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greatballsoffire
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16 year veteran Ross DiFranco defected today for competitior TownSquare Media. This is incredible.
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You just have to love the nuance and subtlety of this board. A screen name like "greatballsoffire" (Post #1.) A reference to last week? Epic. So another proven sales person/manager walks away from Citadel, which once employed some of the best in Buffalo: Don Tomasulo years ago; Paul Maurer a couple of weeks ago and now Ross DiFranco. It says a lot about a company when established sales professionals leave or get forced out.
Reportedly GSM. Chet Osadchey burns through another good employee
It's not a question of profitable. It's a question of treating employees like chattel. Sales people took a major hit in the run-up to Farid's Failure (bankruptcy), losing vacation time, benefits, and commissions. Some of them have asked that they have the those cuts restored - especially in light of Farid's announced compensation.
The answer? NO. I don't know whether that answer came from local management or upper management. So, people have started looking for a better place to land. Apparently, the other groups in town value good sales people, and both Maurer and DiFranco are VERY good sales people. Not only that, but they have families to support, and retirement down the road. They need to do what's best for them and their families. I'm sure that they'd rather sell Citadel's product, but they've also seen what the cuts in talent have done for the Citadel stations.
I'd bet that the Bills have little or nothing to do with the decision of either departure. They've both lived with a Bills contract for over a decade. It has nothing to do with profitable. It has EVERYTHING to do with sharing the profit with the people who produce it.
Farid's on record as saying that radio "sells itself", and what they mostly need are non-commissioned order-takers. Well, I guess we're going to see how that works out.
The answer? NO. I don't know whether that answer came from local management or upper management. So, people have started looking for a better place to land. Apparently, the other groups in town value good sales people, and both Maurer and DiFranco are VERY good sales people. Not only that, but they have families to support, and retirement down the road. They need to do what's best for them and their families. I'm sure that they'd rather sell Citadel's product, but they've also seen what the cuts in talent have done for the Citadel stations.
I'd bet that the Bills have little or nothing to do with the decision of either departure. They've both lived with a Bills contract for over a decade. It has nothing to do with profitable. It has EVERYTHING to do with sharing the profit with the people who produce it.
Farid's on record as saying that radio "sells itself", and what they mostly need are non-commissioned order-takers. Well, I guess we're going to see how that works out.
When a jock gets fired or leaves most staff members shake their heads, say "what a shame, glad it wasn't me," pick up the slack and go about their business. But when a front line revenue generator and first rate sales closer leaves, the effect is felt station and clusterwide. Jocks at the three Citadel FMs should be seriously concerned by this turn of events. DiFranco's leaving may adversely affect revenue and in turn reach the air staff. Could another key Citadel sales person follow DiFranco to Town Square?
Better yet, where does Citadel go to replace a GSM and a top salesman? Promote from within? Try to raid one of the other companies in town? Go out of town? What do they offer to the replacements? A lot more than was offered to the guys who left? Hdow does the rest of sales staff feel when they're stuck with a raw deal, and somebody else gets a sweet offer that's a lot better than they're getting?
No question that DiFranco will recruit others to Town Square. He's the first credible GSM to locate there in ages. Watch Citadel put out a Dragnet for whatever leftovers there are in the market, with their clueless GM hiring whomever can fog a mirror
Wow...band or should I say groupie on the run...are you sleeping with DeFranco? First credible GSM in years? Do you have any clue how well those properties do? The cash flow from those properties exceeds all others! Did Ross deliver those kind of results for Citadel? Lets just see how Ross fares in a more "structured" management environment. He may not be the wonderboy you think he is, outside of the bedroom.
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