You’ve seen this scenario dozens of times in the movies and on TV: the bad guys (robbers, terrorists, etc.) are inside a building with hostages. Outside, police SWAT teams surround the location, and a negotiator communicates with the hostage-takers.

The bad guys have demands: food, transportation, release of prisoners, whatever. The police respond by offering to meet some of the demands in return for the release of some of the hostages. And so it goes, until the hero or heroes take some action to save the day.

Now think about the last time you “negotiated” a schedule with a client. Were you really the negotiator…or were you the hostage?

Negotiators get something in return for giving something. The client says: “Your rates are too high.” If you lower the rate without getting a concession in return, you’re a hostage. Instead of responding: “Maybe we can do a little better on the rate”, you instead say: “I can reduce the rate by this much if you agree to extend the schedule an extra two weeks.” That’s a negotiator speaking.

One of the benefits of a well-founded yield management system is that it gives you the leverage needed to get the most out of client negotiations. You know where your peak demand is as well as days and hours of lesser demand. By adding some lower-demand, lower-priced ads into the schedule, the client gets a better rate, and you sell more time while leaving more of the peak demand ads available for sale to other advertisers.

The economy is going to be rough for the foreseeable future. Improve your negotiation skills now and refuse to be held hostage to unreasonable demands for reduced prices. Then, you’ll be the hero that saves the day.

The bad news floods out of our Radios, TVs, and newspapers, and we internalize it. Not an hour passes without news of increasing unemployment, declining sales, and dismal forecasts. Eventually, after continuous exposure to such depressing propaganda, we accept it uncritically.

We start to believe it.

Once you’re convinced the economy is in a tailspin, you begin to act in accordance with your beliefs. In short order, we’re all adding to the doom and gloom.

Psychologists have demonstrated through numerous studies that you absorb whatever you’re exposed to. Surround yourself with negative news and depressing people and you become disheartened; associate with positive news and uplifting people and you become encouraged to achieve what others might consider impossible.

Short of turning off your receivers and canceling the newspaper, you can’t avoid the negative news. But even with the negatives, there are positives to be found. Concentrate on the good news—scarce though it may be—and work with a positive attitude that things will turn around.

The recovery starts with you and proceeds one person at a time.

Let’s get started.

There’s nothing that could make my blood boil faster than having a client fail to pay for his Radio schedule. While scrupulous attention to accounts receivable can minimize the agony of not getting paid, there are always some accounts that go bad each year, accounting for more lost revenue than you’d like. With the advent of tougher economic times, the likelihood of an increase in bad accounts is something every station will have to face.

Today, while talking with an accountant, I learned that the IRS can be an ally in turning the tables on a deadbeat client.

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In the opening scene of the movie Patton, the late George C. Scott in the title role gives a stirring speech to an unseen group of men prior to battle. After describing the aggressive action he expects from his troops—perhaps nervous about what was to come—Patton says:

Thirty years from now, when you’re sitting around your fireside with your grandson on your knee and he asks you, “What did you do in the great World War II,” you won’t have to say, “Well… I shoveled shit in Louisiana.”

A Radio Ink article from January 6, 2009, estimates Radio revenues will decline by 13 percent or more this year, making for a lot of nervous Radio troops. As the economy flounders and Washington politicians panic, things may indeed become worse. However, Radio—from among all the traditional media—is best positioned to weather this financial storm

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As I mentioned in an earlier post, the book Think And Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill has many inspiring stories that came out of the 1929 stock market crash and resulting depression. Along with his uplifting prose, Hill made a number of predictions about the future that were wildly off the mark. None of them were worse than what he envisioned for Radio.

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