Broadcast Sales Training
Broadcast stations gross multi-billion dollars a year, and almost all of it is accounted for by broadcast account executives. The sales staff come from all backgrounds, but one item in common is that they have to all be trained on how to sell their broadcasting station or network as the best medium for advertising to another business. For many years the standard training was to hand the new person a yellow page book and a rate card on the first day, and send him out the door. Fortunately, training has evolved since those days.
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Prior College Training
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Many colleges offer marketing or communication degrees where students learn the basics of how businesses communicate their messages to an audience. They learn how to identify customer needs, various forms of advertising and marketing, and persuasive speech. This enables students to quickly learn information concerning broadcast sales. Some colleges, such as John Brown University in Arkansas, have a specific degree in broadcasting that allows the students to sell advertising for the campus radio station.
Private Schools
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There are many private institutions across the country offering independent broadcast training for interested students. For example, two businesses in Chicago are the Broadcasters Mentoring Group and the Radio Connection Broadcasting School. Students learn largely from professionals while training at real radio stations.
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Formal
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Many stations have a packaged sales training plan purchased from a consulting company such as Sandler Training, Paul Weyland or Local Broadcast Sales. The sales trainee spends several days going over the self-paced material and then role plays with the sales manager until he is ready for the real world. The Radio Advertising Bureau also provides research, material, and sales training to many radio stations.
On-The-Job
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The bulk of the training for a new account executive is out on the street with a more experienced sales agent. Depending upon the station, this training can take from several days to several weeks. On-the-job training allows an account executive to understand how all the parts work together, and to refine his approach to the business owner or agency rep. A good sales manager provides continuous training, whether on-the-job or through sales meetings, to all the account executives.
Associations
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Associations from the local to national level often provide sales training at conferences and over the Internet. In many, but not all, cases the participant must be a member of the association.
Self-Study
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General sales training is invaluable to broadcast account executives and there are many books available that provide a solid foundation for building the skills needed to be successful. The station general or sales manager is a good reference for which books to start with. Their training methods probably come from the recommended books, which allows the account executive to reinforce his training.
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References
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- Photo Credit Close up of old Vinyl Records - focus on the record image by Andrew Brown from Fotolia.com
