OUCH!
That was my one-word response after finishing feisty Blaine Parker's Hot Points newsletter today. My friend in Utah was describing the "pitch" he'd received from a radio rep wanting a piece of another station's buy, and it was painful reading.
Painful, because it reminded me that there are still radio folks who'd rather fight the battle of the pygmies ("I'm taller than you are.") instead of focusing on the advertiser's needs.
Sure, radio stations are going to compete against one another—as well as against all other advertising media in their markets—for advertising dollars. But surely there are better ways to go about it than the sad story told by Blaine today.
And because misery loves company (or as Russell Baker believed, "insists on it"), I'm going to share that sad story with you, word for word.
After you've read it, I'd love to hear YOUR thoughts on the subject of how radio stations should compete with one another.
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HOW TO MAKE A PROSPECT HATE YOU IN ONE EASY LESSON
Open your sales pitch by telling your prospect they've made a huge mistake.
Meet the final refusal to buy by saying, "What's wrong with you?"
There ya go. The Alpha and the Omega of the perfect sales pitch if what you desire is total alienation of your potential customer.
And yes, this really happened.
ONE OF OUR CLIENTS HAS BECOME A LOCAL CELEBRITY
We've created an impactful advertising campaign on their behalf.
After almost half a year of delivering their message on radio, in papers and online, it's evident: they're not going away and have money to spend.
So, the scent of money has brought the scavengers circling.
Yes, one might use a more predatory metaphor, i.e. "sharks." But the scavenger allusion is more apt. The hard work was done by the account people who landed the business in the first place. The interlopers are merely looking to snatch away the fruits of the others' labor.
AND THE CLIENT'S PHONE RINGS CONSTANTLY WITH SALES CALLS
We've told them to refer all media reps to us via email. We accept no phone calls from sales people. We're entirely too busy.
Well, the phone rang at the client's business. It was an account rep from the area's 900-pound gorilla of radio. The rep was referred to us.
Here is the actual email missive from this person:
"I would love to make a case for why my stations are far more effective than my competitor, [STATION GROUP NAME], with whom you have done business in the past. The latest ratings book has just come out, and if I could provide you with numbers to support getting more listeners for your marketing dollar with my radio stations, I would appreciate the chance to do so."
Other than a generic, "I am so-and-so" introduction and the explicitly stated expectation that we would call back, that's it.
The badly written assertion is that "my stations are far more effective than my competitor." That's the rep's core message.
Without knowing anything about who we are and what we know, here's what that rep implies: we've made a big mistake in sinking our dollars into this other station.
PRESUMPTUOUS METHINKS
This person has no concept about the effectiveness of the advertising, or the budget, or the relationship, or the value added--or ANYTHING.
Whether this account rep realizes it, the message is that we're idiots who couldn't research our way out of a wet paper bag.
As it happens, we have a brilliant relationship with the station being slighted by this hungry sales rep.
Moreover, there is absolutely no indication that this person has any interest in working with us as a marketing partner--a role in which our account rep at the "lesser" station has been tremendously useful.
But the real kicker?
WE SPOKE TO THIS STATION BEFORE LAUNCHING THE CAMPAIGN, AND THEY WOULDN'T COOPERATE!
As the market's 900-pound gorilla, we went right to them.
We wanted to talk business. We wanted to look at the rankers. We wanted to play ball.
They wouldn't cooperate. "Oh, no. We don't share that information."
You don't share the rate cards and the numbers that prove your station is as good a value as you purport it to be?
It was a classic example of sales prevention in action.
It was so absurd we just walked away.
BUT, OUR FIRST RESPONSIBILITY IS TO OUR CLIENT
We really need to know that we're doing the best thing for them.
So we passed the new info along to our media buyer. (She was understandably incredulous at the pitch).
She performed her due diligence. We were re-strategizing the media buy anyway. She got in touch with the rep and began crunching the numbers.
After much discussion between our media buyer and all our other media outlets, and further discussion between all of us here at Slow Burn--we almost decided to go with the 900-pound gorilla.
But our account rep at the allegedly less effective station presented us with some really interesting, high-value alternatives. The decision: we're not moving the media buy.
For now.
That's not to say we'd never go to the gorilla.
And that's how our media buyer conveyed it to the hopeful account rep.
That's when the other station's hopeful, starry-eyed account rep said...
"WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU?!"
Not making this up.
That's what the account rep said to our media buyer.
Our buyer said, "For right now, we're going to stay where we are. It's what makes the most sense for our client right now. That's not to say we won't consider working with you down the road."
And the account rep replied, "What's wrong with you?!"
I'm just shaking my head.
It's unclear who trains these people and where they learn their graces.
It's certainly not from any school that teaches what you do is an honorable profession predicated on doing what's best for the client.
MY CLIENT'S BEST INTEREST COMES FIRST AND FOREMOST
That said, I will do whatever it takes to find an equally good alternative before putting the client's money in the hands of this knucklehead.
In the meantime, I'm just shaking my head again.
Because the next email from a media scavenger has arrived.
After launching into a long and detailed introduction with the many, many, many, many facts about this other radio station, the rep says, "We have some upcoming promotions that I would like to discuss with you. Please let me know a time that would be convenient for us to have a conversation."
In other words, "Here's what I want you to do, so tell me when I can sell it to you."
Two words, friends: "Dale Carnegie."
| As always, |
