Almost every Radio salesperson I’ve met likes having a large account list. The apparent thinking is the more accounts the better. There’s always the possibility — however remote — that one of the people on the list will call in one day, asking if they can advertise on the stations.
You could also hit the lottery this weekend.
Some time ago, when a particular salesperson was struggling with a list of 70-plus accounts and lamenting a lack of sales, his experienced sales manager asked him to look at his list as if it were a stock portfolio. Which accounts were performing well, which had significant potential, and which were non-performers? After ranking the accounts by potential, he dropped the bottom half his list.
Concentrating his efforts on the remaining 35 or so accounts with real potential, his sales doubled within four weeks. In this case, less really was more.
Re-evaluating your account list on a quarterly or even monthly basis allows you to eliminate the dead wood that is keeping you from developing those accounts with real potential. A good clue is to drop any account that hasn’t shown movement after 90 days. Keep your list lean and mean, and watch your sales increase.