Disclaimer: I’m biased. I believe a radio station should be Customer Service oriented. (Yeah, I know how naive that sounds.)
First, let’s define our terms:
Customer Service = Creating an experience that is so enjoyable the customer wants to do business with you again.
Bookkeeper’s Job Description:
1. To make it as easy as possible for the station’s clients to invest their money by advertising on that station.
2. To make it as easy as possible for his/her internal customers to access the financial resources necessary to the productive operations of their departments.
Engineer’s Job Description: To maintain the equipment in a manner that maximizes the smooth delivery of the product to the listeners…and on behalf of the advertisers.
Because the engineer never receives instructions directly from either of the two sets of external customers, he necessarily must concentrate on superserving his internal customers — i.e., Programming and Sales.
IT Department’s Job Description: To maximize the ease with which information flows among employees and between employees and customers (including listeners). Sadly, many radio group IT employees believe they’re in the Information Prevention business.
Manager’s Job Description: To support and facilitate the efforts of employees to serve customers’ needs. The manager should be spending every moment of his or her time doing whatever it takes to make it easier for the station’s employees to serve the station’s customers.
Production Director’s Job Description: To create and maintain the highest possible quality on-air product that simultaneously sells and captivates our audience’s attention, interest and imagination.
Program Director’s Job Description:
1. To get as many friends as possible to come to our party.
2. To make it as easy as possible for the on-air staff to make sure our party guests have a wonderful time.
3. To maximize the benefits to the sponsors of our party without lessening the enjoyment of our party guests.
Receptionist’s Job Description: To help our friends and customers when they call us.
Salesperson’s Job Description: To make money for the radio station by producing results for the advertiser.
Promotion Director’s Job Description: To win as many new friends as possible for the radio station and to maintain and enhance our relationships with our existing friends.
Copywriter’s Job Description: To motivate listeners to act. (NOT to move copy orders from the In basket to the Out basket)
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Dan, regarding your comment that “many radio group IT employees believe they’re in the Information Prevention business” – it’s not just in radio, this seems to be a prevailing attitude across industries.
For example: I work for a large corporation, in a capacity where I regularly process audio and work with music, and yet I can’t get iTunes on my laptop because I might use their music store to buy something.
As a result, I have asked multiple times if I can fire our IS dept and hire someone who would help me do my job. I’ve finally convinced my director that I’m serious, but there’s no relief in sight.
Ye Gods.
Ultimately it’s the result of upper management acting incompetently. When they allocated a budget for the IT Department, they didn’t bother to define the jobs that department would be expected to perform.
“Information Technology” implies facilitating the flow of information with maximum ease without compromising the company’s security.
Too many IT employees (not all, and thank God for the good ones) see themselves as security guards. Even as security guards, however, those people are incompetent.
If the type of IT employee we’re talking about was in charge of security for your building, on any given day 30% of the employees would not be allowed to enter — for fear that an unauthorized individual might sneak through.
You forgot:
News Reporter – First victim of budget cuts.
Oops, sorry. I come from the world of American commercial radio. I’ve heard legends of a species called “News Reporter” that once roamed the land….