Halftime Interview 2021

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(By Rick Fink) Wow! Where did the 1st half of 2021 go? Over the holiday weekend, I read the book titled Talking To GOATs by the famed sports broadcaster/journalist, Jim Gray. It inspired me to write this week’s ENS on Sales using a sports analogy.

The following is a mock interview between a reporter and the GM or SM (coach) of a media sales team as they head back onto the field for the second half of the game/year.

Reporter: Hey coach, the game/year started pretty slow in Q1 as you were still comparing to pre-COVID numbers. What was your game plan for the first quarter? Can you tell us what happened?
Manager/Coach: We came into 2021 pretty optimistic, even though we were still in a state of uncertainty. The plan was pretty much the same as Q3 and Q4 of 2020. We knew that some business categories were doing great and others not so well. Our focus was to first see and help as many businesses as we possibly could.

Reporter: How about the second quarter (Q2) of this year? Did you change your game plan at all?
Manager/Coach: We did a little bit of adjusting. A lot of clients seemed to be searching for something new. We had to bring our best game and all our tools to the table, traditional media, digital, and we even implemented some promotions and events. We experienced some losses but also some big wins too. Of course, we were going up against smaller comps. Even though the goal is to get back to pre-COVID numbers, a win is a win at this stage!

Reporter: What’s the current temperature of the business owners?
Manager/Coach: It varies, but one consistent thing is that they don’t want to buy advertising… they want IDEAS and they will buy if you have an IDEA that they believe will improve their traffic, and ultimately their sales.

Reporter: Going into the second half, what are your goals?
Manager/Coach: To Win and Win Big! I don’t mean by just beating the 2020 numbers. I mean by surpassing the numbers we were at in 2019, pre-COVID. It’s very doable, but we won’t get there unless we execute, work hard, and bring better ideas to our clients than our competitors are.

Reporter: Anything else?
Manager/Coach: You know, radio is in a great position to help these business owners. We just have to get out there and work hard. There are some real opportunities out there right now. Recruitment should be on everyone’s radar! But you need to execute it correctly or it’ll backfire on you. In addition, the combination of digital/social and radio can be very powerful. We just need to get out there and tell our story to anyone and everyone willing to listen. Then Execute!

Reporter: Good luck with the second-half manager!
Manager/Coach: Thank you! Go Radio!

At ENS Media, we wish everyone good luck as we start the second half of 2021.
We appreciate that you are a reader of ENS on Sales and we hope that you find the topics useful.

Go Radio!

NEVER Stop Learning – Get Better Every Day!

Rick Fink from ENS Media (www.ensmediausa.com) can be reached by phone at 605-310-2062 or e-mail at [email protected]

2 COMMENTS

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