Bernie Weiss is president of iHeart Media New York. He started his 25-year radio career in Europe, where as general manager he built Austria’s largest commercial radio group. After his move to New York in 2004, he joined iHeartMedia as an AE for Hip Hop and R&B juggernaut Power 105.1.
Weiss quickly became the top new-business producer, was promoted to local sales manager and then to general sales manager, vice president of sales, and senior vice president of sales. And he’s now overseeing some of the biggest radio brands in the world: Top 40 WHTZ (Z100), AC WLTW (106.7 Lite FM), Hip Hop WWPR (Power 105.1), Classic Rock WAXQ (Q104.3), News/Talk 710 WOR, and Black Information Network outlet WWRL-AM.
In 2021, Weiss published ACE IT: How Sales Champions Win New Business, a new-business sales guide with proven, real-world techniques and scripts that can be applied to any sales situation. Here’s our talk with Weiss about the book — and some other topics as well.
Here’s a preview of our cover story with Weiss. For full digital access to the interview and our 2022 Best Managers list CLICK HERE
Radio Ink: What have you found over the years motivates salespeople the most?
Weiss: The most common answer is money, but I don’t think that’s true. I know many salespeople who are not motivated by money — they are motivated by a challenge. They give them selves a goal, like amount of billing or prospects. A good manager, once they start working with a new employee, has a conversation. What are their goals in three, five, 10 years from now? What do they want their life and career to look like? Once managers know that, it makes it much easier to motivate them, manage them, and coach them on a daily basis.
Radio Ink: What do you look for in a good salesperson and where do you find them?
Weiss: You have to have a few basic traits to be successful in sales, but overall, I think almost anyone can be good in sales. Those basic traits are discipline, empathy, and curiosity. Those are extremely important to have. Everything else can be learned.
The best salespeople follow a process. Every sale is different in terms of products and people, but most sales follow a certain pattern that doesn’t change much from sale to sale. It starts with finding a prospect, to the end, when the deal is done to launch an actual campaign. Because it’s a process, it can be broken down into steps and therefore taught and learned. So if you have those basic core traits, you can be a good salesperson. We find them all over the place — media sales in general, but we have many on the team who were successful in other industries. One of our best managers came from the fashion industry. We try to be open minded, look for those traits, and then teach them.
Radio Ink: Radio sales isn’t glamorous. So how do you convince people to come to the radio industry, where they can be thrown out on their own to make it work?
Weiss: I disagree because I do think it’s glamorous. If radio were an app and had 90% reach, and it’s free, it’s live, and has influence, wouldn’t you download that app? I think because we’re looking from the inside out, we are not telling that story well, even in the recruiting process. I think as an industry, we can do a better job getting people excited about working in our industry. It’s not just a great job working in sales, but promotion, marketing, etc. It’s a great career.
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Congratulate Bernie on a stellar broadcasting career at [email protected]. You can order his book Ace It on Amazon HERE.
