My Brother Gord's 'guest' appearance blog on SALES

For those of you who 'don't know' my brother Gord - he has also spent his entire life in radio - 35 years in Vancouer alone - and also did a stint with the Vancouver Canucks - He shares his wisdom and experience with this blog in the world of 'Sales in Radio'.

Gord is reachable at gcforbes@shaw.ca -

***Please give it a read and an RT if possible!***

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The other day I was reading through a series of Linkedin group discussions about the “single most important attribute a sales person can have”.

Meandering through the replies, I came across a great number of thoughts and rationales to support them…many of which were good, in and of themselves, but I would say the most often quoted was “being a good listener”.

Obviously it’s important to understand your customer’s needs through great listening skills…and if we got paid to be excellent listeners we would all be driving big cars and living in fancy houses.

In reality, the journey from your prospects office through to the execution of a successful campaign is fraught with challenges that only the most creative, versatile, well rounded and determined sales people can make on a consistent basis.

The business has changed dramatically since I first started producing spots back in 1973 at the Mighty 630 CHED…but never so significantly than since I left it in 2005 to work in the crazy world of Sports Marketing as VP Business Development for the Vancouver Canucks.

I see in the Linked in group “The Sales Floor” a few people that I worked with back in the “good ol’ days” when we basically showed up for work, took a few orders over the phone, had a nice bottle of wine with lunch and schmoozed clients with free tickets to Eskimo Games or dinner at The Point After with Bob McCord or Chuck Chandler (who were legitimate “Rock Stars” in the community).

Those old timers (Hi Len Thuesen) that have been able to stick with it for so many years should be like an encyclopaedia* for the younger members of this group because for these veterans to still be making a living in an environment that has evolved into what it is today takes a considerable amount of malleability and is truly remarkable.

Without getting into all of the industry and corporate challenges that have made your job so much more challenging, it still really comes down to one (complex) question for radio sales people.

How can I negotiate through the myriad obstacles within my station and actually deliver what the customer needs for him/her to justify this expense?

Yes, it’s important to listen carefully to what your prospect is saying…you will need some of that information to craft the execution of his/her campaign…but the most important piece of information you need to get is their definition of what constitutes success in their eyes.

Knowing where they need to get is the only way that you can possibly build the road to get there. To quote the inimitable Yogi Berra "You've got to be very careful if you don't know where you're going, because you might not get there."

Other than agency buyers, I never dealt with a client who said his idea of success was reaching 60% of adults 25-34, 3.5 times a week”. Clients have real needs like, I have to sell 50 of these things before next Tuesday when my loan payment is due.

Part of the problem I see these days with radio sales people is that many of them still believe that a catchy 30 second spot with a discounted, drive-heavy schedule on their top rated 25-54 station is something that clients are salivating for.

In the meantime, your lunch is getting eaten by some geeks at the Mountainview head office of Google who are equipping their sales people with data that allows your prospect to target their message directly to the guy in your neighborhood who has two kids, changes his own oil, travels once a quarter to Vegas and is hunting for the best deal on a 2011 Prius Hybrid in black.

How do you compete with that?

Folks, the days of selling spots based on cume and average quarter hours are long gone. Radio tuning in North America is down a measly 4%. Revenue is down 25%...and if you haven’t seen the revenue growth curve for Facebook, Google, Twitter etc., it is a shocking example that shows where your money is going.

So the question becomes…Is Radio still a viable ad medium in the face of this new reality…or should I go get a job selling Google search.

The answer to the question is yes…radio is still relevant and I believe that you will be able to continue to make a pretty good living at selling it…but not the way you have been.

When Sony introduced the Walkman back in 1978, pundits predicted that it would obsolete traditional radio, as we knew it. Since then, many iterations of portable music devices have come and gone, finally ceding dominance to the current Apple iPod which has become the category standard.

The idea that everyman was a better programmer for their own musical tastes than a Program Director, (even with hundreds of thousands of dollars cast against music testing and research) was appealing to the early adopters. Today, online stations abound.

Streaming has become easy and ubiquitous, yet the local radio station still exists, despite corporate cutbacks that have left them understaffed, overworked and under resourced.

Why is that?

I would propose that the combination of maintaining a local focus, with likeable personalities, relevant news and information and the ability to have an intimate relationship with listeners is the key reason that people still tune in from day to day.

Here in Vancouver, waking up every morning to Larry and Willy, getting the traffic and weather information I need to plan my day, hearing how the Canucks, Lions or Whitecaps did the day before and what concert is coming to town next week is just part of what people need from the medium…. but to save time preaching to the choir let’s all just agree that radio is still a great medium and get back to how we use its key strengths to sell advertising solutions to Joe’s café.

Our listeners are our friends. We keep them company, play them music, give them information, talk to them, ask them questions, send them on trips or to concerts or games…even let them talk on the radio. We send them Tweets. They “Like” us on Facebook. We reward them for their loyalty and listenership in many creative ways.

So suffice to say that we have nurtured this great relationship with our listeners in an effort to keep them listening more often and for longer periods of time… but what do we actually know about them?

There is this terrible measurement platform called PPM, which is at best a wild guess of extrapolated data as to who is listening, when and for how long. We get a few hundred people on the panel and hope to hell that a few of them tune in when we give away the Foo Fighters tickets and dinner at the Keg during our peak AQH.

Oh yeah, BBM can give us another guess as to the demographic makeup of our audience and then we take that information to our ad agencies and join our competitors in chasing the rates into the ground. (I know, I know…Agencies account for a large portion of our overall revenue so we have to play their game, but that’s a different problem that I’ll save for another post.)

If you have a loyal listen club, you should at the very least know their names and email addresses…but what if we knew how many times they came to our web site and what pages they visited. What if we knew where they lived and could plot them on a map to see where they were concentrated so that we could work with advertisers in areas where we had high penetration?

What if we knew how many contests they entered on our site without winning?

What if we knew what products they are in the market for? Do they have any pets? What if we could help them get a better deal on a new car? What if we could personally invite them to a product launch or restaurant opening? How much would it be worth to your advertisers to know this kind of stuff about your listeners?

While your competitors are in the local car dealers office extolling the benefits of being the number one station with Adults 25-54 in the Edmonton CMA, You are next door putting together a deal with his competitor to send a personal incentive to the 25 listeners within 5 miles of his dealership who have told you they are looking to buy a new car in the next 6 months.

Dear listener. You told us that you might be in the market for a new car so we went to Joe’s Ford down the street and asked him if he could do something special for loyal CXXX listeners like you. He told us that if you purchased a new car from him in the next 10 days, he would give you an additional $1000 off the price…just because we’re all friends.

Do you think it might be easier to sell a campaign with this kind of information as opposed to your cume figures? Of course it would. It’s what Facebook, Google and Yahoo are already doing that is taking billions of dollars out of the pockets of traditional media ‘peddlers’ around the globe.

In essence, we can do a lot of what Google et al do, but better. Better because of the relationships we have with our listeners and the fact that they will share stuff with us that they wouldn’t share with the big search engine guys.

They will share it with us because we understand them and communicate with them on an intimate level and because we live in the same city, know the same people and go the same places. We wake them up in the morning, get them to work, share their opinions and play their favourite songs over, and over, and over….

So how does a sales person thrive in this new world reality? Listening well – yes, but also by learning about the tools that are available to be able to take to their advertisers a focused activation that is hyper-targeted to a small group of really interested people.

It includes spots. It includes a creative solution to their expressed needs and it includes pre-determined metrics on what success looks like. Most of all it includes knowing your listeners and working with a team of people at your station who are all focused on creating and executing a more holistic and ambitious solution to your clients needs.

The problem with all of this is that it’s more work and it’s more time consuming. Yup, it is…but the upside is huge once you get the reputation for proving customers successful executions. Plus you can stop wasting time casting a wide net by cold calling uninterested and unqualified prospects so that you can fill up your ‘call sheet’ and focus on bigger sustainable campaigns with more sophisticate marketers.

Some of the biggest challenges you will face in your efforts to save the industry will be from inside your own building.

Will your GM or group President invest in the tools to help you make more sales?

Will the PD buy into the concept of marketing to your listener database?

Will your GSM accept creatively packaged executions? Is your creative department staffed with “creatives” or are they just “writers”…but most importantly, are YOU determined to make a difference in the way you help your sponsors meet their expectations within the parameters that are set by your management group?

To be frank…my experience tells me that, with a couple of rare exceptions, (like Astral who are making the investment in tools), the key decision makers across the country haven’t yet made the link.

Most stations still look at their interactive properties as “something the promo guys can update”, and not as a serious potential money-maker. Stations have become so ingrained in “cutting back” that the idea of making an investment in the resources to forge new directions is out of the question.

The industry hasn’t yet attracted the kind of visionary technicians, who can drive these initiatives, nor will it until such time as the pain of losing money to ‘search’ becomes greater than the prospect of investing in the tools and training to reverse the flow of money out of the industry.

I would be happy to chat with anyone that would like more information on the tools and techniques required for relationship marketing.

Glossary for the younger readers.

*(an encyclopaedia is a book** that has information about every thing one would ever want to know).

**(A book is a bunch of paper with words on it that is bound into a document)

Social Media Tips

The phone keeps ringing here at Radiowise Inc..

People and businesses in Canada are starting to catch up to the growth patterns seen in the United States and Europe with many 'trying to understand' this thing called 'social media.'

First off - if your business is NOT on Twitter - why not?

It's a tremendous business platform and the companies that are using it properly are reaping the benefits of 'customer engagement.'

If some businesses could see what is being said about them on both Facebook and Twitter they may be shocked.

The good companies are monitoring and reacting 24/7 and there are some 'great ones' out there. Just a few include Best Buy; Edmonton's Airport; many Media outlets, and for the most part Westjet.

I say that because 'some' companies RETWEET only 'compliments' and some don't even react to the complaints, which is a terrible mistake as you then become the target of the unhappy consumer(s). Showing a little vulnerability and fixing a problem can be a very positive experience - instead of avoiding it!

I love seeing a "happy ending" - somebody who complains and gets the proper reaction from a company and thus their concern is handled. That same complaint probably helps 'hundreds of others.'

The CELL companies are the worst. Sorry - it's a platform of mine - but a 'form letter' response to a complaint from a customer you have lost after 25 years simply 'doesn't cut it.' Have a REAL PERSON find out what the problem is/was and I'll bet a potential cancellation can turn in to a happy customer and a problem solved. Your businesses are NOT big enough to handle a 'wave' of people bailing on you and eventually you'll pay the price.

(Google "most hated companies in Canada" - you won't be surprized)

A few tips:

-find somebody in the company who knows and is engaged in Social Media. You may be surprized to find one in the building simply looking to help out - and if they know your business practices you can eliminate one very big step in the evolution of your social media plan.

-if you can't find one HIRE ONE. A full 30 to 35% of the mobile crowd is doing either research or buying on their smart phones, which is a pretty good stat to 'be where the consumer is going' - and that growth will multiply quickly especially with the next line of smart phones that are on the way - very powerful; full motion video; and interactivity.

-get on Twitter. You don't HAVE to tweet but you should 'monitor' what is being said out there. People are sick and tired of waiting on your 1 800 lines for hours upon hours OR reaching a person somewhere overseas who is struggling with the English language.

-newsletters, generally speaking, are now too long (or only come out once a month/quarter) and people don't have time to scroll through pages and pages of 'offerings.' What they DO have time is to click through on a link when they are on twitter/facebook/your web site - and looking for the one particular offering that is of interest to them.

The 'stream' of information you present can be very helpful - and again a RT of your message can be a very positive thing.

-sign up for the 'good' tip sheets. Emarketers. Marketingcharts.com. Hubspot. Comscore. Mashable. There are several of them that are 'free' and very easy to follow along to with the growth and evolution of social media. Follow these companies on Twitter as well.

For companies that have not 'reviewed' their websites in the past few years please 'take a look' at what you present.

If you have a boring main page then you'll have a boring site.

More importantly LOOK at your site on a mobile phone - 'most' companies sites do NOT look good on a smart phone OR they take forever to load. Simplify!

What's the most 'attractive' part of your business? Bring it forefront.

For media companies - I use the term "hockey boards" - if your websites are nothing but endless commercials and pop ups you're also way behind the wave. Clean 'em up. Have only your most INTERESTING content available. I can't tell you how many 'boring' blogs are being thrown out there by media companies.

And work to the 'full capacity' of technology - if there's an amazing thing happening on the radio station take a VIDEO OF IT and share with your listeners. Audio is one thing - video is a whole other thing - 'more please.'

OK that answers 'most' of what I'm being asked by
clients these days.

Most importantly "don't be afraid of social media - LEARN ABOUT IT!"

Radiowise Inc. has had a banner year working with some 'great' forward thinking clients - like Boston Pizza of Northern Alberta; Telus World of Science; Strathcom Media; Children's Miracle Network; Edmonton Singing Christmas Tree; - and others.

Build it and take it to the next level.

Done right you will reap a great benefit from your clients and customers for years to come.

Germany's amazing driving machines

Just back from the trip to Europe and wanted to share a few thoughts as I adjust to the jet lag and 7/8 hour time zone changes....the 'fun' part of travelling.

First off I travelled the Autobahn and can safely say that's the craziest highway I've ever driven on, albeit their system works like crazy. Most of the highway we drove on was three lanes wide and the drivers adhered to the respective 'lane situations' very well. The very right hand lane is reserved for trucks, slower vehicles, and large buses. The middle lane is reserved for people who travel at 'approximately' the normal speed limit (120 kph) while the left hand lane is for the 'give 'er' drivers and you are advised to keep an eye on who/what is behind you because they're coming 'fast.' There is NO passing in the right hand lane so it certainly eases the worry about idiots scooting by you at any speed from any side. But the most overwhelming part of driving in Germany is the 'quality' of vehicles you encounter. Porsche; BMW; Mercedes; Audi and Volkswagen rule the roads and, especially in Stuttgart, a quick survey of the ten cars parked at a traffic light shows that 8 out of 10 are one of those cars. Quality is the key and when you visit the car museums over there you'll see a stark reminder of not only how great these cars are built but how long they have ruled the car business. The buildings alone speak of the dynamic.

We arrived at the Porsche Museum as it opened, and at about the exact time that the fire engines arrived for a 'false alarm' in the building.

After huddling outside with the staff; the cooks (yes they have TWO restaurants inside the building); a Porsche representative came outside after about 20 minutes and shouted instructions into a megaphone, whereas everybody walked back in to the building to be met with a nice 'bonus' - FREE ADMISSION due to the false alarm. (Cost is usually $8 Euro's) Inside the building you walk around on ramps that chronicle the history of Ferdinand Porsche, and his all important 'credo' about why he started Porsche.

It takes about an hour or so to wander through the various vehicles and you are amazed at the sheer 'power' on display - let alone how many millions of dollars of vehicles are sitting in this impressive building.

Next up was the Mercedes Museum, which is beside the Mercedes Arena, an impressive all purpose arena that houses top soccer and 'football' matches - practice fields, etc. This building too is 'magnificent.' (Cost $8 Euro's but for me the seniors special - half price)

The Mercedes Museum was hopping and security was huge. Everybody had to check their jackets and back-packs and once that was completed was sent to the top floor of the building by a George Jetson type fast elevator that looked right out of Star Wars.

You're up about 8 stories and this display goes back to the beginning of time in the Mercedes world - at around 1890 - and there are hundreds upon hundreds of simply mind blowing vehicles on display - everything from the Pope Mobile to buses to 'future' Mercedes concept cars.

The eras are broken up so that you can see a chronological history of the brand as well.

So although our Tres Amigos do Europe Tour 2011 was focussed on 'two wheel' travel throughout five different countries, one of the best highlights was spending a day looking at these magnificent automobiles at the Porsche and Mercedes Museums in Stuttgart, Germany. It's a very 'young' city that was totally rebuilt after severe damage in WW II, and the fact that it is a University town makes it very young focussed and dynamic. If you get a chance to visit either, or both, of these fine tributes to automotive delights I 'highly' recommend you attend....it's a great way to spend $4 Euros (my special price for the day) Both have websites for full information and I have posted about a hundred pictures on my personal Facebook site as well.

Opps...'that's Europe for you."

There will be NO pictures in today's blog...for a very good reason which will become evident.

The Tres Amigo's do Europe 2011 crew decided to make today a rest day, prior to Mr. P heading home to Scottsdale and Mr. N and I heading to Stuttgart so we wanted to visit the most famous water spa in Germany.

It's called Therme Erding and if you want to Google it go ahead - and dial it in on the English feed.

It's about five times bigger than the West Edmonton Mall's waterpark. It's complete with about a dozen huge water slides - an amazing main pool area with special 'jets' (more on this later) - sixteen sauna's - several other mini pools - a steam room - food kiosks - swim up bars - indoor/outdoor swim pools - and the ah, 'special rooms.'

We paid about $25 Euro for the full pass and were told that there were special rooms where the cost was 'extra.' When you check out you find out - like about a ten minute steam costs another $11 Euro.

You're given a key, and a wrist bracelet with an electronic insert that you hold up to get past the security entrances to the extra rooms.

Well we change in to our bathing suits and immediately hit the big pool - and this thing 'lights it up.'

There are hundreds and hundreds of jets throughout the pool that go off in sequence...some from the walls - some from the roof (cave) - some from the floor - and all extremely high powered. It's the most relaxing sensation you can imagine as the water is set about 34c.

Oh, and the roof to the pool can be 'opened ' for prime weather conditions too.

By the way, there is virtually NO English either spoken or on signs so our challenge was formidable as we walked around trying to figure out what each room was all about.

After about a half hour in the main pool Mr. N and I check into the 'clothing optional' section of the complex thinking that 'optional' means just that...by choice - so we weren't too afraid of what would happen when we walked into the area.

Well we quickly found out that 'optional' means NUDE. Very NUDE. All NUDE. Everybody but us NUDE.

Well Europeans have no qualms whatsoever about walking around totally in the buff - but obviously North Americans don't share that confidence. After a quick swim, and walk through, we headed over to the water slides to grab Mr. P to tell him about hour little 'wander into nudism' trek.

A few runs down the slide - and Mr. P is now in tow wanting to see himself.

That's when we got 'busted.'

A nice young employee wanders over to us - again with 'barely' any English - and politely explains to us that we are now in the 'all nude' area and we should either a) doff the gear or b) leave the area.

We took option b) - well at least Mr. N and I did but Mr. P, with his Italian heritage, dropped the trunks and headed for the danger zone.

It was quite the experience and even though we were thousands of miles from home; away from any potential family or friends, clients or associates Mr. Happy was kept hidden in the Fruit of the Looms where he remained quite pleased. (Honest Kim)

So - very simply I think you'll understand that - there are 'no pictures' in the blog today!

Switzerland

Another beautiful day of riding through western Europe.

It appears we’ve hit a ‘record’ weather week with clear skies, little wind, and perfect road conditions although today is a holiday so the highways were a tad busy.

(By the way Mayor Mandell - in the four riding days so far in mountain countries we’ve seen ‘nary’ a pothole so it CAN be done!)

We road from Northern France this morning back through a section of the Black Forest, ending up in Switzerland.

We stopped for some ‘authentic’ Black Forest cake in Germany and some of the guys grabbed some Black Mountain Ham - which has the most beautiful aroma you can imagine when you walk in to the little cafe on the mountain.

Today my mind was on inspiration and in studying our other riders all who have come from very different scenarios.

The prime motivator is Jack Cartright from southern California. Jack is 76 years old and travels all over the world ‘riding’ motorcycles by himself. He reminds me of Jack Palance - a good sized man - rugged - and totally ‘in shape’ as he rides his bicycle ‘at least 100 miles a week.‘ His sense of humour is immense and can tell stories til the cows come home.

Then there’s Ray and Teresa Silva, the only Harley Riders in the group, and they’ve taken a fair amount of ‘fun’ heat about that fact but he’s a hell of a rider and keeps up with the BMW’s easily.

On the back of Ray’s jacket you can see his inspiration - a cancer survivor.

The two “Johns” are Dentists and it’s their first trip over to Europe. Both are as wide eyed at the rest of us about the stunning topography; the amazing ‘new’ foods; and the head clearing two wheel feeling you get on a ride like this.

Patricia and Stan Hickle from Hanna, Alberta have had the toughest time as they have had a few ‘spills’ due to the fact that they are both self described ‘big people’ and are riding a much smaller bike in the BMW 1200 than what they are used to on their Honda Gold Wing. They too have property in Arizona.

Every time Patricia ‘falls over’ she gets up with a laugh and hops right back on the bike. Today they bumped into Jenn (our guides) while making a turn and both bikes hit the tarmac. Little damage and as Jenn says “shit happens.”

Another ‘almost’ bad accident happened when one of the kids from Taiwan was waiting by the roadside. A car came past him and ‘clipped’ the side of his bike sheering the turn signal clear off - then the car kept on going. The kid was fine but again both incidents remind you of how vulnerable you are out there on the road.

I’d have to guess the ratio of motorcycles to cars is close to 50% over here - so cars and trucks are quite used to bikes on the road, mostly giving us lots of space, but there have been a few times when we’ve had to be ‘very’ aware of traffic conditions on the motorcycles.

Today I decided ‘not’ to use the term “Bucket List” anymore - simply because it has a finality to it.

I’m going to call it the “Dream List” because this surely is a dream that I’ve had for many many years - and when you sit here at the end of the day ‘bagged’ from riding and look out at the beautiful homes, churches, castles, and buildings it’s just such a positive feeling that you get rushing through your head.

Many people say I’m lucky - and for that I concur - but by having a list of things you really desire as a basis to ‘getting it done’ truly is a blessing and I’m allready thinking about the next place in the world I’d like to visit.

Even though language is an issue the people who have all helped, or served us, along the way have truly been great and congenial.

Sometimes it’s just fun pointing at something on a menu and saying ‘lets go for it’ - to discover yet another delight from this part of the world.

The other aspect that is forefront all the time for me is the fact that my late step father Mike Sheehy lost his leg in the Second World War fighting for our freedom. I wish he was alive now so I could ‘truly’ thank him for his sacrifice for I ‘most likely’ would not appreciate the gift of travel like I do.

Plus - if indeed we all are reincarnated in the future - I promise to pay attention in school the next time around because there is ‘so much’ to learn from the past.

This has been ‘great’ - with more to come.

The Tres Amigos do Europe 2011 tour hits Lietchenstein and Austria tomorrow.