Week of June 25, 2007

Friday 06/29, 2007

Have a great 4th of July holiday. Watch out for format flips, they tend to happen over long weekends. We will be back with more ideas for overworked GM's on Thursday July 5th. Enjoy!

Thursday 06/28, 2007

You just received your revised July revenue forecast from your GSM's and it shows the cluster is only going to finish at 90% of budget. The shortfall is on your two low power AM's that you jacked up the budget on because your FM's are at mature growth. You have some proprietary programming on these stations, but can't get them sold. You will probably find that the reason you are not hitting budget is not price related, it is focus related. These stations tend to be the toughest stations to sell because the sell is "conceptual" and not ratings based. Ask to see all the new proposals and calls that have been made on these specific stations. It might be time to hire 3 or 4 dedicated sellers for these stations and not rely on the combo sell.

Wednesday 06/27, 2007

As you head into the thick of summer, have you had your sales managers do a comprehensive account list review? I bet there are accounts on everybody's list that have not been called on in months. Is everybody's list around 35 accounts and all broken up into Strategic Account Management categories: Keys, Secondaries, Targets and Extra's. Strategic account management is a powerful tool that lets you hold people accountable for growing their existing accounts and developing new ones. By effectively managing your account lists, you won't have to listen to excuses from your sales mangers that there are not enough accounts to hire additional sellers.

Tuesday 06/26, 2007

Better Salespeople.....How do you get them? The guy across the street who is doing a 40 share in the Miller Kaplan has a talent roster on a spreadsheet that he updates each week. He knows all the players and has created a talent matrix so he can hire for fit and relationship when the need arises. He has leverage because of the great working environment he has created; senior managers that are tough but fair and they have great systems and structure.

Monday 06/25, 2007

With the long holiday weekend approaching, this may be the time to make sure the traffic department is ready with all the logs, weekend people schedules are set, remotes are planned, and your station is in top shape. Remember, this is a big outdoor weekend. Radio listening will be strong. With a lot of vacation plans you may be short staffed. The time to plan is now, not Friday afternoon. Check with each programmer and sales manager to avoid any last minute confusion.