March 25, 2010

This first ran in this column back in November, but I happen to think it's so key and so timely with the weather turning and more remote activity......

When is the last time you went to one of your station's remotes? I did last weekend.

I walked away ... well, embarrassed It had the makings of a good one. Nice day.

Outdoor sports client. Good offers. Prizes and food. All the same stuff we've done for too many years because we haven't come up with better things to take to clients ... but we'll get to that in a later column.

Back to the remote. Except for the fact that the talent was late. Explanation number one to client. We looked good, but we couldn't broadcast because of a CORD. Yes, a cord. It was close to the station so the talent left the remote to record breaks ... yes, record breaks at a live remote. Explanation number 2 to the client. Oh, then there was the food. Nobody knew when the food was going to get there. After an hour, no food. I ordered a bunch of pizzas. Explanation number 3 to the client.

It got worse, but you get the gist. And every single one of these issues was controllable.

The bottom line: I spent most of my time after simply wanting to drop by, thank the client, give props to the staff and go back to my Sunday ... explaining away all our problems.

How many times does this happen that you don't know about? Does this remote really represent your station and what you actually sold to the client? Did it work? All easily answered questions if not left up to the part-timer you put in charge of representing your station to clients and listeners.

Suggestion: Go to a remote. Have your sales manager go to a remote. I'll bet they don't go, either. What about your PD?

Sweat the small stuff 'cause it ain't that small. In my case, I have lots of cleaning up to do. Just go. I hope it's better for you.