Want to succeed in business?  Build a product where you have no competitors.  Where your price cannot be compared with someone else making the same thing.

Focus on things you can control, and build the product for people who will appreciate what you have to offer.

How does this apply to radio sales and your career?  Don’t like the way media buyers talk to you?  Get a mirror and blame yourself.  You (and your peers) taught them that buying radio is a commodity, and the lowest cost per point or cost per thousand wins.

The only way to win is to make comparisons irrelevant.  How? 

1.  Find the client or prospect’s pain.  Their business doesn’t need cheaper spots, it needs customers.  How can you help?  They talk about price because you are not talking about their problems and how you can help.

2.  Price is a consideration, but when running a business, you need solutions.  Don’t focus on price.  When you talk about ratings, you are talking about price.  When you talk about Cost per thousand, you are talking about price.  When price comes on the table, everything else comes off.  Talk about them, not us.

3.  Overcome the price objection by avoiding it.  When someone says, can you lower your rate, respond by saying…”Assuming we could, what other considerations will matter to you when making your selection.”  It might be promotions, creative, digital ideas.  What you are looking for is something to talk about other than price.  Remember, when price (or cost per point, cost per pound) comes on the table, be prepared for frustration.

4.  Be proud of high prices.  Whenever someone would lob an upfront price objection to me, I would lob it back.  If a media buyer told me her cost per point goal, I would respond “Wow, that might be a problem.  Do you know why?”  They might respond, “Because you have high ratings, or you have high demand,”  What they said did not matter, I would agree and say “That’s right but assuming we can come to some agreement on price, what else matters when you are making this important decision.”  I am probing for something to talk about other than price.

5. Look at your last 5 sales.  Look up your proposal.  How many of them identify a problem (or key marketing challenge) and offer a solution?  How many of them are rates (Dots and Spots).  If you are not proposing solutions for problems you heard your client identify, you are going to get compared on price (and ratings).  Prepare for a future filled with frustration for you.  I’m not talking about  ideas you came up on your own  that you are trying to pitch, but ideas targeted to this prospects needs.  Ideas developed with the prospect.

The product you need to build is you.  You can make price comparisons irrelevant by understanding clients needs, developing ideas to meet them, and effectively proposing them.  You need to get better at asking questions.  You need to understand how local marketing via radio, and the internet can help your clients.  You need to understand that your career can be filled with price negotiation, which will eventually make you irrelevant, or you can develop yourself to be a local marketing genius.

You are your only sustainable advantage.  Get a mirror, are you a price peddler or are you really making a difference by helping your clients?

That’s what your clients want.  Your help.

I saw Don Beverage probably 20 years ago say  “You can compare the price of a spot, but you can’t compare the price of a solution.”  It is still true today.   Ask questions, create ideas, sell solutions.

You have all seen it now.   The “Worst Call Ever.”  An umpire makes a call that costs a major league baseball player a “Perfect Game.”

What impressed me was how the umpire involved, Jim Joyce, accepted responsibility, apologized for his mistake, and had the courage to go behind home plate the next night, shaking hands with the Pitcher who had a right to be angry.

We all make mistakes.  How many people have the courage to accept responsibility, and face the music.

It’s the same with clients.  Everyone makes mistakes.  Do you face the music, accept responsibility, apologize and offer to fix it.

In business, you can fix mistakes by offering alternatives.  In baseball, Jim Joyce could not.

But he faced the music. He owned his decision, and his mistake.

He can be on my team any day; even with this mistake.

I find visiting radio stations to be the most fun part of my job.  I love radio people.  Some, like me, see a future in our business.  We understand that everything is changing.  The reason people listen is changing. The way we generate revenue is changing.  Even the ways we communicate with our audience are changing.

There are others who just lament the changes.  Perhaps like the people who made the film at Kodak, they don’t see a future for themselves, and just wish nothing would ever change. But change is inevitable.

I was on a plane recently, talking to a banker, who could not believe the amount of change in their business.  Layoffs, cuts in services, changes to the way they did business.  Listening to this man would make me afraid to be a banker.

How many of us bring that victim mentality to work?  Do we fear change?

A wise man once said, “Courage is not the absence of fear, it is proceeding despite the fear.”  Do not lament the change, embrace it.

So when you begin to fear the changes in our industry, ask yourself:  “What am I doing personally to advance my skills to win in this new world.”

The changes are fundamental to our business, but they are not changes to our core business beliefs.  People will engage with great content, on the air, and on the web.  People will share great content, at the water cooler or on Facebook.

Advertisers do business with people who strive to help them with marketing solutions and ideas that give them a return on their investment.

That doesn’t sound like as big a change as we make it out to be.  I think the real change is that it is much harder than it used to be.  More competitors, more communications channels, more work for us to win.

That’s why I love change.  Now the smartest, hardest working, forward thinking people will succeed.  Those are the people I want on my team.

And I meet some of them every day when I visit our radio stations.  And that is why I love this business.

Ray Steele passed away last week at the age of 94.  One of the reasons I got into radio was because of Ray. He was my Father’s cousin (actually his cousin’s husband).  Every year, during family visits to Watertown NY, I would tag along with my father as he visited old friends (drinking buddies from the old days in some cases), and former co-workers around his home town.  The highlight for me was on those occassions we could stop at WWNY - TV/Radio in downtown.  Ray was the Art Director.  In his day, he drew the ads you saw on screen during commercials, illustrated items for the news, and built sets.

WWNY in those days was on the street in Watertown.  Walking by, you could see into the master control, and the radio studios.  Ray used to get the DJ’s to let me sit in the studio chairs.  He would proudly show off the place to a young man bored of hours of adult conversation.

But Ray was also one of the most unique people I ever met.  He lived his 94 years in the present.  He flew small planes until his early 80’s.  He told me, confidentially, that he crashed one while practicing emergency landings, and walked away.  That convinced him it was time to quit flying…in his 80’s.

Every year, my parents would proudly show me the hand drawn cards Ray would send for Christmas or Birthdays.  He had a way of capturing people’s essense with a unique drawing style that was both entertaining and accurate.

When talking to Ray as a child, you felt like he was listening to you, and could relate.  When talking to him as an adult, you felt the same way.  Every conversation had that confidential feeling that Ray was sharing with you a piece of himself.

As a child, Ray made me want to be in Radio.  As an adult, Ray makes me want to be a better person.  His lesson to me is to see each person, and each moment, as a precious opportunity to feel, see, smell, taste and enjoy life. 

Sometimes, people pass in and out of your life like busboys at a chain restaurant.  You barely notice them, and they barely notice you.

Ray’s lesson is to feel the joy, and the sorrow, of everything around you.  To participate, to enjoy and to live in the moment.  My sadness is that I didn’t see Ray more, and that it took his death to remind me that I should try harder to experience my life, not just live it.

Thanks Ray.

I read on another blog that Ford will have the Internet in all it’s new vehicles in the next 5 years, and we in Radio need to be scared.  The Internet Don’t Scare Me.

I’ll admit it.  The Big East Tournament is being streamed live online today, and I tried it out at my desk.  Guess what?  The picture was dark. The audio was poorly mixed, and the resolution was not good.  And it got stuck.  I think it is still “Buffering”

Imagine streaming audio in your car. Hell, I can’t even get my cell phone to sound good.  Oh, the streaming speeds will improve, and the internet will come to your car, but internet radio in the car will not be a big problem in my lifetime.

It’s not that I have my head in the sand.  The Internet is here to stay.  It changes the way people do business. It changes the way people spend their media time.  It is a great tool for the 21st Century.

But it won’t kill Radio.  It won’t be a source of unlimited choice in the car, because people do NOT want unlimited Choice in their car.  They want what they know, what entertains them.  As long as Radio provides it, we will be their choice, and streaming is just another delivery method.  But streaming radio is inferior to over the air delivery, and no consumer is currently out there asking for steaming audio in the car.

The Internet is a tool for us to become better marketers, of our own products and of our clients products. It will make us realize that we have to be smarter about how we interact with our listeners, and our clients.  It will benefit those who become masters of the tool, and hurt those that do not.

The Internet is a tool, not an industry killer.  And the smart people who learn to use the tool, will rise to the top.  Ask yourself, what are you doing today to become a Master Marketer?  What are you doing to understand the present, and grow for the future? 

The Internet will not kill radio, anymore than TV or Talking Movies did.  But it is changing it again.  Are you changing with it or are you still clinging to the past.

I went through the RAB Certified Radio Marketing Consultant Program in 1992 or 1993.  (The years all run together after a while).  The first section you needed to master was “Why Radio.”  Now, 16 years later, we are still an industry built on the idea that we have to master “Why Radio”

Why is radio better than TV?  Why is radio better than print or the internet?  Why is our radio station better than the competitor stations?  I think we do need to know this in order to effectively do our jobs.

But the real question we need to answer is “How Radio?”  How do we make it work for our clients?  How do we get them measurable results?  How do we integrate our digital assets into their marketing campaigns?  In an era of cost control, how do we make radio more effective for our clients in order to get results.  How do we structure our businesses to ensure that we have the people with digital knowledge, marketing knowledge, promotional knowledge & creative knowledge to make it work.

That’s the question I ask myself.  How Radio?  You should too.

In reading today’s Media Post Marketing Daily, The following research was listed in the sidebar:

Who’s Using Sunscreen?

The Top 10 DMAs that are home to adults who used suntan and sunscreen products more than once in the last 30 days:

1 Austin, Texas

2 Salt Lake City, Utah

3 Boston (Manchester, N.H.)

4 Harrisburg/ Lancaster/Lebanon/ York, Pa.

5 Portland/ Auburn, Maine

6 Tucson (Sierra Vista), Ariz.

7 Providence, R.I./ New Bedford, Mass.

8 Albany/ Schenectady/ Troy, N.Y.

9 San Francisco/ Oakland/ San Jose

10 Rochester, N.Y.

Source: MRI’s Market-by-Market study; based on Top 100 DMAs. www.mediamark.com

That’s right, according to MRI’s research, Rochester NY, my adopted hometown is #10 in use of Sunscreen in the last 30 days !!! 

Are you kidding me?  I’m sure that it’s based upon index, or was old research from August or something.  You cannot convince me that Rochester NY, or Albany NY or Manchester NH are anywhere in the top 10 for using Sunscreen in December (probably not even in August).

That’s the problem with relying in research too much.  Often it just doesn’t make sense, and it causes us to lose credibilty when we try and argue against common sense.  There are 16 inches of snow on the Ground right now in Rochester???  November was a warm month, but I don’t remember seeing anyone sunbathing.

Did I mention that my station is #1 with people who use sunscreen?

Too much research, and not enough common sense.  That’s what is wrong with our world.  Focus on the clients problems using your common sense brain.  Think like a customer, or a listener, and ignore some of the silly research.

That’s enough for now, I got to go put on the sunblock, I think I see a break in the snow Squall.

Recently got an email from one angry listener about something they found offensive on the Radio.  One.  We get worried about reaction from one person (sometimes we should).

But we might see 10 happy listeners at an event as a failure.

Or 10 new customers at a restaurant to be too small a response for the client.

Defining success with our new clients is really key. What are they trying to accomplish?  Why kind of Return do they need for this investment.  I met a client in one city who told me that he had ‘never’ gotten a phone call from any advertising he had ever done. (He had never done anything with us).

Imagine that, I said, so if we got you a phone call, that would be considered good.  In radio, sometimes we focus on the size of our audience.  We need to focus on the response to the messages.  We need to help our clients, not focus on the other stations, papers or media.

That’s what success looks like in the Radio business of the future.

I got a note from my friend, and former co-worker Ed.  Ed wanted to know where I have been.  He does not work for the same company (Entercom) that I do. 

He wondered why I haven’t written a blog lately, and admonished me that he would love to hear from me.  Ed, this is for you, and everyone I have ever worked with, and the people I work with now.  Sorry, I forgot that people really do read what I write.

So what am I thankful for this year.

I am thankful for my family.  They let me be borderline obsessive about my work.  They support me when I come home frustrated about my job, the economy and the slow progress that is sometimes the mark to great work.  They let me travel, and miss family time to do what I chose to do with my life.

I am Thankful for my boss, David, who demands excellence and success, but is smart and strategic and patient with me.  And my co-workers who sometimes don’t understand why I am such a ‘know-it-all.’

I am Thankful for all of you.  The people I work with.    Thankful that all of your interactions with me over the years gives me faith that the current economic conditions will pass, and that we will succeed.  I believe that we can win, in even the worst economic crisis of my life.  I believe that we control our own destiny.  We can call on enough businesses to grow our revenue.  We are smart enough to create work environments that combine ‘art’ with ‘commerce’ allowing us to gain revenue and ratings.  We are patient enough to look for clients with problems and sell them solutions.  We are agile enough to understand the true value of ‘interactivity’ to our business, and extract real value from adding digital.  We are impatient enough to hold ourselves and our people accountable for the work that we know must be done to succeed. 

I am thankful for Ed, and all my former co-workers.  Everyone I have ever worked with has touched me; changed me, and in some way altered my world view.  At a time when we all question what the future holds, remember to hold your core values close to your chest, and use those values to help you navigate the times ahead.

Most people remember Vince Lombardi saying, “Winning isn’t everything, it’s the only thing.”  That’s not my favorite Lombardi quote, this is:

“The price of success is hard work, dedication to the job at hand, and the determination that whether we win or lose, we have applied the best of ourselves to the task at hand.”

Apply the best of yourself-the rest will take care of itself.

Happy Thanksgiving.

I’m stuck at the airport.  Another flight cancellation.  This time the airline, (I won’t say their name but it rhymes with “Smelta.”) didn’t even send someone to the gate to tell us that it was cancelled.  I got an email.  The airline industry has to ‘do with less’ as the pressure is on them to make money in a tough business environment.

Sound familiar?

So how are they handling it?  Most are providing no customer service, no one to answer questions, and most are making the flight experience even worse.  I can’t imagine this approach will save them.

And Radio.  Are we improving our customer experience?  Are we focusing on new categories of business and providing a solutions based sales approach to differentiate our business?  Or are we just diving on rate to steal business from the other guys?

Are we changing the way we interact with our listeners?  IM’ing?  Texting them?  Talking to them?  Going online with them?  Providing an entertainment service their ipod cannot? 

Or our we just shrugging our shoulders hoping things get better?  That’s a question for the person in the mirror-for the airlines and for ourselves.  How do we do a better job to create raving fans in a tough business environment?

PS.  Thanks for the comments on the blog.  I did not realize I had to ‘moderate’ them so some did not make it on in a timely fashion.  I have learned now what to do and will be more timely from now on.  Even the RVP needs to change, to learn and to do things differently.  I believe we all can grow, and I have as much to do as you do.