It’s All About The Listener And Transparency

One of the fun trips my wife, daughter and I used to take annually was to Disney World in Orlando, especially during Thanksgiving weekend. The rides, the meal plan, the fireworks, the meal plan, the spectacular holiday shows and, you guessed it, the meal plan. We loved it all! We stopped the trips five years ago when my daughter entered college, but they are still some great memories.

It made a lasting impression on me, especially the fact that, with all those park visits, I never heard a Disney employee say these three words EVER – “I don’t know” – whenever I had a question. They cared, and the park had that “personality” throughout.

Fast forward to 2023, and things have changed. Three years ago, Disney’s longtime CEO, Robert Iger, retired and in came a new CEO who, in three years’ time, took Disney to a point where another change had to be made. As COVID hit, the park had to enforce some very specific rules, including advance reservations, to limit capacity.

Well, the reservation process continued following the pandemic’s end, making more money for Disney, but also more headaches for customers. The old reliable and free “Fastpass” that would get you in a faster lane for rides in advance gave way to a more complicated system that, of course, cost more. Finally, the worst change – no more meal plan!

A few months ago, a new CEO arrived who happened to be the old CEO, Mr. Iger. Back at the helm and out of retirement, he spoke individually to employees, and read every email from disappointed customers, and decided quickly to make some changes. The reservation system will be gone. Just go to the park and you can walk in and have fun. The new ride reservation system is being simplified so that park-goers can decide about their rides before they get to the park and not pay through the nose. Finally, the dining plans are back (making me happy)!

Robert Iger listened, responded, and acted. Simple, quick, decisive and transparent.

What are your listeners (customers) consistently telling you about your station/cluster? What are you doing consistently to find out? Nothing, of course, works better than face-to-face communication. But, in this technologically advanced world, that can sometimes be impossible.

I have used several methods that work in really getting to know what’s on your listeners’ minds. One is the “Listener Advisory Board” concept. This takes time, work, and patience, but the positives outweigh everything else. You can find them in several ways – your email database, on-air, and/or your socials. No matter what, this group should be constantly growing. I’ve seen listener groups total up to 100. You split them up into sub-groups according to gender and demographic, and you can, basically, conduct a few mini-focus groups. Some of the best ideas at various stations have come from these groups.

Secondly, PDs, make yourself EASILY accessible to your listeners. They need to know where the buck stops. You’ll have your chronic complainers, but all they want is for someone to listen to them. Transparency! I also had a very specific “boss” email at one place where listeners knew they could contact me directly. Good or bad, I answered every one of them honestly, and it helped. Use your socials if you feel better there.

The key is to RESPOND! Let the listeners know you hear them and you will get absolute honesty back. I’ll cite a specific example of mine from several years ago where we terminated a 20-year-plus morning show on one of our stations in a cluster. Some listeners were not happy and, as you know, there is no simple solution to something like that. But, I made myself available online for a specific amount of time so that listeners could ask whatever they wanted about the change. The only ground rules I had were no name-calling or foul language.

Following that, the calls and complaints stopped. The listeners and the station basically understood each other because I was honest with them and did not hide behind the “we wish them well in their future endeavors” cliché. Bottom line, they all understood that radio is still a business, and occasional changes happen. Transparency!

As with Disney’s Iger, if something your station has done affects listeners negatively, do whatever you need to do to explain the situation and, most of all, let the listeners know you’ve heard them. Also, as with Disney, there are three words a listener should never hear from you – “I don’t know.” Listen, respond, act! Be transparent!

“Taking Your Radio Presence To The Next Level. Be it an artist, radio programmer or on-air talent. Coaching and mentoring down to your foundational level”

Contact me:
John Shomby
Owner/CEO Country’s Radio Coach
jshomby@countrysradiocoach.com
757-323-1460
https://countrysradiocoach.com