34 RADIOINK•COM MAY 6, 2019
Patrick: Hiring salespeople is often the
biggest challenge for small operators.
There is no magic formula. We do regular
on-air recruitment. We ask our custom-
ers who are good salespeople who call
on them from non-media businesses. We
work with the local colleges to recruit
interns who may turn into employees. It
is a constant effort to find people with
the desire and the interest in staying in
a small town. Even in small towns, some
of our best AEs are now making six-figure
incomes. That is huge here.Fuss: That’s still my biggest challenge.
Nobody wants a job in sales. Commission
is a dirty word to most people.Becker: Hiring salespeople can be chal-
lenging. The best thing is to take care
of the good ones you have so they stay
with you. At the same time, you have to
continue to be looking for the next per-
son during your daily routine. The best
salespeople are usually the ones that are
good at any job they do. It is more about
how a potential employee treats others in
their current job. Who they are cannot be
changed. They can always learn the radio
business. It is hard to teach someone
manners and respect if they don’t have
them.Goldsen: My wife and company co-owner,
Sue, oversees our sales and marketing
efforts, and she’s found great success
soliciting on-air, and hiring people who
don’t necessarily have a media-sales
background but are comfortable working
with local advertisers to help their busi-
ness succeed. We have veterans who have
been with us 20 years and a couple who
have only been with us less than a year.
What they all have in common is their
affinity for the community in which they
live and work.Radio Ink: Give us some specific exam-
ples of doing great live and local radio.
Stone: In all of our markets, we do a feature
titled “Minute with the Mayor.” We engage
the mayor live on Monday mornings, and
record snippets that rebroadcast all week.
This runs on all our stations, in every mar-
ket. It is a large part of keeping our listeners
connected to local government.“Weneed to do a better
job showing bigger
companies, especially
all the chain stores and
franchises, that radio
should be a part of their
ongoing marketing. Most
of them do a remote
for their grand opening,
then you never hear
from them again. That’s
not the proper way to
use radio.”Larry Fuss“I would like to see radio
stop measuring our
success in all markets
as whether we are
beating our competitor
down the street. The
targets should be
direct mail, print, and
billboards. There is
too much competition
among stations. Hyper-
serve your audience and
focus on tomorrow, not
yesterday’s battles.”— Larry Patrick