We are coming off another tough year in broadcast sales. Hopefully we have all learned something from year 2003 and with a little luck and a lot of common sense, we will increase our revenues and achieve our goals in the coming year.

Here are six important New Year's Resolutions you might use to make sure you are starting the New Year off on the right foot.

1. I will strive to increase my percentage of local direct revenues. Managers and salespeople, past years should have taught us by now that LOCAL DIRECT has always been and should continue to be our "bread and butter." We have grown far too dependent on advertising agencies and it is time to get back to basics. With local direct clients, we experience far less rate resistance and less added value. With local direct clients, it makes less difference whether you are number one or number 20. With local direct, you have a chance to build a lasting relationship with a client, not just a book-to-book relationship. And, by properly educating local direct clients about how to calculate return on investment, you have the opportunity to double or triple what the client thinks he should be spending on your station.

2. I will invest in training my salespeople properly and strive to stop turnover at my station(s). Never forget that most broadcast salespeople got into this business totally by mistake. But just because we got into this business by mistake does not mean we have to do business by mistake. Salespeople who are not making money eventually quit or get fired. This usually happens after 6-8 months. How much do you have invested in one salesperson after eight months, in salary against commission, benefits and orientation? Could it be $30,000 or more? When a salesperson leaves or gets fired, that number comes right off your bottom line. But wait, there's MORE. What happens to your reputation when your clients are seeing their third rep from your station in a year and a half? Turnover is not pretty.

3. I will stop confusing effort with production. Nothing is more frustrating for a sales manager than seeing a majority of a sales force sitting at computers doing who knows what, when they should be out on the streets teaching thousands of potential clients who your stations are, what you do and how to get in touch with you. How many local direct accounts do you have on the air in a typical month? Could it be less than one percent of all of the businesses in your signal coverage area? If sellers are sitting at the computer or visiting in the office, that means they are not out on the street being evangelists for your station. Again, don't confuse effort with production.

4. I will no longer be a CrapMaster. When clients tell us that they tried our medium once and "it didn't work," CREATIVE is almost always one of the problems. We only have 30 or 60 seconds to produce the ultimate SEDUCTION. There is no room for clichés. Use the "Best Friend Test" on all of your copy. If you wouldn't say those same words to your best friend, you can bet you're using clichés. "Best service in town," "fast and friendly service," "you'll love our knowledgeable and friendly staff," "It's a holiday tradition" and "it's our biggest sale event of the year," are all examples of cliché crap. All spots should begin with a good, emotional headline, followed by benefits and results, without clichés, and then finish up with a clear call-to-action. The spots that we produce really are our product. Shame on us for not spending more time on improving the creative that we're selling. Encourage sellers to stop being CrapMasters. Create a "Wall of Shame" at your station and post and highlight bad scripts that are infested with clichés. Do regular creative sessions with sellers to improve the quality of the spots that you are airing.

5. I will manage my client's expectations about results on my station. Besides creative, the other big reason clients tell us they "tried it once and it didn't work," is that you and the client were never on the same page about results from the advertising campaign on your station. In order to calculate return on investment, you must know your client's average sale and gross profit margin. Let's say you're asking the client to spend $3,000 in a given week. The client's average sale is $300. His gross profit margin is 50 percent. So, in order to break even on the campaign, you would have to generate 20 new sales. That number might be far more manageable than the number of people your client "thinks" should have responded to the campaign on your station. Properly calculating ROI for a client will help protect you from surprise cancellations and will cut down on needless "bonus spots."

6. I will not be the market whore. Cut it out. Stop it. You're making the whole industry look bad and you're spoiling the entire market. Practice steps 1-5 and raise your rate. You'll probably earn yourself a raise. Rate resistance is usually the result of not properly educating your clients and not properly managing their expectations about results. You know, rate integrity actually feels pretty good, once you're used to it. These days, any whore can give it away, but it takes a real PROstitute to sell it.

Paul Weyland: 5450 Bee Cave Road, Suite 1-C, Austin, Texas 78746, 512-236-1222, paul@paulweyland.com
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