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Mainstream radio sales vet now in CCM

Good Morning All-

I have been in large market mainstream radio sales for about 15 years, but after a year off to dabble in print and work through a non-compete, I have landed at a terrific commercial CCM station in a large (in the 20s) market.

Just fishing for some tips and pointers regarding the diffs between mainstream radio sales and CCM radio sales.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance for your assitance!
 
All these looks and not one reply? All right, I'll bite. Forgive the cliches, but Christians aren't perfect, just forgiven. As in all good business, I suggest that you don't trust anybody. Not to justify it, but some who call themselves Christian have no problem whatsoever separating business from "religion."

To target the demographic, purpose to associate with it. Hang out at church social events. Forget the big national accounts, or at least expect much fewer opportunities. Depending on where you live, consider potential clients more like Country music-types or southerners: since northerners (like me) are much more impolite, we will save you time by getting to a "No" more quickly. Remember the erroneous (at times) notion that advertising automatically impacts immediately: explain how the planting of seeds takes time, and give realistic goals and expectations. Win them, then they'll win you friends. Burn them (intentionally or not), and they will have difficulty not trashing your reputation. When you become a part of the fabric of the listening community, they will come to you. Network, network, network: the people you sold Saturns to years ago (print) may be interested to know that now you're with Land Rover (radio).

Befriend your airstaff, treat your support staff like gold (in traffic especially). Invite your Production Director-types to weekly sales meetings, asking for a weekly spec spot for a generic business (restaurant, car dealer, etc.). Hook them up with restaurant vouchers and theatre tickets, they tend to make dirt compared to salespeople. Get their input, and give them plenty of time to do great work. Few things tick us off as much as banging out an unnecessarily rushed hack production job, when we could have done something special with it. Don't think that what works in print automatically translates into radio. If you write your own spots, balance "theatre of the mind" with "repetition, repetition, repetition."

I'll invite the opposition to present its case against this: Your job is business, not ministry. How you act in everyday life is ministry. I have met many men and women "on a mission," "happy to work in a Christian environment," etc., who were simply not good at their jobs. In secular and Christian radio, I have forgotten the names of countless salespeople who have not made the cut. I also know a very select few whose walks inspire me, whether or not their numbers were good. Be above reproach, and God bless your endeavors (Proverbs 29:11-13).
 
"I'll invite the opposition to present its case against this: Your job is business, not ministry. How you act in everyday life is ministry. I have met many men and women "on a mission," "happy to work in a Christian environment," etc., who were simply not good at their jobs. "


The word ministry itself means to serve, making every aspect of life ministry including our jobs. I'm not responding to disagree with your post, I just am completely convinced that if we believe our life to be ministry, then working hard to be honestly successful at our job becomes a part of that. Your statement "How you act in everyday life is ministry" is absolutely correct.

We minister by hard work! :) From waking until sleeping you are in some way serving someone, the only questions are who and how well. Your clients will be able to tell even before you ever get a chance to say Jesus' Name.
 
MarkLaRoi said:
if we believe our life to be ministry, then working hard to be honestly successful at our job becomes a part of that

You put that into words much better than I did. I guess I am trying to discourage those who see working for Christian radio or businesses as the "easy way out" from having to deal with the cold, real world... without learning their trade (through education, internships, entry-level jobs, etc.), polishing their chops, or truly giving their best (yet expecting "Christian management" to be held accountable for more, while complaining that we could all make more money doing _____).

---

Back to original topic, don't forget that there are probably plenty of old mainstream print or radio clients whom can be convinced that the Christian audience would be a good, generally loyal audience to target.
 
Mark and Just Another-

Thank you so much for your replies! Things are off to a tremendous start here...My first month on the street was the highest revenue month in the history of the station. The demand is overwhelming. I honestly spend 60-70% of my time just following up call-ins. This station has never had a "salesperson" before and has just recently begun accepting commercials in addition to underwriting. Just by getting the word out about that change has flipped on a switch businesses that wanted to advertise on the station, but not interested in underwriting are flocking here. We are still being very selective on who we allow to be on the air. We need to be convinced that the company is committed to Christian business practices and is a business of character. We have turned business away that did not meet those criteria.

I really like your network concept and I have joined a Christian businessperson networking group in the area.

Our company also owns other CCM stations and I speak regularly with a reps at those stations. One tip they recommend that I like, but unsure of my comfort level with it is to communicate with pastors in the area and get referrals for business owners in their church or businesses in their area that are Christian owned. What do you think of that idea?
 
Just curious, why would you do underwriting at a commercial CCM station? I understand the restrictions involved with underwriting and it would seem to me that the clients would be better served with commercials identifying the location and inviting customers.
 
dbw414 said:
Thank you so much for your replies!

Nothing says "Thanks" like a brand new 12-passenger van :D . Seriously though, I'm glad you're off to a good start.

dbw414 said:
We are still being very selective on who we allow to be on the air. We need to be convinced that the company is committed to Christian business practices and is a business of character. We have turned business away that did not meet those criteria.

Excellent. If they're legitimate, they'll earn your trust soon enough and should respect your station's high standards. Nothing stinks like taking your music pastor and his wife out just before they move, then having him need to vent about how he lost $15,000 from your old station's informercial about financial independence through owning your own "christian" greeting card franchise. My current boss mandates that all calls about interested programs go through him, and he turns down potential clients with cash in hand if they fail to meet our criteria.

dbw414 said:
One tip they recommend that I like... is to communicate with pastors in the area...

Good...

dbw414 said:
... and get referrals

... maybe not so good. While I know this works for some, you seem to network well enough elsewhere. Just serve the pastors/body/churches/music minsters to serve, without any other motives beyond getting people together and praising God. They'll know where you are when they need to advertise their concerts/plays/special services/schools. Just my opinion, as I have a personal need to meet people as people, not potential clients. A dear friend of mine was extremely good at bringing the church body together like this (and boy, are THEY ticked since he is no longer with the station). Be above reproach, and make sure you know when to "turn it off" (you won't forget how to "turn it back on").

My theory is that the ones you want will come to you when they know your intentions are pure through your actions, but your primary goal must not be to prove why they should sign with you. Be real. I hope that makes more sense than it sounds like to me.
 
Just curious, why would you do underwriting at a commercial CCM station?

One reason some Christian stations that could sell commercials don't do it is that the ones in question operate as divisions of non-profit organizations.

The questions that a potentially for-profit venture like advertising sales could raise about the non-profit status of an organization are very hairy. They go way beyond IRS certification to whether an organization has to pay state taxes or local property taxes on the station's real estate.

Some states and municipalities are tougher than others on these issues, and if one of them chose to raise the question of whether revenue from advertising sales was excessive profit for a non-profit organization, the legal fees and cost for accountants to do the paperwork to document the cash flow might be more than the revenue brought in by the sales in the first place.

Granted, such questioning by government is relatively rare. I worked for a station in such a situation once, and the station manager would have been well-advised to buy stock in the parent company of Maalox before the process was over. The end of the matter was that nothing improper was found, but the expenses to prove it convinced the owners to sell off all of their commercial licenses (AM stations) and convert all of their remaining stations to Non-Commercial Educational Licenses.

Personally, I hope no station ever has to go through that kind of thing these days.

Later....
Matt Smith
WGSR-TV
 
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