Before You Call The Consultant

Since I am a consultant, I probably should not be telling you how to avoid calling one. But here goes.

When ratings start moving in the wrong direction, the first reaction is often, “We need help.” Maybe you do. But before you pick up the phone, there are a few things I would look at first.

In fact, these are some of the same things I look at when I do an X ray of a radio station. Most of the time, I do not find one giant problem. I find a bunch of little things that have slowly added up.

The first place I usually look is the music. Over time, music libraries have a way of changing. A few more currents get added. Some familiar gold disappears. Tempo starts becoming more important than song strength. Somebody in the building loves a song, so it gets added. Before long, you may still be playing a lot of good songs, but maybe not the best songs for your audience.

One thing I say all the time is this: More familiar does not necessarily mean older. The goal is not to make the station sound old. The goal is to make sure the listener knows and likes what they are hearing. New music has a place, but it has to earn its way onto the station.

Next, take a hard look at your imaging. A station can repeat a slogan all day long and still not really deliver the position. If you say you make people feel good, does the station actually feel good? If you say you are local, could somebody listen for an hour and know what city they are in? If you say “more music,” what does that really mean to the listener? Imaging is not wallpaper. Every piece should have a purpose. It should tell the listener what they get from listening and reinforce what makes your station different.

Then listen to your personalities. This is another area where things can slowly creep in. Breaks get a little longer. Topics become more generic. Personal stories become a little too much about the personality and not enough about the listener. One of my favorite reminders is, good conversation is not always compelling radio. A topic can get calls, Facebook comments, and laughs in the studio and still not be strong enough to keep somebody from tuning away. And if a break is going to run long, the content better be worth it.

Another question I always ask is, does the station really sound like the market? This is a big one for me. If I can take your station, drop it into another city tomorrow, and hardly change anything, you may be missing an opportunity. Local does not mean saying the city name every five minutes. It means the station feels connected to the people listening. The talent talks about things that matter locally. The imaging has enough local flavor. The station sounds like it belongs there. That is harder for a competitor to copy.

Finally, be careful not to fix something that is not broken. When the numbers go down, there is always a temptation to start changing everything. Resist it. If a daypart is working, protect it. If a personality is connecting, build around them. If the station still has strong reach, do not assume you suddenly need a whole new audience. Ratings problems are usually better solved with a scalpel than a sledgehammer.

The smartest management teams do not panic. They listen, ask questions, and figure out where the real weakness is before they start making moves.

So yes, sometimes you do need the consultant. But before you call one, take a hard look at these five areas. You may already know where the problems are.

And if you do not, well, now you know who to call.