Radio Sales Café

Happy Friday, everyone!

Here is this week's poll question:

When you or someone else at your station has made a mistake where a client is concerned (e.g., the wrong ad was run, there was an error in the schedule, or the station was off the air unexpectedly), how do you make it right for your customer?

Note:  we’re not fishing for embarrassing stories, just examples of doing right by clients – so if you want to change the names of any or all parties involved, feel free to do so.

Looking forward to reading your answers!

 

Be proactive.  Contact client explaining what happened and how you'll make it good.  Credit incorrect running spots, credit towards next schedule, run 2 for 1 are several examples.

In the case of the wrong ad. It is always about the best return for the client. If YOUR station(s) or YOUR production is wrong or not functioning according to the promise made by your company, ultimately that will hurt the overall ROI for the client. Admit to the mistake, fix it, and move on. Do not admit to it and see the mess you can cause.

On the flip side, become a true consultant for the client as well. Make sure to help them realize that all of thier other marketing activities are on the up and up. 

In the case of going to low power, or off the air. We always re-run commercials that should have run. Again, its about achieving the best return for your clients.

I went to see my client LIVE because we ran the wrong program on the wrong date, and when I saw the President of the company, my first comment was "you're not going to shoot me are you?" She laughed, and I apologized for the mistake, offered to run a free program which she accepted, and we know what we need to do in the future to prevent this from happening again.

We recently had an issue with a commercial starting a day late due to production staff being sick. We contacted the client and gave them some bonus spots for the special promotion they were running. As long as you are honest and proactive most people are very forgiving. We've been doing the same over the last week while we have been at low power or off air due to equipment replacement on our tower by a company we share the site with. All of the commercials were replaced for those days.

Our policy is that if we make the error, we make good the commercials 2 for 1.

There are steps.  FIRST  Go out and tell them what you did wrong and what you are going to do to fix it.  Bring the top manager (I try to be the one who calls or goes when I can).  SECOND Fix It  THIRD and Most Important:  Go through the systems and see what fell apart that made this mistake happen and fix the procedure.  We have had trouble in the past with order entry problems (It happens).  Now we make sure that when traffic enters an order, the confirm goes to both the sales person AND the customer.  Small detail but it solved a problem.

Sean:

If you ever run into an illness delay again, give me a shout.  Voice Creative can help you get the commercials on the air at the speed of radio.  We're here to help in situations just like that!  (Apologies for the blatant plug, but I don't want you to miss out on opportunities due to illness or other challenges.)

Best to ya!

Neil

Recognize (the problem or situation)

Fix (the problem or situation)

Admit (tell the client BEFORE they find out - preferably in person)

Clarify (tell them what your are willing to do to make the situation right)

It is often human nature to try to quietly sweep mistakes under the rug, fix the problem and implement a schedule to "make good" the mistake. You don't want the client discovering a mistake or problem on their own and then be called "on the carpet". By being open and honest and proactive with the client it helps rebuild trust, broadens the lines of communication, and shows you are willing to "do what it takes" to do the right thing. Also, don't be stingy with your makegoods.  It is too hard to sell clients in the first place, so keeping a "sold" one is a priority.

 

Free ads. Hopefully its not a an event that is past its time. Bu we run corrected ones to make up for the bad ones and then double those as well.

First of all I beat up the production guy responsible (just kidding), then I call the client, let them know what happened, and tell them I'm sorry that it happened, and that we'll make up the missed ads and add 50 percent to their schedule.

The most important things I can think of are to

(1)Take credit for mistakes that happen at your station

     You represent your station to the client but you are a represenative to the station for your client also

     You will most often gain respect with your client for taking responsability

     You will most often lose respect with your client by throwing a fellow employee under the bus

     The buck stops with you

(2)Ask how you can make it right by the client

     You may not be able to do all they ask for but you will give it your best try

     If you can give them more than they ask for you may end up being a hero for them

     Dont wait, ask them right now unless you are at a point where you can get something done about it.  If you are, get it fixed, then let your client know what steps you have already taken to ammend the issue.

(3)Once the issue has been resolved, let the client know what has been done to help avoid it from happening again.

We typically will always make good with additional ads for them, and if it fits a value added on one of the station sites for a short period of time. They are always understanding and appreciative.

 

My comment would be like most of the others... a twist I have often done for advertisers is  to add commercials to their schedule while it is running, and then draft a letter after the schedule has run  saying:

 

Hi Mike,

 

" Thanks for you support on that recent campaign, I took the liberty of adding an additional 10 commercials to your campaign  as our way of saying thank you for your support"

 

We all tend to do that before to sweeten the deal I do it afterwards and they love it...

 

Have a good week selling everyone