(By Loyd Ford) When you first begin selling or just “being in radio,” you face a variety of resistance, challenges, and sometimes crises. “That’s Life,” as Frank Sinatra used to sing. Think about the 21st Century so far in the radio business:
September 11, 2001.
The 2008–09 Financial Crisis.
COVID-19.
Do you think these will be the only major moments impacting radio this century? Well, they won’t. But here is the question I want to ask you today: How will you expect down-cycle crisis occurrences along with the good things you experience and how will you benefit from both?
As a seller, sales manager, or market manager, how can you support personal psychology that strengthens your resolve, fortitude, and positive attitude that will help you remain calm, thoughtful, and strategic when a crisis appears?
- Encourage positive people, positive attitudes, and choosing to see opportunity in crisis just as you and your team see opportunity in good news. Positive people are the bone crushers of crisis.
- Look at every situation through the lens of “opportunity discovery.” Yes, that means sharpening your detective skills maybe especially when you perceive bad news.
- Place an especially high premium on always being solution-oriented. Those who consistently use creativity to solve problems are consistent winners.
- Bring people together around the idea that there is “always an answer” to every problem or challenge. There is always an answer. Ask yourself if you are committed to always be the one who finds it.
- Completely eliminate the use of the word “can’t” from your vocabulary and your teams’ vocabulary. Any time you catch someone saying, “I can’t” or “we can’t,” seize this as an immediate opportunity to teach replacing this highly negative word with this sentence considering whatever the problem is: “How can we ___________?” Do this and what you’ve done is train your people to use their dormant and active brains to continue working on a problem and not simply give themselves an excuse to give up.
- Collect and consistently share stories about persistence. Training yourself and your team to collect these stories and share them can have a dramatic positive impact on any crisis, their own team members (and yours), and even your clients and potential clients.
- Try to consider that there is no bad news. There is no bad news. Only the news. We know that good things and bad things happen to everyone. So, expect to receive a blend and always watch for your opportunity in any crisis.
- Focus on thinking ahead, building solid strategy, and being prepared when opportunity comes (or crisis suddenly arrives). Educate, do your homework, and never settle.
- Don’t stay down. It’s that simple. If you are down, get up.
- Act as if good is coming – always. Ask yourself: How are your expectations?
Your job isn’t to accept good news. Order taking is over.
Do you know what it means when you experience so-called bad news? It means good things are on the way. That’s life. Ebb and flow. Expect it. Navigate it. Stay calm. Think solutions. Help others on your team and commit yourself to finding what potential clients really worry about at night and solving those worries.
Two kinds of people have problems. One says, “I can’t believe this crap is happening to me.”
The other sees the opportunity and begins working on solutions and generating positive momentum.
The second kind is your legendary winner.
Be legendary.
Loyd Ford is president and chief strategic officer at Rainmaker Pathway Consulting Works (RPC). They help local radio with ratings and revenue. Reach him anytime at 864.448.4169 or [email protected]. Read Loyd’s Radio Ink archives here.
