"I Tried Radio and It Doesn't Work."

Of all of the negative things I hear about our industry, only one really ruffles my feathers:

"I Tried Radio And It Doesn't Work."

Translation: Somebody with pretty good sales skills and amazing rates convinced me to buy a schedule on a weak station and I never saw results.

It it a travesty that many smaller and non-radio advertisers will choose to try our medium by investing only a small amount of money. Of course only a certain type of cluster would take their money for an inefficient schedule (reach & frequency). Usually that cluster the is home of revolving formats, GM's and AE's. Instead of wondering why this station is able to sell spots so much cheaper than others - the client plops down their money and might even get an incentive for buying (trip to Vegas, ball game tickets, dinner for two, etc.). Everyone is happy until the client gets no results and begins to utter those words to everyone he meets: "I Tried Radio and It Doesn't Work" (but I had a good time at the ball game).

Is it me? When did it become so "chic' for GM's and Market Mangers to beat their chest and actually look for praise when saying the "respect" the product. How can you not respect what you sell? Isn't that like the jockey confessing his respect for the horse?

Maybe they didn't get the memo, but the sales vs. programming thing went away years ago - about the time we all started consolidating. Sadly, many of the most talented people left the business so there was nobody left with any real passion on either side. In the October 7th issue of Billboard Monitor, a top-10 market cluster manager is quoted as saying:

"The greates product in the world, without a successful sales operation is a disaster. The greatest sales operation in the world, with a lousy product, is a mild success."

That may be true for Amway ... but this line of thinking is the exact epicenter of what ails our industry. Too many companies are willing to settle for a "mild success." Why? Little risk, better margins ... in other words: Wall Street rewards mild successes when the margins are there.

Forget iPod, XM, WI-MAX and every other new technology that is set to kill us. We are killing ourselves! The above quote applies to the guy who tried radio and now tells everyone it doesn't work. He was the victim of a great sales operation ... selling a lousy product.

What most of these market managers don't get ... is that both are equally important. We are the cart and the horse. The horse will pull the cart ... which will hold the goods. That is an important metaphor because the horse does have to come first - not in importance, but in design. Before you can get results for a client, you have to have the best product on the air to attract the highest AQH share. Otherwise his message isn't communicated and "Radio" is to blame. But don't get me wrong - the horse starves pretty quickly without the cart! Both are equally important and for any manager to have to go out of their way to say they "respect" the product or even sales - proves their inability to lead radio in the post Wal-Street world.

I once interviewed with a GM who was surprised when I asked him about their sales strategy. After beating his chest about respecting the product, he told me their strategy was SHARE.

Translation - get the most out of the buy regardless of rate per spot. If we have too, we'll write spots on the log to hit our numbers.

I also asked my current GM the same question when I interviewed for this job. Without hesitating he told me his cluster was dedicated to premium rates. When I asked him how they justify them, he said, "We only hire PD's who can deliver a premium product." While we do have businesses who say we are too expensive, we don't have any that say "I Tried Radio And It Doesn't Work."