Radio Sales Job May be Easy to Get, But the Hardest to Do.

[kevinsealy]

My first and only fulltime job at a radio station so far was when I worked in the Special Events Department at WMCA Radio May 1987-September 1989, where I was a telemarketing sales rep. We were responsible for selling 10, 15, 30 and 60 second spots on various shows on the station. They included Barry Farber, Barry Gray, Chris Russo and other shows.

At times I found the job draining when I had to repeat the same script over and make 200-250 calls in a seven hour period hoping to close two or three sales to potential clients.

One WMCA talk show said that we had the hardest job sat the station. Another host said that he finds doing sales harder than putting together his own show.

When I was hired at WMCA I went up against 30 applicants. The program director at WMCA had to listen to over 700 demo tapes around the country before Chris Russo got his own sports show.






Thanks,
Kevin L. Sealy

 

[Tiger1983]

Radio sales jobs are very common than being on the mic. Listening to the stations owned by Cumulus, an ad played has a young girl talking on how working for a Cumulus station as a sales rep is a fun job. She claimed that she has health insurance benefits and a 401K plan(I think) and directs its listeners if they are interested in becoming an account executive to send their resumes to the sales manager.

I wonder if having a young girl, especially if she ever mentions that she just got hired a few months ago after listening to a recruitment ad for WABC can alienate an adult listener. WABC is geared towards adults. That girl has to sound like your typical 20-something, happy-go-lucky and just graduated from college type of a person.

Another ad from Cumulus features a hipper music with people sounding very excited about their sales positions at their respective radio stations. Those usually end with the tagline "Cumulus! The power of radio".

So, radio sales is considered a wise career move than being a disc jockey, where someday may be on its way towards extinction.

 

[SonoSational18]

A "special events" telemarketing sales job is a far cry from most radio sales jobs. It is hard work but can be interesting and financially rewarding for the 20% who make it past the first year For those that persevere it generally pays more than a jock job and affords way more stability, unless you're comparing it to those rare "marquee" talents that are definitely the exception and not the rule. If you doubt this, take a walk to the parking lot and compare the cars the salespeople are driving vs the jocks. As for alienating the older listeners, the fact of the matter is that very few people in their 40's or 50's will want to take the step back to start a career in broadcast sales. I started selling when I was 22 and have made and are still making a good living at it. But as a 50-something now I couldn't imagine myself starting as a rookie AE at my age. These stations are looking for rookie-level talent at rookie level starting compensation so appealing to the 20-something makes sense in their recruitment efforts.

 

[reelyreal]

I transitioned from programming to sales in 2007. While I'll admit that my timing was terrible, it was an incredibly difficult job. The money was better... while my local clients weren't filing for bankruptcy in 2008. There were definitely rewarding aspects, but having now sold several formats in non-rated, small market, and top-50 markets, it's tough no matter what you're selling, where you're selling.

There was always competition in the 70s and 80s, but not like today. Your average local business decision-maker is not only running his business, he's got the guy/girl from radio station 1, radio station 2, radio station 3, the daily paper, the weekly paper, the weekly shopper, the billboard company, the restaurant menu company, Yellow Book, the cable provider, Google, Pandora, and who-knows-else coming in and in his/her eyes, "trying to take their money."

Any advertising is a hard sell, not just radio. When you're the junior AE just starting out while your senior seller's been in the market 42 years, and the rest have over a decade of cold calls and door-knocking in your market, it's really tough to get a foot-hold these days.

I lasted 5 years, but I knew I didn't want the struggle to go any farther. I applaud anyone who can do it, I don't have the personality to get it done.

 

[ProducerGuy]

Radio sales jobs are very common than being on the mic. Listening to the stations owned by Cumulus, an ad played has a young girl talking on how working for a Cumulus station as a sales rep is a fun job. She claimed that she has health insurance benefits and a 401K plan(I think) and directs its listeners if they are interested in becoming an account executive to send their resumes to the sales manager.

I wonder if having a young girl, especially if she ever mentions that she just got hired a few months ago after listening to a recruitment ad for WABC can alienate an adult listener. WABC is geared towards adults. That girl has to sound like your typical 20-something, happy-go-lucky and just graduated from college type of a person.

Another ad from Cumulus features a hipper music with people sounding very excited about their sales positions at their respective radio stations. Those usually end with the tagline "Cumulus! The power of radio".

So, radio sales is considered a wise career move than being a disc jockey, where someday may be on its way towards extinction.

Typical of Cumulus, that same ad plays on every station they have. Including the ones that the young girl would have something in common with. I wouldn't read too much into it.