One would think that radio, with its close ties to local communities, would be particularly well tied into its advertisers. But that’s not always the case, and in fact many radio stations are struggling to build and maintain relationships with their clients. They're not selling as well as they could. In some cases, it’s simply a matter of time. Like so many across media, radio people are working longer, and there are simply fewer hours to devote to relationship building; so much of the day is spent just getting the work at hand completed. Out to help stations remedy that problem is Sheila Kirby, who holds the title of senior vice president of professional development at the Radio Advertising Bureau, which she joined earlier this year. Her job is to help stations train their staffs to become better sales people. She’s spent her first months at the RAB updating its training materials, and now she’s out in the field working with stations. Kirby comes to her new post with a depth of experience. She began her career as a radio account rep and has served as president of strategic sales for Interep and senior vice president of talent development for Tribune Sales Solutions. She talks to Media Life about how radio sales has changed, where radio falls down in relating to clients, and the challenges of digital and other newer media.

What are some of the major issues facing radio sellers today?

First, the way dollars are being spent is very different today.

Last year $716 billion was spent on sales promotion and marketing, 25 percent of which was spent against advertising. In 1963, only $17 billion was spent in all but 74 percent of that was against advertising. If we are only in ad sales we are in a shrinking business.

The buyer’s job has also changed.

In addition to being incredibly busy, just like everyone else, the definition of success has changed. It’s no longer enough to be able to say they got the most for less. Someone above them is going to ask if the campaign worked. Did it make the cash register ring?

And the competition has increased exponentially. It went from seven other radio stations to thousands of competitors going after local dollars.

What about on an individual basis? Are there specific areas you see radio sellers struggling with?

We need to make it easier for people to do business with radio.

When I was at Interep, the head of digital for Saatchi and Saatchi said to me, “I don’t think radio is doing a strong enough job of asking us the right questions. They are showing us packages that are designed without my needs in mind.”

We tend to fall down in analyzing the customer’s priorities. We need to ask thought-provoking questions so we can present solutions based on the client’s needs, not what the boss is asking us to sell.

We also need to do a better job of finding out what measuring sticks will be used to evaluate a campaign’s success and use them to provide a recap. 

With the way Arbitron’s ratings work, the accountability side of things can be difficult. Buyers have to have proof what they bought is working. We’re just not doing a strong enough job of proof of performance.

Aren’t these issues mostly in smaller markets where sellers are less sophisticated?

I’ve heard people say the RAB is not sophisticated enough for New York City. I completely disagree.

We’re very excited to have CBS Los Angeles back as a member. We recently did some sales training for them. There were 90 sales people with an average tenure of 10 years. These are seasoned sales folks, and their response to the training was overwhelming.

We have an obligation to give our folks every tool and resource possible. The best way to do that is to make an investment in educating sellers and sales management.

Other top-flight sales organizations mandate ongoing training. In the media world the RAB is the only trade association that offers robust training and certification.

What about digital sales? That’s an area radio seems to really be struggling in.

I believe radio has the best, most aggressive sales folks but we’re not necessarily focused on how all these new channels work together. It’s important to understand how they become an integrated solution for a client.

We also need to be sure the person we are bringing the proposal to can buy digital.

We can’t bring integrated packages with dollars attached to mobile, texting and banner ads to someone only responsible for audio. They can’t use that budget to buy digital.

But that brings up an important point. It seems like radio sellers are having a hard time getting to the people in charge of digital budgets.

That needs to be part of sellers' education: understanding the multiple channels where there’s money and how to have conversations with the right people.

What about the product? Does radio have digital assets that advertisers are going to be interested in?

Absolutely; with everything we have to offer I believe we are very much prepared to transact business across multiple budget lines.

We just need to find the final decision maker and present them with integrated solutions that will make the cash register ring.