THE CHALLENGE FOR 2002 Chris Byrnes As you contemplate another exciting year in radio, have you given any thought to Customer Relationship Management?
That's the major issue on the minds of 90% of Canada's most successful CEO's, according to a recent survey. These "movers and shakers" believe that any revenue growth in 2002 is more likely to come from building better relationships with their existing clients, than any other source. As one of them said "it's easier to go fishing where the fish are". Radio's challenge therefore is to build better relationships with both existing listeners [TSL] and advertisers.
According to Laura Pollard, President of Toronto based Accelerate Growth Management, we are on the edge of a new revolution, much greater than the industrial revolution. "We are putting immediate real time knowledge in the hands of every office and field worker within the company, allowing them to instantly interact with the customer, to better serve the individual customer needs". Laura suggests "don't buy technology first, instead find an unbiased expert in the area of enterprise CRM so you see the big picture solutions." Dell Computers is a good example of a company that uses "build to order" technology to give the customer more choice, while at the same time lowering their manpower costs.
Peter Drucker, the man who practically invented management as a discipline in the 1950s, says in his book Management Challenges for the 21st Century we are living in a period of "profound transition, and the changes are more radical than even those that ushered in the 'Second Industrial Revolution' of the middle of the 19th century." Drucker believes that, just as traditional management was instrumental in increasing productivity for manual work, modern management must be transformed to play a similar part in the increase in the productivity for "knowledge work," the biggest management challenge of the new century.
So how does this apply to radio, and what can you do to make your customers experience a wonderful thing? Here are a couple of suggestions:
Better Information For Listeners: On your Web site: Already it's possible to have your automation system publish the titles and artists of the songs you play in the last hour or last day on your web site. Some stations already enhance the experience by displaying the CD cover, and information about the artist. You can also create a link so the listener can purchase that CD and the radio station gets a few pennies for each CD sold.
In Their Car: Most 2002 cars have audio systems with RDS [Radio Data Systems] installed. This means the station can display the title and artist that is currently playing and can also transmit critical text information such as road closures or traffic problems via text display. RDS is just one reason why your station needs to own a word, such as "Rock" ,"News" or "Soft".
On Their Computer: Communicate with them frequently via e-mail and e-mail newsletters to better inform and motivate trial of your station products and services. The five major findings of a recent e-mail Marketing Strategy Survey shows:
"When you reach people with e-mail, they're in a work mode, even if they're not at work. They're sitting up, they're alert. You catch them at a good moment, and if you do it right, you have a really good shot of having them respond," according to William Thames of Revnet Direct Marketing. If you want to keep your audience and potential audience better informed about the neat stuff that happens on your radio station, here's a free idea. We suggest you create "The Insiders E-mail Club" a totally free service where membership has its privileges. Club members are privy to exclusive radio station concert and music news, get advance notice of your promotions and can even win incredible prizes not available on the air. It's a great way of building loyalty, and encourages frequent tuning to your station. Call us at (905) 332-1331 to find out more information.
Better Service For Your Advertisers: Make radio easier to buy: Radio has not solved the major barrier to profits. It is still too complicated and too confusing to buy the one medium that influences so many consumer-purchasing decisions. Radio gets only 17% of the advertising pie. Yet with laptop computers and technology we can now allow clients to pick the spots they want, generate the ideal reach and frequency and even produce the invoice right in the client's location. We can play them audio via the laptop and provide better customer communication. I believe that new technology favours radio more than newspaper and television.
Advertiser Referral Service: Radio needs to address the information void that exists. When a listener hears a spot and calls your radio station asking for more information about the clothing sale you're advertising, what response will they get? I called a news station recently about a business story I'd heard at 4:50pm while I was fighting rush hour traffic on the 407. I couldn't stop and write the information down, and I'm trying not to drive and talk on my cell phone these days. While the station tried to be helpful, they could not locate the information even though I told them the exact time and day it was broadcast. I suggest to my clients that they create an "Advertiser referral service" and promote this benefit on the air. When a listener calls to ask about something they heard on the air, there are systems in place to deal with this. I know some stations that have created a "Community Services Director" who is responsible for answering all general enquiries, making it their mission in life to track down the information and therefore offering better service to both advertisers and listeners. |