I Choose Not To Participate In the Recession

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If you pay attention to Jim Cramer, he says we are beyond a correction in the market, he believes the Bull is now a Bear and signaling a recession and inflation.  What tactics can be taken to insure your revenue in any market?...

Dan Barron, director of sales for Barnstable Broadcasting in Memphis, sent me a copy of a memo he had sent to his GSMs; the memo embodies some of the tactics you must instill in your managers and salespeople to prosper in these economic times. Following is this memo in its entirety. You might want to copy it word for word and sent it out to your people.

"As we approach the middle of the first quarter and head into the second quarter, I think it is important to take stock of where we are and where we are headed. There is a popular notion that we are in an economic slowdown. Some are already calling it a recession. I do not know if we're in a slowdown/ recession but if we are, as we discussed on Wednesday, 'I'm choosing not to participate.' What I do know is that we need to aggressively pursue new business and hold onto the traditional business we have enjoyed in the past. To assure that we accomplish this, it is imperative that we all raise the level of commitment and accountability from our staff and ourselves.

Here are some tactical, specific areas you can monitor and measure to assure we are doing our part not to participate in a sluggish economy.

1.Closely monitor your AE's activity - Who are they seeing, what are they presenting, and how are they presenting it? Make sure that your station is being presented in the best possible light. A ranker and a schedule are not compelling reasons to buy your station.

2.Who was on your station last year? Look three months out (March, April, May). Make sure those clients that were on last year are assigned to an AE and that there is an action plan to get the business in 2024. As the sales manager, you monitor your AEs' activity and pursuit of business, and measure their results.

3.Take calculated risks - Develop unique and innovative ideas for your department to sell, and then hold AEs accountable to selling them. Tweak and improve old ideas to re-energize the sellers.

4.Sell all of your avails - Don't just sell the primes; find ways, reasons and/or customers that see the value in Saturday/Sunday AM and PM, evenings, first week of the month, etc.

5.Do not get beat on the streets - Monitor other media: Radio, TV, newspaper, direct mail. These are prospects that see the value in advertising.

6.Fight for every business opportunity out there - If we choose not to fight for a buy, there had better be a very good reason."

Thanks, Dan! Nothing else need be said.