You Are Not In The Radio Business!

In weekly sales meetings, my financial advisor, Gerhart, reminds his staff that they are not in the financial business, they are in the relationship business.

The same is true in radio: Relationships drive winning radio shows and stations.

1. Coach-Talent Relationship
   
   Effective coaching begins with a management/talent relationship. Ideally, it is a partnership of trust, honesty, and safety. Safety means talent can experiment, be creative, fail, and know they’re still loved.
   
   The most fundamental action a programmer can take is to send the message, “I work for your show.” Ask questions like, “What do you need from me (technical issues, prizes, etc.)?” “How can I help you (succeed, progress, grow)?”
2. The Audience Relationship
   
   Personality brands are built on established and cultivated relationships with listeners. Talent can foster the listener relationship by creating relevant content, demonstrating what they stand for by expressing their viewpoint, and sharing their life experiences.
   
   A trusted voice with a deep relationship with listeners can discuss almost any topic, no matter how controversial.
3. Relationship Content
   
   Relationship content fuels female listening, and it’s highly appealing to males as well. Why? It contains all the elements of captivating content, including stories, humor, drama, and conflict.
   
   Most people think of relationship content as romantic or couple’s content. That’s true with younger targeted stations. In most formats, the relationship scope can be expanded to include parenting, family, coworkers, neighbors, friends, etc.
   
   Relationship features like Group Therapy, Second Date Update, War of the Roses are breakthrough benchmarks that create high tune-ins to boost TSL.
4. Sales-Client Relationship
   
   It’s common for sales pros to focus their energy on gaining new business. However, building and maintaining strong relationships with existing clients can set you up for repeat business.
   
   Exceptional communication with clients and potential clients goes a long way toward maintaining and gaining new business. The Muse has ten valuable tips for building, managing, and maintaining client relationships.