If you ever have radio contest winners come to your station to pick up their prizes, make sure your receptionist understands that these people are not “freeloaders.” They are honored guests who should be treated accordingly.
All too often, however, the contest winner arrives at the radio station only to discover that no one there seems to know anything about the contest, the prize, or the fact that this active listener was asked to be there.
Instead the receptionist says to the winner, “Our promotion director is out to lunch right now. You can sit and wait, if you like.”
And then when the promotion director does arrive, he or she typically treats the winner as a nuisance:
“Here’s your prize, you creep! Now get out of here. I’m much too important to be polite to you; I’m the Promotion Director.”
Contest winners should be treated like royalty, like guests of honor.
Your receptionist should have an up-to-date list of all winners, along with the contests and prizes they have won. The receptionist should be trained to greet these active listeners warmly and make them feel welcomed and comfortable.
The promotion director should do the same.
And the promotion director should make a big deal about the winner’s visit:
As you’re walking down the hall, grab one of your jocks and introduce him to the winner…knowing that the jock, too, has been trained to greet the winner warmly and enthusiastically.
Take the winner’s picture with the jock, and post it on your website as part of your online Radio X Winners Hall of Fame.
Whip out your Flip video camera, shoot 30 seconds of the excited winner posing with the jock and hoisting the prize, upload it to YouTube and then embed the video on your blog or website.
And after you have given the winner her prize, taken her on a tour of your radio station, excitedly introduced her to some of your co- workers, and taken photos and videos, what do you do just before she leaves?
You thank her: for listening, for entering the contest, for visiting the station to collect her prize.
Why should you do all that? After all, she’s getting the prize, not you.
Why?
Because you want to make her experience with your radio station so positive that she will want to listen to you again, to enter your contests again, and to tell her friends what a great bunch of people you are.
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Common sense much?
Pretty much Radio 101…too bad stations rarely do this. 🙁
I’m passing this on to our GM, new PD, the airstaff and the receptionist…time ti light some fires!
Let me tell you something Dan, my ban from radio stations in Spanish (within the USA), started in 2003 EXACTLY FOR DEMANDING THAT CONTEST WINNERS WERE TREATED LIKE ROYALTY. The person in charge of administrate the highly treasured tickets for the winners, left them inside a safety box for 4 days while she took severay days off. I was really mad for that but then someone went and told this person how furious I was. This woman adopted the “victim” posture and looked for the support of the GM and the PD. This is how all started but after seeing this post I can only be satisfied and happy to learn that after all this time, I did the right thing. Thanks for bring this on.