Happy Friday, everyone!
This week's poll question is from Tyler Gorsegner of Bloomington, IL:
I'm curious. Most of you (at least the AE's out there) probably get a lot of windshield time. So what do you listen to? Your station(s)? Your competitors? Satellite radio/Pandora/CDs/other?
Thanks for the question, Tyler . . . looking forward to reading everyone's replies!
Like John Harper, I listen primarily to my stations, because I want to hear how the commercials I've written sound and try to catch any problems that might need to be addressed. I also listen to the IU Public radio station sometimes, because I like classical music. I do not have a place for Pandora, IHeart or Satellite radio in my car-against my religion! I do, however, have a tune-in app on my phone and use it at home for certain stations I enjoy.
I listen to all stations in the market. I want to know what my clients are doing with other media, particularly those that just told us they didn't have any money to spend! You can learn a great deal by listening around. It seems the rest of my time is spent on the cell talking with clients and setting and confirming appointments. I would suggest that windshield time, if used properly, can increase your productivity and sales.
When in range my station.
I do try to listen to the local competition at random times but only for who they have advertising. I love my station, and because we are live it's interesting to hear what one of our announcers might have to say, good, bad and funny. I've tried tuning in other stations but I always go back to the one I work for.
I monitor the competition for leads.
I am my own worst enemy. My iPod plays through the FM band in my car. I listen to the playlists I program, depending on my mood. (50s music, 80s music, movie soundtracks, etc.) I load audiobooks from the public library. Of course I have the Wizard of Ads books from here at GBS. Other than that I try to put work out of my mind.
I no longer worry about monitoring the competition because most of them post their advertisers online. Thanks guys.
To answer my own question:
Usually each of the 3 stations I represent get about 25% of my time, and the rest is split up between 3 or 4 of our competitors.
My News/Talk station during business hours. NPR on the weekends, and sometimes other stations I used to work for to see who is advertising. I started listening to talk radio when I was in my 20's and working in Detroit. Now I get to work for a station I grew up listening to and has been my most listened to station for the past 15 years I've been back in town.
Mostly my station, but I switch, to find out what the other guys are doing, who is advertising on them. Occasionally NPR.
About 75% of the time I listen to competitors to pick low hanging fruit that we don't have on. The other 25% of the time I listen to my stations to insure the correct ads are running. If you listen to other stations, make sure you you switch back to your own before leaving your car with anyone who may drive it!
My station and sometimes the competition. I also listen to a lot of recorded training sessions that help me professionally.
We have an adult contemporary, top 40 station, that I absolutely love to listen to. However, I do try to listen to other stations in our area, to stay up on the promotion, etc. that they are running and to see what businesses are on that we may or may not have on our stations. I often get leads by hearing a business on another station, that we do not currently have on our client list.
Also, like to find some time to listen to business motivational / training cd's.
