Peter Smyth, CEO of Greater Media, frequently writes a letter to his employees and the industry in general and posts it on the Greater Media website. This month's article talks about heading "back to school," an appropriate title for the end of the summer.
One of his most interesting points is that the sales management at stations needs to move away from focus on agency-driven, transactional business and be passionate about the new opportunities the radio platforms of 2008 provide. Here's an excerpt (emphasis mine):
We have to take a hard look at the overall workload of individual employees and make tough decisions about new priorities when we focus on revenue. As national business continues to decline, it is up to us to rethink our approach to the way we run our organizations; the current model is not working. For example, the role of the Director of Sales five years ago is not what it is today. Managing transactional business from local and national agencies will not produce the desired results. Today's DOS needs to be an evangelist for the enhanced capabilities we bring to advertisers. He or she needs to be informed, innovative, passionate and persuasive. We need to redefine the existing responsibilities and structure of the current management and staff of our station operations and partner the right people with the right career opportunities.More...
Saga also posted an ad for a GSM for their Asheville, NC cluster in Inside Radio. One of the job qualifications is being "nice." I wonder if these traits (passion and niceness) are connected?