Closing a broadcast order requires opening the door first. It takes planning, strategy, patience and confidence. Here are a few ideas that GUARANTEE success:

 

The Pre-Selection, Pre-Qualification and Pre-Approval:

 

Before you even think about picking up the phone, dropping by a retail location, faxing out an offer or talking rates and ratings, sit down with a Sales Manager, Business Manager or Promotion Manager to investigate the history or viability of your prospect. Have they done business with your station in the past? Did they pay their bills? Were they easy to deal with? Will they appreciate your efforts or are they just looking for cheap spots?

 

The Introduction, Promotion and Invitation to do business with your station:

 

How are you introducing the benefits of radio advertising to your clients? Are you sending out introduction letters, invitations to get together for a 1-hour Needs Analysis Interview or are you using your unsold inventory to run a series of commercials that introduce local business owners to what you can do, what you can offer and how to get in touch with you? Once a client agrees to meet with you, are you willing to play the role of a consultant or partner with the needs of their business (not yours) at heart?

 

The Follow-Up Appointment, The Marketing Plan and The SPEC Spot:

 

This is when things should start to come together! If you were able to withstand the temptation of pulling out your rates, ratings, charts and graphs during the first fact finding interview and spend more time asking questions, picking up brochures, website info, old radio scripts, copies of yellow page and newspaper ads, you were probably able to gather enough info to develop a customized marketing plan that was backed up by a originally written, recorded and produced SPEC Spot. Don’t be afraid to address, explain and identify the strengths, weaknesses and benefits of your competitors. Believe it or not, the Newspaper, Internet, Yellow Pages, Television, Magazines, Direct Mail and Point-of-Purchase displays don’t always need to be your enemy. Radio is not always the answer for every client and if you think that our industry needs another unhappy client out on the street saying that “radio doesn’t work”, you are very wrong!

 

The Broadcast Offer, The Asking of the Order and the Closing of the Sale!

 

Nothing compliments a Marketing Plan and series of SPEC Spots better than a well thought out broadcast schedule that will offer the reach, frequency and creative message that it takes to deliver a specific message to the listeners of your station. There will always be transactional business in the radio industry, but as long as we are doing the right things, asking the tough questions, suggesting long-term thinking and providing well thought out creative ideas, we will do just fine.

 

To quote the Market Manager that inspired me to create my business, it is very important for all of us to remember that “advertisers buy ideas, not “spots and dots”! Thanks, Jim.

 

D.J. Williams is the creator of soundBAIT and the President of The Jetset Media Workshop. He can be reached at info@soundbait.com or 404-291-9452.