(By Michael Dudding) My last article focused on “kids and non-professionals” recording bland “it’s-acutely-obvious-my-monotone-voice-means-I’m-reading-copy-given-to-me.” Effective messages need to have warmth, excitement, believability, sincerity, and honesty. I’ll be the first to admit there are some businesses that CAN read their own message. In realty, over 60% of message on my radio stations have the owner’s voice somewhere within the message.
A word of caution. I always tell a businessperson who wants to record their commercial, “Let’s try having you record your commercial, but I’m going to be brutally honest. If your commercial is questionable, I will probably tell you perhaps we shouldn’t air this because I don’t want to embarrass you or your business. After all, our goal is to drive traffic, sales, and profits, isn’t it?” Most businesses understand.
I’m a firm believer that there are solutions to virtually every problem. Here’s an easy solution. Instead of that businessperson reading a 75-80 word 30-second commercial, let’s give them a 16-word tag to his ad. Example: “I’m Joe Schmoe from Schmoe’s Hardware. Stop in for our free building tip of the day.” Joe can be coached to sound genuine, honest, warm in the 16 words as compared to 75-80,
With frequency and time (patience!), Joe will have customers, new and old, walking through his door calling him by name. Customers will already “know” Joe, even though they’ve never met. “Knowing someone helps me make sales easier.”
Let’s win over the “non-radio-believers”. Most have memorized verbiage when a radio rep walks in their door: “I would like to test your station. Put an ad together that says customers will get a 15% discount (here we go talking percentages again — see article 1) if they come in and say they heard this ad on your radio station.”
Let’s win this one. I look the businessperson straight in the eye and say, “I’ll do you one better. I will give you 10 ads per hour from the moment you open your door until the close of business. We’ll make the ad really simple. I’m just going to say, “The first 10 people into ‘X’ store each hour will receive a brand new $100 bill! Can we start this message tomorrow?”
After the blood reappears in their face and the oxygen mask has been removed, the business person usually says, “I can’t do that, I’ll go broke!” I explain this was simply a tongue in cheek example of a true test. What your message is really doing is testing our audience’s perception of your business.
Here’s the best tip I can offer any AE. Ask this sincere question: “I’m very curious, how did you got started in this business?” Expect the decision-maker to lean back in the chair, smile, clasp their hands behind their head and tell you their life story. You’ve just started forming a good relationship with that business. How many other sales reps have ever given a damn about how they got started? What happens when someone asks YOU how you got started in radio?
Forty-plus years in this industry and everything I’ve written is 100% true (for me). I love the ability to help businesses market themselves and make them (and me) money. I think it’s time to bring back pride and dignity to history’s greatest medium. Our industry offers more than any other medium, but we’ve become complacent, we’re lacking creativity. It was Albert Einstein who said, “Imagination is more important that knowledge.” Wouldn’t he have been a fun partner?
Michael Dudding is owner and GM of the KDSN radio stations in Denison, IA, and one of Radio Ink’s Best Managers of 2016. He can be reached at [email protected].
Read Part One in my series HERE
Read Part Two in my series HERE
I gotta say it again, Professor Mike Dudding has written the book on successful radio station management.
He could make a mint publishing a “How To” guide” on the subject.
Never in my 50+ years serving broadcast have i observed a person more professionally dedicated to the art and science of American Broadcasting.
Visit his operation in Denison, Iowa and see for yourself.