doing better.

What can I do to improve?!!

How do I qualify a business???

I have heard if you qualify businesses well that you can double your sales! I have a real hard time with this!

How do I become the Best that I can be?? How do I flourish within this industry??

All of your help is appreciated! Thank you in advance!

Kyla

Hi Kyla,

I  appreciate you sharing with us. I too, am new(since June), and have been having identical challenges as you have. Also, I dont get a salary, I only get paid by commision and have'nt made a sale as yet. So I'm already in the red.

I would really like us to work together to grow and excell. I will share any details I have or research. Hang in there, we'll get there soon.

Sherna

Kyla & Sherna,

I'll be including your posts in this coming Friday's newsletter, but in the meantime, have you checked out the training guide put together by Jenna Fox, 'Opening the Call' with a Prospect?  There is a ton of useful information there! 

Also, if you haven't already, you might like to look through some of the discussions in the New to Radio Sales? section of the forum.  There are six pages of discussions, and I personally think that some of the most useful threads are on the earliest pages, so it might be useful to browse from back to front, as it were.

Best wishes to both of you!

Rebecca

This post was edited by RSC Administrator at February 24, 2024 2:34 PM PST

I'm excited to see that you're both new to radio... this is a GREAT industry!

One of the things I would do is to "focus" on a few clients that make the most sense and take them all the way to the finish line (close the sale)

You can prospect in many ways, but I like to look at the local newspaper or yellow pages. I find MANY clients that are doing it the "old way" there. If you get a chance to ask them... "what are you investing in the newspaper advertising right now"..... they will say a number that will make you want to scream!!

Then ask this "Do you feel like it is working better NOW than it was in the past?"   (the answer is always NO!)

Then say... "I want to put together some ideas to show you what we can do to help you save some money and increase your advertising exposure"

Then go back and build a spec ad based on what you learn from them.

Present them with a plan to "replace" their pint ads with radio.

I use my cell phone to play the ad (very cool technology these days)

Let me know if I can help in any way

John Small

This post was edited by RSC Administrator at February 24, 2024 2:35 PM PST

Thank you John for your info!! 

Thank you!!

Dear Kyla and Sherna,

I backed into my own career in radio sales in 1973; nearly 40 years later, your questions bring back a lot of memories.  There are many resources available to help you as you embark on your own adventure.  By joining Radio Sales Cafe, you've already taken a significant step toward your success.  Dive in, poke around, note things that are useful to you now as well as those that are likely to be useful down the line.

There are lots of good books, CD's and videos to help you learn both sales and advertising. Paul Weyland's book "Successful Local Broadcast Sales" comes highly recommended by many.  Chris Lytle's "The Accidental Salesperson" is another excellent choice for someone just starting out. 

I'm currently reading Norton Warner's "David Can Still Beat Goliath (Radio Advertising is David's Sling)" - it's packed with great insights.  RSC members Jeff Dostal and Jason Nabb also offer online sales training based on Norton Warner's book and companion "Marketing Firepower" video training.

RSC member Chris Rolando has recorded some terrific training videos (used as sales meetings at his stations) on his You Tube channel.   By all means, check them out. 

Brian Tracy is another respected sales trainer (for business generally and not specifically for radio advertising) - you can also search You Tube for examples of his work.

Some folks prefer reading books, others like listening to audio recordings or watching sales training videos.  Set aside regular time for study/training in both sales and advertising in equal measure; it'll pay you big dividends.

This post was edited by RSC Administrator at February 26, 2024 10:07 AM PST

Thank you very much!! 

Hi Rebecca,

I've checked out "Opening the Call" and find it quite helpful. I will continue to check "New to Radio Sales" for more tips. Thanks again.

Sherna

Thanks, John. Will check it out.

Sherna

Hi Rod,

I am really excited about my new career and need all the training, tips, ideas, etc. I can get. I am also thrilled to meet up with Kyla especially since we are both new and can help to motivated each other. Thanks for such a informative and educaational web-site.

Sherna

We had a training session at our station a few months ago.  I learned how to get prospects out of limbo.  It's quick, simple and it works.  Send your prospects a short email.  In the subject portion type Re:  Quick Question

In the body of your email ask this qusetion.  I have you on my waiting list for "People I'm Expecting To Hear From". Am I still on your radar?  I 've used this quite a few times and I usually get a quick response.

Kyla - Can you tell me about the Live Happy Hour Promotion?  It sounds like a fun idea.

THANKS,

Ann Bartus

Cumulus Media

Thank you James

We do a live Happy Hour Remote that helps promote the station as well as promote the restaurant. We created specials with the price ending in the station's call #'s, and so on. It's in the building faze so it isn't huge yet but we have signed to a year so it will get bigger with time that is for sure!

IF you want anymore info please let me know!!

Thanks for getting back with me.  So how often are you doing the remote?  Food & Drink specials?

How much did you charge?  What time is the remote?

THANKS so much,

Ann

Sorry, I don't think I responded correctly. 

It's 4p-6p every Friday, drink and food specials, We charged $800 a month plus a talent fee of $50 an hour.

THANKS - Great Idea~

Hi Kyla: First off, I hope you and your station are ok considering the flooding you've been experiencing this week. Hopefully your stations are at the forefront of providing the information that people are so critically needing right now. This will definitely help you in your sales later on.

There is one sentence in your request for info that really caught my eye. "No stone unturned is what I am told but when I do this I run into very tiny budgets"  Please don't discount the mom and pop shop with the "tiny budget". You are in the business of helping small businesses become big businesses. Some of my best accounts started out with $20 a month budgets (no lie). I love small businesses because they genuinely need your help and most of the time they are more willing to listen to a good idea than the big boxes. Take those small budgets that no one else wants and help them grow.

Happy Selling, Lynn

excellent point!!

I had a client that went from $2000 total annual investment (spread over 5 stations) to over $70,000 on those same 5 stations! Why? because we asked them to invest the "newspaper's" budget with us... then showed them why it was a GREAT idea! (they saw a nice increase in business)

Thanks!

I agree but with our rates $20 an ad won't get you anything, and I am not going to have someone sign on to radio that doesn't fit for there business, because then they will say it didn't work, and it leaves a bad taste in their mouth. Our stations are quite high in price and the littlest I am able to work with is $100 for 3 days a month, and that is not very many ads.

SO that's what I mean by tiny budget.

Thanks for the info though.

CONGRATS - how exactly did you do that?

Thanks,

Ann

Kyla, I hope you are safe. I've heard about the flooding up your way. Some food for thought. I entered radio sales in 1993 with no radio, no media, no marketing, no business and no sales experience what so ever. I left radio sales about 12  years later billing a lot! The way I got started? I called on the clients no one else was calling on. I created relationships. I helped them understand radio and marketing. I gained their trust. As their business grew, so did their budget. I had all of their budget to start and when it grew, I kept all of their budget. I had a lot of $200 a month advertisers grow into $2500 a month advertisers. I had less competition as I went after the businesses nobody else wanted. However, they wanted to be successful and together we helped make that happen.

Showed them a way to save money and get MORE exposure! 

They had ONE AD per week in the newspaper.... we gave them 100 times more for the same budget (actually a little less)