Nominations for Radio Ink’s Radio Wayne Awards are underway. The awards recognize radio’s best in sales, marketing and management. The 2021 winner for DOS/General Sales Manager of the Year was Paul Blake, VP/Director of Sales for Beasley Media Group Philadelphia. We caught up with Blake to see how things have been since winning a year ago.
Radio Ink: How has the last year been going for you and your team?
Paul Blake: The last year has been an amazing year of evolution and innovation. Two years ago, the world was different. Many things in all our lives have changed including the way we do business.
More than ever, it’s incumbent upon our industry to develop advertising campaigns to help our clients achieve success. We’ve gone from “shelter in home” where many consumers spent money on home improvements, personal items and family fun to our current state of high inflation, rising interest rates and wallet-tightening. Being efficient with clients’ time and responsible for their results are key to today’s success.
Radio Ink: Do you continue to achieve the success you’ve set out to achieve in radio?
Paul Blake: The first half of this year was very good. Our team is providing business and marketing solutions that achieve results…thereby, creating renewal opportunities. Our radio station brands are healthy, and we remain committed to live and local talent which brings incredible engagement with our listeners and with our clients. In addition, we continue to build-out our digital tools which complement our radio offerings and multiplies the success factor for clients. In short, my success is determined by the success of our team and our clients…and that continues to happen. It makes me happy.
Radio Ink: Tell us about a few of your proudest successes over the last year?
Paul Blake: Personally, our greatest success has been retention: retention of our first-class employees and retention of our high-quality advertisers. Our company is committed to helping our employees grow in their education, marketing expertise and available advertising tools. By investing in our people and their growth, we have seen tremendous growth of our clients. Our average order is rising…not because we’re “selling” well, but because we’re providing additional marketing elements that helps the cash register ring for our advertisers. Success, to me, is growth…of our internal and external customers.
Radio Ink: Why do you still love being a part of our industry?
Paul Blake: “Coaching, Ideas, Results!” That’s the commitment of our cluster. We strive to provide world-class coaching and custom ideas that produce unparalleled ROI (results). I personally cherish the growth opportunities that our industry provides…for our team, our advertisers and myself.
Radio Ink: What advice do you have for sales managers and account executives working hard to be successful in radio today?
Paul Blake: Sales and leadership is a game of inches…strive for positive progress, not perfection. I try to work towards daily improvement in small increments. Whether I’m working on myself, our team, our clients’ success, or our listeners’ satisfaction, commitment to incremental improvement produces huge results.
Radio Ink: What did it mean to you to win a Radio Wayne award?
Paul Blake: What an honor! After several years of not winning, it was truly a surprise and honor to be chosen in 2021. The Radio Wayne Awards are the only one of its kind. Radio Ink’s commitment to recognizing sales success and leadership is commendable. And I appreciate being selected last year.
The 30th Anniversary Radio Wayne™ Awards will be celebrated during Radio Ink’s Masters Sales Summit this fall.
Make your Nominations NOW before July 11.
