Radio Sales Café

Happy Friday, everyone!

Last week we asked about how your station handles agency accounts.  This week, we'd like to discuss rep firms, specifically:

Do you use the services of a national or regional rep firm?  Who handles that business?  And how would you characterize the pros and cons of working with a rep firm?

Looking forward to reading your replies!

We use Regional Reps. My husband and I share the national agency (and majority of regional)/rep firm responsibility. There is no point in having a salesperson handle this - it's transactional, 15% goes to the rep firm and 15% to the agency and negotiation on rate and value added is beyond what you want most salespeople involved in. Years ago the rep firms were key to getting in front of the buyers across the country and pitching for you. Today there is little pitching done by the firms. They have a list of markets they handle and stations within those markets. Buyers that reps have introduced themselves to notify the reps when a buy is up - by email. Your station rep then confirms with you what rate to go in with. No selling, per se, going on there. Regional Reps has reps in Texas 'calling on' agencies in LA - like I said: transactional. And Regional Reps recently reorganized so I send everything on every client thru one person - they don't want you contacting their own individual rep who is in direct contact on a buy, something that used to allow more input and feedback in the process. In fairness to Regional Reps, agencies and buyers within agencies change constantly so developing a rapport with either is tough but... it is galling to pay 15% for transactional business. Plus, when a collection is tough or traffic/prod is missing, the rep firm just sends you a name and number at the agency to run it down yourself or gets copies of invoices from you and electronically forwards them around. For us, the majority of the business they bring in would come direct otherwise, i.e., they do not add markets to a buy, just respond to requests for rates.
So we go direct to the agencies and more and more get calls directly from agencies. On the SRDS just put 'Direct' where they ask for rep firm.
In a small market not on the radar with an agency, rep firms are no help. You can sometimes get some leftover money from the buy thrown into small satellite markets but you have to argue your own case to a buyer to get your market added.

We use Salem Radio Reps, and have one person who handles that.

We use The Tacher Company. New station, small market. We continuously provide them information, and check in with them about every two weeks. Hope to pick up some of the quote "leftover money"We had over 25,000 listeners on line last month (just in the Southeast) we geo target. Any suggestions on how to turn that into business?

I wish small and medium market stations would pull away from airing syndicated (satellite) programming. I think the thought process is : You are airing our spots anyway (on big accounts).

Absolutely correct. Why would Home Depot buy your station when they are already on it via satellite programming?

With digital technology you can generate your own programming (and no, it doesn't eat up time that you could be doing other things)  and you can drop the 9-15 minute inventory (fill breaks) each hour you run with satellite programming. Long stopsets=tuneout.