Jim Doyle: We’ve got to sell “Local local”

“We have a turbulent economy and a channeling Q1, but this is our time to focus on local…Television’s power is amazing—some of our clients are more convinced of that than our sellers!” he said, just before proving that point with some powerful testimonials.

“Local, local is our future,” Doyle declared, noting that much of local spot is actually booked outside of the station’s DMA. The key, he said, is to sell local inventory in the local market.

Doyle itemized four ways to manage stations’ transition to local selling:

1. Teach salespeople to sell with passion. “Success stories are 50 times more successful than the idiot charts we put into our presentations…there are huge opportunities right now—people are leaving radio, newspaper and Yellow Pages advertising (the latter because of Google).”

2. Get our LSMs out on the street a whole lot more—if the only time you’re out on call with your AEs is to do rescue missions, you don’t have a clue if they can really sell.”

3. Abolish straight commissions. “Many AEs get ‘accidental raises’ because their agency got hot. Stop making “budget the only standard by which we evaluate salespeople.”

4. Encourage managers to create an environment that people love to come into each day. “We have too many managers and too few leaders. Create passion in their team; create environments the best people want to work in. Have an opinion on this article? Post your comment below.

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