I love the words above about sales. This is very true. Sales is a very difficult job that takes a certain type of person and some of those skills really cannot be learned because it's just how your mind works or rather, how you're made. I add this because I do radio sales every day. Everybody thinks radio sales is about 'selling' something but it's really about building relationships and trust. The sales part is listening to what the business owner wants and what they can afford to spend, then giving them what they want for what they want to spend. To do that you have to understand your radio station and the listeners.
You have to think logically (ie: restaurants advertise during hungry hours) and think outside the box. You have to have a handle on the type of business and how it operates. You have to understand the local media options. You have to constantly learn.
I visited a tire retailer. A tire manufacturer recently put up the dollars to help them get an online store. I learned this by being told by the owner (you have to stay in touch regularly). I worked up a written proposal explaining how Covid-19 had changed consumer buying habits, driving more sales to online venues. I explained no other competitor in the county was offering online tire sales. I suggested now was the time to promote the website and the 'new safe way' to buy tires and make an appointment to have them installed. This isn't rocket science. What I presented in my proposal made sense. I explained because radio hits over 90% of Americans weekly, it is the best option to promote the website, build awareness and generate sales. I got a nice order and it was a bit larger than normal because I had made a point of writing down that the owner liked a particular program the radio station aired. I intentionally included some commercials in that program. You might ask if it will work. I believe it will. Some good creative commercials and all my knowledge gained on how radio works went in to composing a campaign that takes our best shot at delivering customers to them via the website. I might not be able to show specific customers that came because of radio but if my client will look at raw numbers, they'll know I increased their customer count. Yes, my station has listeners. This AM with translator is the station the county goes to for local information and has led the market for decades. I find that in sales, the biggest portion of the budget goes to those that create ideas that are beyond the ordinary. If you remember the Fire Ant commercial from a years back that talked about the only good fire ant was a dead fire ant, I created a spot along those same lines to promote flu shots voiced by the drug store's owner/pharmacist. It was a fun spot that drove home the idea that only dead flu viruses are in the flu shot and that if you have every had the flu, you don't want it again. My pharmacist is, because of my plan for him, positioned as the leader in the market for knowledge, personal attention, etc. People tell him they hear him on the radio regularly.
The problem for many folks that want to have their own radio station is misunderstanding sales. It is about as different from retail as night and day. It is almost a disservice to term radio advertising sales as 'sales'. Since I have worked both sides of the building in radio, I understand the importance of programming and signal. I get it has to be a 50/50 deal with sales. Neither can trump the other. Sales is equally important and worthy of a nice slice of the budget to get people who truly understand selling radio. And you need them to have some creative skills including writing copy. I have told many that nobody will take a job for no salary. Second, commission only means a revolving door that will destroy your sales effort. People have to be able to live until they earn the trust and respect of business owners. Third, the person you are seeking is already successful somewhere else and you couldn't afford them anyway. Most likely it will be the owner that finds the newbie. That newbie is mentored by the owner until they are well trained and ready to stand on their own. That means the owner needs to know their stuff in radio advertising sales. Last, if you hate sales, radio advertising sales is very different from the 'sales' you hate
A sticking point for me is how little thought is put in to training and other needed skills the salesperson needs (so many stations have their salespeople writing the commercial). You get it at the bigger stations but most folks start out at smaller stations and are just tossed in the deep end to see if they can swim out. If DJs were salespeople at many stations, it would be like this: it's okay you don't have radio experience or know the first thing about radio, I'll hire you and you can come in and play a bunch of music, any music you want, a few hours a day. In time you'll get the hang of it or you'll decide you don't care for this line of work.
