Friday Poll: What Features Do You Like & Would Like to See on RS

    • 1373 posts
    May 19, 2011 8:47 PM PDT

    Happy Friday, everyone!

    As we continue our celebration of Radio Sales Café’s second anniversary, here is this week's poll question, in two parts:

    1) What feature(s) of Radio Sales Café do you find the most useful? 

    2) What new feature(s) would you like to see?

    Thank you - looking forward to reading your answers!

    • 73 posts
    May 20, 2011 7:37 AM PDT
    The ability to share ideas is the best feature for me.
    • 135 posts
    May 20, 2011 7:57 AM PDT

    I really like being able to share ideas, When Im stuck and cant think of an idea, I always come to RSC. Thanks for that!

     

    Not really sure on new features. You pretty much have it all covered.

    • 14 posts
    May 20, 2011 1:02 PM PDT
    Again, sharing of ideas and sharing problems with RSC members as they understand our very unique business!!  Copy ideas are great, as I write most of the copy here I very often have a dry spot and just can't come up with any copy so I turn to RSC for help.  Keep up the great work guys.
  • May 23, 2011 1:24 PM PDT
    my favorite feature by far is the new weekly SPOTlight categories.  It's such a reasource if your stuck with creative copy ideas.  the revenue opportunities section also is a great help, i am always up to date with the upcoming seasonal promotional ideas.  thanks RSC
    • 1373 posts
    May 23, 2011 2:44 PM PDT

    From RSC member Kathy Fredericks:

    I definitely like the sharing of ideas from other small and medium market radio stations. Too many times, we find articles or stories from what is happening and working with clients in major markets that just don't translate well into the small, local markets.

     

    I also like the "swap a spot." Our station just became part of the program about a month ago and we have had great success utilizing out of market voices that help not only our clients set themselves apart from all the other similar businesses they compete with, but also makes our station sound better since not every commercial are voiced by the same 2 or 3 air personalities!

    • 27 posts
    May 27, 2011 6:11 AM PDT

    First off, thank you for all your efforts on Radio Sales Cafe.  It's an amazing tool and as a new salesperson in such a niche industry I appreciate having Radio Sales Cafe at my disposal.

    1) Totally invaluable- Experience and wisdom.  Some of you guys and gals take allot of valuable time to share your expertise.  In perusing these pages I'm able to learn how to handle certain situations, objections, and spew facts and figures that impress my clients and ultimately end up in a buy.  My training was excellent at the station, but you truly continue it on a daily basis. Thank you.  Then there are the ideas... you folks are brilliant and creative- thank you for saving me time and helping me grow my business.  The bosses say I'm the fastest billing newbie at the station, ever.  You have played an integral part of that. 

     

    2) Features- How about a section about the funny things we come across in our daily sales life.  A little humor outlet... So we can all share our bizarre experiences.  For instance, I called a client to follow up on a proposal- it was our first sunny day in 20 days give or take- and he asked if I was wearing a bikini.  "Uh, no... it's against our dress code mister."  I can't be alone...

     

    Have a great weekend!

     

    • 29 posts
    May 27, 2011 7:11 AM PDT
    Like others who have posted, I like the fact we can bounce ideas off of each other and get feedback.  It's also nice to find answers to problems we all face on a regular basis.  Thanks for providing a forum where this can happen!! 
    • 31 posts
    May 27, 2011 7:11 AM PDT

    The coolest thing about RSC to me is the knowledge that we are not all in this alone!

    I've often been told that selling ads isn't brain surgery...and it's not.  But it sure isn't easy.  It's awesome to know that we've got a couple of hundred friends all over the world that are facing many of the same issues and challenges that we do every day.  If we can share each other's frustrations and find a few new ways to get over, under or around obstacles that's a win to me!

     

    Blessings to all my RSC and SAS friends out there in the foxholes with me!

    • 34 posts
    May 27, 2011 7:46 AM PDT

    I particularly like the Forum.

     

    A seperate menu bar for help wanted.  We have had a need for a professional sales person and probably will in the future.

    I know that such a place exists here, but it would be more convenient if there was a direct click to that page.

    • 180 posts
    May 27, 2011 11:23 AM PDT

    #1. The simple fact that it (RSC) exists is useful. Having a communications link to other street reps is invaluable. We hear enough from high priced experts who haven't closed a door since the 20th century. Here we get to talk to others who are out there in the post 9-11 trenches.

     

    #2. It is apparent from the number of request weekly that what is desperately needed is a copy bank. Most of the requests coming in are for script ideas for one business or another. Sometimes just getting that first sentence does the job.

    (Lyons 1st Law: The first sentence in a commercial should always be a simple declarative sentence.)

    (Lyons 2nd Law: Numbers (as in phone numbers) count as words.) 

    • 180 posts
    May 27, 2011 11:27 AM PDT
    Here's an excuse I never got before. I called an agency in Kansas City Mo. yesterday. (5-26-11) They couldn't come to the phone because they were all down in the cellar. Seems another tornado had just hit. (Should I believe her?)
    • 13 posts
    May 28, 2011 6:45 PM PDT
    Enjoy the site tremendously. Being able to reach out to other sales professionals is something I have always looked forward to. A new feature I'd like to see is the ability to email mp3 audio files in messages.
    • 1373 posts
    June 4, 2011 6:02 PM PDT
    Thanks, everyone, for your kind words and for your suggestions -- we'll certainly be taking them into consideration!
    • 1373 posts
    June 4, 2011 6:39 PM PDT
    Yikes, Shannon - can't believe a customer actually asked that!  But good comeback on your part . . . I might not have been quite so tactful, LOL.  And actually, we do have a Sales Humor section, so please feel free to share more stories from the trenches. :-D
    • 1373 posts
    June 4, 2011 6:43 PM PDT
    Mark, I think this would make a great discussion.  If you want to copy your questions over as a new post in The Round Table section of the forum, I'll make sure to feature it on our Facebook page and in the weekly newsletter.
    • 1373 posts
    June 4, 2011 6:46 PM PDT
    Dave, thanks for your post.  I'm not sure that the website's platform will allow me to put up a separate menu bar for the Radio Sales Employment Opportunities section of the forum, but for the time being, it is always accessible from the main page.  When you log on to RSC, simply scroll down through the different sections of the discussion forum.  The help wanted forum is second from the bottom, just a little bit above the "Top Content" box.  Hope this helps, and if I can think of a way to make the section more prominent, I will.
    • 1373 posts
    June 4, 2011 6:50 PM PDT
    Joe, thanks for your kind words!  As far as a copy bank, have you seen the copy library that Rick Murphy and crew created?  It's got over 40,000 scripts, and is completely free to use.  Here's the link:  http://www.radiosalescafe.com/forum/topics/copy-library.  In the two years that RSC has been in existence, our members have contributed a lot of copy ideas for ads for particular businesses.  Right now, the easiest way to access these is to run a search of the discussion forum, but down the road I may look into the possibility of creating some sort of indexing system.
    • 1373 posts
    June 4, 2011 6:54 PM PDT
    William, I'm going to contact the developers of the operating platform for this site, to see if they can add this to the messaging system -- they're always making improvements, and I agree, this would be a nice feature to have.  In the meantime (as you've probably noticed), you can add an embed code and/or a hyperlink, so if you have the .mp3's posted on another website, that would be one way to do it.  I'll keep you posted on what I find out.