Client Perception Study Of Radio Advertisers
An Honors Thesis
by
Robert R. Webb
Thesis Director
Ball State University
Muncie, Indiana
24 March 1986
Graduation date:
Spring, 1986
TABLE OF CONTENTS
INT RODUCT I ON
page
EXECUT IVE SUMMARY
1-2
SURVEY METHODS
3
CRITERIA FOR SELECTING RADIO STATION
4-5
CRITERIA FOR JUDGING SALESPERSON
6-7
WHAT TO DO BETTER OR DIFFERENTLY
8
RADIO SALES FORCE RANKINGS
9
OUTSTANDING SALESPEOPLE
10
I NT RODUCT ION
The
February
project
following
1986
manuscript
study
done
reports
for
the
WMEE/WQHK
key
findings
by Robert
attempted to determine advertisers'
R.
from
Webb.
a
The
reasons for selecting
a radio station to advertise with and their criteria for judging a
salesperson.
Data
was
also
collected
station( s) had the best salesforce.
to
determine
In addi tion,
which
radio
respondents were
asked to name the outstanding individual radio salespeople in Fort
Wayne.
that
Finally,
allowed
salespeople
easier.
to
respondents
them
to
do
that
Hopefully,
the
list
were
given
an
what
else
they
would
make
findings
their
of
this
WMEE/WQHK's already strong training program.
open-ended
would
like
advertising
study
question
will
radio
decisions
enhance
1
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
To gain a
salespeople,
responses
executives
and
advertising
group
representative sample of those who deal wi th radio
from
salespeople.
have
insight
shows
contrasting
salespeople.
people
The
However,
it
obtained
business
decisions.
provides
separated ,
were
data
into
when
that
who
opinions
handle
their
people
their
from
these
and
radio
agency
company's
this
perceptions
from
about
When significant,
advertising
collected
data
agency
from
combined
of
two
radio
groups
advertisers
stations
is
sometimes
and
their
these contrasting opinions will be
pointed out.
The study
clearly
station
ratings.
Also important was the cost of advertising.
factor
is
reason
the
for
station's
The merging
was the overwhelming
60% of the advertisers thought ratings
and cost were the key criteria,
which
with
or cost per thousand,
named by agencies.
to determine
advertise
important
a
these two criteria,
to
the most
choosing
of
radio
showed that
but the rest used other criteria
radio station to advertise wi tho
Advertisers
look at more than just CPM.
The key findings in judging a radio salesperson center on the
sa lesperson' s
client's
knowledge
business,
and
of
his/her
problem
station,
solving
knowledge
ability.
about
Agencies
the
want
salespeople to come to them armed with complete information about
-
the
station's
numbers,
and
benefi ts for the agencies'
then
clients.
to
relate
those
numbers
into
Advertisers want this service
from salespeople, but they also pay much more attention to
2
personality,
relaxed
manner
when
that
radio
indicates
themselves
to
polished
appearance,
personal
judging
radio
a
advertisers;
salesperson.
must
sa lespeople
whereas,
presentation,
be
The
concerned
agencies
will
wi th
and
study
selling
tolerate
less
than ideal personal features as long as the salesperson is backed
by numbers and can provide a solution to a problem.
Among
study,
those
WMEE/WQHK
professional
salesforce
was
by only 15%.
being
salespeople
rated
in
Fort
by
70%
superior
as
having
Wayne.
of
their closest competitor,
the
the
outstanding
open-ended
could
wide
were predictable
and
their needs,
salesforce
represented
in
this
the
most
Their
those
combined
responding,
far
WOWO/WIOE who were named
individual
radio
salesperson
in
Almost half the people responding listed Mr. Diehm.
Finally,
Agencies
advertisers
overwhelmingly
judged
named
a
and
Roger Diehm of WMEE/WQHK received incredible support
Fort Wayne.
produced
was
radio
outdistancing
for
agencies
do
variety
based on
advertisers
have
to
question
make
of
asking
advertiSing
answers.
else
decisions
The most-suggested
data collected from
want
what
salespeople
to
be more
problems.
suggestions will be listed later in this report.
eaSier,
replies
earlier questions.
better knowledge of their station,
show how benefits can provide solutions to
radio
attuned
to
and clearly
More unique
3
SURVEY METHODS
This
over
a
report
two
executives
completed
details
week
period
and
20
the
key
findings
in February
advertisers
questi onnai res.
1986.
provided
All
of
a
study
30
advertising
answers
surveys
completed
agency
for
the
50
by
conducted
were
telephone, and the average survey was answered in 5-8 minutes.
When
determining
the
criteria for
selecting
a
radio
to advertise with and for judging a radio salesperson,
station
respondents
were asked to rank each criteria on a scale of I to 5 where 1 was
not at all important and 5 was very important.
1
=
=
=
=
=
2
3
4
5
When
determining
Not at all important
Little importance
Some importance
Important
Very important
perceptions
most professional salesforce,
stood
for
not
at
all
of
a
which
radio
scale of
professional
I
station(s)
had
the
to 5 was used where I
and
5
stood
for
very
professional.
I
2
3
4
5
=
=
=
=
=
Not at all professional
Not very professional
Somewhat professional
Professional
Very professional
Mean scores will be used as a measurement in this report.
score
is
the
average
rating
given
a
specific
criteria
response group - agencies, advertisers, or total respondents.
A mean
by
a
4
CRITERIA FOR SELECTING RADIO STATION
Respondents were asked to rank 7 criteria on a scale of 1 to
5 to determine how they select a radio station to advertise with.
The most important criteria was the station's ratings.
respondents
felt
ratings
were
the
most
60% of the
important
criteria.
Advertisers didn't give as much importance to the ratings.
50% of
them
of
said
ratings
agencies.
Cost
especially
the
were
most
important,
compared
was
considered
important
agencies.
Mean
by
scores
to
by
67%
both
advertisers
the
groups,
were
3.9/5
and by agencies 4.3/5.
The
role
advertise
with
advertisers
only
17%
of
by
salespeople
was
ranked
the
in
disagreed
them
upon
important
agencies.
determining
The
station's on-air personalities.
which
significantly.
to very
same
important,
trend
is
station
50%
to
of
the
compared
evident
with
to
a
Here the difference is 55% to 27%
by the agencies.
Advertisers
also
give
much
contact with station management.
more
importance
to
personal
The difference in mean scores is
2.9 to 2.1.
Special promotions
are
just about
equally
important
to
both
groups, receiving a total mean score of 3.4.
A
recommendation
from
an
agency
advertiser who makes his own decisions.
-
doesn't
mean
much
to
an
Most advertisers surveyed
did not dea 1 with agenci es, so they ranked thei r recommendation as
having little or no importance.
to their client's recommendations.
Agency people were more attentive
57% said their client's
5
recommendation
was
a
somewhat
to
very
important
criteria
in
selecting a radio station to advertise with.
The major notion
agencies
are
mainly
that surfaces from these questions
concerned
with
ratings
and
cost,
is that
or
CPM.
However, advertisers have more factors figuring prominently in the
decision making process.
and less number-oriented.
personalities
of
a
They appear to be more
people-oriented
The management, salespeople, and on-air
station
are
all
important
criteria
used
advertisers to determine which radio station to advertise with.
-
by
6
CRITERIA FOR JUDGING SALESPERSON
Respondents were asked to rank 9 criteria on a scale of I
5 to determi ne how they
judge a
most
was
important
station.
criteria
90%
of
each
radio sa lesperson.
that
group
a
radio
thought
Overall,
salesperson
station
to
the
know
his
knowledge
was
important to very important.
Next
was
their
about
knowledge
client's
Ad vert isers stressed this point more than agencies,
asked
to
name
the
most
salesperson,
advertisers
station
knowing
and
important
said
their
it
criteria
was
business.
in
business.
though.
judging
equal
between
Agency
people
When
a
radio
knowing
also
the
expect
knowledge about their business, but they don't stress it as much.
Advertisers
the
importance
and
of
agencies
problem
give mean scores of around
solving
ability
and
4.3 for
sincerity.
These
are traits they don't see enough of in radio salespeople, but they
look for them ideally.
The importance
No
one
listed
receive a
it
of
as
promptness is
the
most
agreed upon
important
total mean score of 4.0.
by
criteria,
both groups.
but
it
did
It's considered import ant and
there is no reason it can't be attained.
There
four
a
criteria.
somewhat
-
is
significant difference of opinion about the next
Agencies
important
each of these more.
dress,
polished
to
consider all
very
important,
these to
but
They are personality,
presentation,
and
relaxed
be on a
advertisers
range of
emphasize
personal appearance or
manner.
75%
advertisers ranked personality as being important to very
of
the
-
7
important in
of
the
judging a salesperson.
agencies
saw
it
as
being
On
the
that
other hand,
important.
only 33%
The
other
3
individual traits were each ranked about 25% higher by advertisers
in terms of being important to very important.
The findings of this study lead me to surmise that although a
radio
salesperson' s
important
to
watchful
important
by
everything
of
information
individual
he/she
all
about
has
to
traits
were
respondents,
a
Ideally,
somewhat
advertisers
salesperson
give.
ranked
and
the
not
are
just
individual
more
the
traits
mentioned should be cultivated and used to the salesperson's best
advantage
when
information
dealing
lies
notion that all
and
take
numbers
the
buy;
in
with
its
all
clients.
implications
for
The
salespeople
of
this
who have
a
they have to do is recite their station's ratings
order.
however,
It's
it
true
seems
that
some
foolish
sales
to
because of traits which could be improved upon.
,-
use
risk
are
strictly
losing
a
a
sale
8
WHAT TO DO BETTER OR DIFFERENTLY
section
This
question,
would
"What else would you
make
your
advertising
centered on something
but
the
reports
could
advertisers
be
doing
and
findings
from
the
open-ended
like radio salespeople to do that
decisions
easier."
Most
responses
that sa lespeople are doing to some extent,
better.
agencies
Earlier
look
for
in
questions
stations
brought
and
out
what
salespeople.
Resul ts from this question showed that they aren't always getting
what
un de r
they
hoped
for.
Total Respondents.
or Agencies are
Comments
Unique
listed under
made
by
both
suggestions
their headings.
groups
made
All
are
listed
by AdYertisers
are
listed
order of frequency mentioned.
Total Respondents
Be attuned to clients needs, work to satisfy those needs
Better problem solving abilities, not just order taking
Better knowledge of station
Concise presentation, short and to the point
Listen to client
Variety in price of packages
Agencies
More complete written information
Have purpose when making a call
Better service
Wider knowledge of all media
Make better deals when inventory is available
AdYertisers
-
More flexible negotiations
Personalized presentations, suited to clients needs
More time to consider proposal, not so close to deadline
- Advance notification of when commercials will run,
so they can listen and monitor
in
9
RADIO SALESFORCE RANKINGS
is
WMEE/WQHK
professional
high marks
best,
what
are
salesforce
from
to
radio
so
people
this
people
success
salespeople
successful
expect
in
could
based
on
be
they
mean
scores,
or
doing
are
from professional
better than other stations.
have
the
70%
the
stations ,
were
asked
of
the
previous
better.
doing more
radio
received
to name
The
question
about
the
salespeople,
the
time.
WMEE/WQHK' s
of
most
and
people
things
that
doing
them
Listed below are the station rankings
average
points.
1.
ftBB/WQBI
4.32
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
WAJI
WOWO/WIOE
WEZR/WEZU
WBTU
WXKE
WGL
3.86
3.55
3.43
2.90
2.63
2.23
7.
they
preferred
answers
the
Other
Wayne.
but when
were
also
because
considered
Fort
respondents,
WMEE/WQHK' s
answer
clearly
rankings
out
of
a
possible
5
10
OUT STAND! NG SALESPERSON
When
asked
salesperson in Fort
Roger Diehm.
Mr.
responded
this
to
name
to
Wayne,
the
the
outstanding
respondents
individual
answered
radio
decisively -
Diehm collected 20 votes from the 42 people who
question.
Some
of
those
surveyed
named
more
than one salesperson, therefore a total of 54 votes were cast.
Salesperson
Votes Received
Roger Diehm
20
Mary Davisson
Doug Clark
Curt Mischa
Michael Franke
Bob Hendry
Jack Underwood
Lynn Alexander
Ed Allegin
Richard Ash
Tom Chei the
Rob Emrick
Mary Hilligaff
Chuck King
Bill Latz
Dave Riethmiller
Darrell Senior
Charlie Slovik
Walt Steffen
Kim Stradley
Mary Lou Strickland
Rose Tholen
5
4
4
2
2
2
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1