This is the second of two articles that fly in the face of the common, woeful practice of emailing radio commercial copy to your client for approval.
Although you don’t want to fax or e-mail the copy to the client for “approval” — for the reasons given in Part One — you don’t want the client to be unpleasantly surprised, either.
So unless it’s a long-standing “create ’em, run ’em, and send me the bill” relationship, it’s a good idea to get the client to sign off on any overall concept that deviates from what they expect.
Here’s how they form their expectations:
- Existing clients base their expectations on the kinds of commercials you’ve been doing for them.
- New clients base their expectations on what they think a radio advertisement “should” sound like. Their fallback position is the “newspaper ad read into a microphone” style.
If they expect a straight announcer read and you’ve written a wonderful two-character comedic piece, don’t set yourself up for conflict and disappointment.
Instead, give the client a quick, confident call:
“We’ve created a wonderful married couple — very contemporary but likable — to represent your target audience. Each commercial has its own little story, and each story delivers your sales message very clearly and effectively.
“But this couple will be featured in each commercial. So instead of getting a series of ‘spots,’ you’ll end up with a solid advertising campaign that continually builds momentum for your message.”
“Okay,” the client says. (That probably is what the client will say. But if the client abhors humorous commercials, this is her one opportunity to object.)
“I’ve doublechecked your Conditions of Satisfaction” — note how it is the client’s Conditions of Satisfaction; the client now has ownership of it — “and although the characters are wonderful and it has an easy, humorous quality, when I play you the finished product you’ll hear all of the key points that you defined for me.”
Did you notice the two sly elements in that last paragraph?
#1: “…the finished product.” You won’t be playing it tentatively, for her approval. You will be debuting the finished product.
#2: “…that you defined….”
And Now, The Disclaimer
I realize that many salespeople will read the above and think, “Yeah, right. In your dreams, pal.”
Those are the sales reps who see their jobs as order takers. The customer gives them the cash, and they in turn jump through whatever and however many hoops the customer cares to throw their way.
Then there are the radio account executives who genuinely see their roles not as salespeople but as trusted advisors. They are committed to doing everything they can to make sure their client’s advertising is a profit center, not an expense.
And they have taken the time to study radio advertising at least enough so that they know more about it than their clients do.
If you’re an account executive, you get to choose which type you want to be.
