Value Added is basically the real world equivalent of paying for the burger and getting the fries and drink for free, what you may call a “value meal” or #7 with a Coke. But in the case of Radio People, unlike their fast food brethren, they do this not so that they can spiff the client and create the relationship. No, Radio People do this because they can’t actually sell the benefits of the product they are trying to sell in the first place…so they do the next best thing, no not sue a bank, they give it away for free.
I will give you an example; Let’s say that you go to buy a car this weekend. While you are there the car salesmen will ultimately try to up sell you to a better version of the car in hopes of getting more money out of you. Maybe you would do that, or maybe not. And since the auto industry is in a tailspin the car salesmen would probably meet you half way and give you the entire up sell for half the price. That way everyone goes away happy and you are probably going back there when you trade it in for a car that runs on human urine.
In that same situation, a Radio Person would walk into a client and say that 20 commercials for a week cost $1300 and you have access to hundreds of thousands potential customers, 80% of whom are already in a car listening to that commercial. To which the client says, “nah, I am not interested.” Now in the real world an actual salesperson would attempt to resell him on the benefits of the product. But a Radio Person jumps straight into the doggie position and takes it up the ass, sideways.
Their response to the “no” is always “Well, how bout I give you a HUGE promotion to go along with your spot schedule.” Having no idea what the HUGE promotion would be, the radio person would return to the office and then have to sell his or her co-workers on the whored-out deal they just put on the books and how $62,000 in promotional mentions on the behalf of the radio station somehow justifies the $1300 the client spent.
Just think, when was the last time you went in to buy a washer and they gave you a house to go with it? It never happens. But, in radio a 10:1 ratio is pretty common and may explain a lot about the state of the industry.
And it gets worse if there is a competitor in your market because then the jocks are brought into the fray in order to do “free” remotes where clients provide them with free hot dogs instead of cash, as if there is some sort of world where I can trade a chili cheese dog for an iPod. And eventually the jocks will revolt and the Radio Sales People will respond with “You already get paid too much as it is, so suck it up and do it for the station.” In English that usually means, “I am sorry I missed those sales classes in college but to make up for what I lack in skill I have no problem throwing you under the bus a couple of times in what we call Value Added, and if you were a real friend you would accept the cheese dog and be done with it.”
And after about four decades of this Value Added monster lurking in the darkness, coupled with a down economy, the Radio Sales Person will do anything to keep making payments on their condo, Lexus, minor drinking problem, and cavalcade of street girls they call “girlfriends.” So be wary young Radio People of the sales person with a cheese dog.
