maximum noise said:
Excellent point...HOM may be a "signal" giant but as long as I can remember I have never heard it positioned as "Portland's" anything??? You would imagine with their range that location androgyny might be an effective sales tool with national ads or out of state business but who do their local sales team visit for new business? How do they sell the local idea?
I was a Portland-based salesman at WHOM around 1989-91. While I obviously can't say with precision how today's salespeople respond to the questions you've raised, my hunch is that it's not dramatically different.
Any salesperson will tell you that answering a prospect's objections is part of the process. Prospects will throw you all kinds of reasons not to buy your station. As a Portland salesman, my prospects often said "you guys sound like a New Hampshire station." Our NH-based salespeople often heard "you guys sound like a Portland station." It's really the responsibility of the salesperson to use his skills to answer those objections effectively. Believe me, we had no problem answering them. We held our rates well and the station was often close to sold out 6A - 7P.
My competitors at other Portland stations often said to prospects "don't buy WHOM - you're paying for all that coverage that you don't need." When prospects relayed that to me, my response was "we don't price the station based on the coverage. It's priced to be competitive in Portland and Southern Maine and to tell your story to local consumers who might patronize your store. If someone in North Conway happens to hear about you, what's the downside? " And that was absolutely true.
Back then, WPOR and WBLM had the highest rates in Portland. WHOM was either in the upper third or in the middle of the pack. It was never one of the bottom-feeders.
The presence of New Hampshire advertisers or other NH on-air content never was a problem for me as a Portland-based salesman. It was simply an objection - a
minor objection - to be addressed.
Sidebar: I loved selling WHOM and had complete confidence in the station. I started selling there in the final months of the beautiful music format and was there over the transition to soft AC. In both formats, being with 'HOM was a source of pride for me. Even when cold-calling, I found that WHOM was usually recognized and respected by business people in Southern Maine.
Nick Seneca