Sales & Marketing

What do you do when your sales reps fail to meet their quotas or fail to meet your expectations? Uncovering the root cause and applying the right solution is critical, expert sales trainer Barrett Riddleberger notes in his latest Media Information Bureau column. His advice could spark your sales team's performance just in time for the busy holiday season.

Profit — it's the No. 1 goal of every radio and TV advertiser, and of every radio and TV station owner. But, what if you've just relaunched a radio station? There's certainly been some thought into the execution of the format change, and the expectation of what will come in 12 months ... right? If that's not happened, perhaps these "10 critical steps" from Simon Manwaring can help bring riches to your newly launched product.

On Thursday RBR+TVBR offered commentary from Editor-in-Chief Adam R Jacobson on how the biggest problem with TV and radio spots may be content-related. Today, Jeffrey Hedquist offers his thoughts on how to make an audio commercial bring greater ROI for the advertiser. "If your commercials sound like commercials," he says, "listeners will probably ignore them."

Among the news stories that caught Editor-in-Chief Adam R Jacobson's attention on Thursday morning was a report out of the U.K. involving Channel 4, a major commercial broadcaster. It held a "summer upfront" on the Fourth of July, and the channel is trying out "a new linear ad format," The Wall Street Journal reports. Marketers may be salivating, but our editor argues that there's nothing wrong with the :30 or :60 — except the content.

If you have sales reps who claim to have a "hot prospect," only to find that the buyer can't or won't buy, this column is just for you. In this latest Media Information Bureau installment from expert sales trainer Barrett Riddleberger, five questions that you should ask your salespeople about each new opportunity are discussed and explained. It's great learning for your sales team!

"Your sales reps can differentiate themselves by asking great questions," says featured Media Information Bureau columnist Barrett Riddleberger. "However, the art of the follow-up question can really set them apart." With that, Riddleberger offers the following advice, meant for C-Suiters to share with their reps as a guide for improved sales performance.

With more choice, more access to information, and less incentive to be loyal, today’s customers are firmly in control of their relationships with companies. Understanding today’s customer has become increasingly difficult — both for advertisers using radio and TV and for the broadcasters themselves. That's why Salesforce developed its “State of the Connected Customer” report, and its second edition is now out. RBR+TVBR perused the report, and here are the key points.

Ahead of a busy Memorial Day holiday, our Editor-in-Chief went to his local mall -- the biggest tourist destination in Florida. The specialty stores had practically no foot traffic. But, there were shoppers in the mall. They were patronizing some active users of broadcast media advertising. This reinforces a report this week from eMarketer sharing data worthy of your time.

Mike Rudd is a sports marketing specialist, speaker, and an author of the book "Hot Dogs, A Little Marketing, and A Lot of Fun!" In this Media Information Bureau encore column, Rudd discusses the sports radio fan. Given the success of the Las Vegas Golden Knights and the NBA and NHL playoffs, Rudd's column could again be very timely for sports radio stations looking for extra dollars.

As more participate and contribute to social media, consumers are getting savvier by the day. As such, the company that thrives in this extreme vetting environment are the ones who boast salesmen who do not actually sell. Does this describe your broadcast media company's best clients?

Is it possible to fix a motivation problem with a sales rep? The Answer: "Sometimes," says expert sales coach Barrett Riddleberger. This depends on several factors, which Riddleberger discusses in this video podcast presented by RBR+TVBR's Media Information Bureau.

The age-old concern for just about every employer, Media Information Bureau columnist Kelly Orchard notes, is this: “Where are all the good candidates? Why can’t people just come to work and do their job?”  Orchard discussed the topic with RBR+TVBR Editor-in-Chief Adam R Jacobson at a NAB 2018 Broadcast Leadership Training reception held Sunday night in Las Vegas as one of several unofficial opening events tied to the 2018 NAB Show. She took her ideas to paper, and pens this report on how to find the best person for whatever job you seek to fill.

Before hiring a sales rep, conduct an apples-to-apples job comparison, suggests pro sales coach Barrett Riddleberger. Line up the structure and activities of your sales job and your candidate's current or previous sales job. "Good interview questions enable you to do this," he says. Why? "It’s easy to assume your sales candidate facilitated the same sales process and had a similar sales culture if they come from within the same industry or sold a similar product."

Hiring great sales reps means weeding out bad ones — especially those who interview well and come highly recommended by others, expert sales coach Barrett Riddleberger often notes in his Media Information Bureau columns. Now, Riddleberger gets behind the camera in this video podcast to share an expereince he had with a client who was considering a top sales candidate.

If you have a sales rep (or sales team) that is not hitting their quota, this Media Information Bureau column from regular contributor Barrett Riddleberger is just for you. Anytime you have an underperforming sales rep, there is always a reason. The goal of the C-Suite? Find the source of the problem and remedy it, even if it involves the top executives.