No? You need to get out more.
It doesn't matter what business you're in, but we're all trying to get to the top--in ratings, in revenue, in importance. In fact, as a former boss back in Toledo, Ohio said to me that "figures don't lie...but liars can figure."
I'm sure he didn't make that up, but his words ring true. You can manipulate your sales numbers or research to say just about anything. But what happens when all your hard work pays off? What happens when your station becomes Number One in every daypart, every newscast, every demo and are the top biller in the market? I happened to me at two different stations, but staying on top was tougher than the climb. We had caught the car. Now what?
When I was the creative director of a station in St. Louis, were on top of the mountain--our network was
on a roll, we had the top three syndicated products, great news talent and were the Cardinals' flagship station when they were in World Series three times in six years. Life was good, but so were my competitors. If I thought I was working hard chasing that car, it was nothing compared to how hard I worked when we had it firmly in our grasp.
There are only two ways you want to go when you are on this sort of roll--get bigger or fold like a card table. We lived every day as if it were our last and were petrified that we would be caught from behind.
Both of these dominant stations gave me great insight into what to do to stay on top:
Pile it On
There's no such a thing as a big-enough lead. Continue to look for ways every day to leverage your strengths. Only partner with organizations whose standards are as high as yours--the largest department store, the top-rated radio stations, websites and charities. They will want to win as much as you.
Use All Your Weapons
Got the top-rated network affiliation? Got the top-rated syndicated shows? It's not enough.
There's power in having the top-rated weather, sports or news talent, to say nothing about your daily talk show or morning news. You're looking for content. No matter how strong your partner is, one of their main goals ALWAYS is to get on television.
Stay Hungry
When we reached a 42 share in our late news, our GM announced in a department head meeting that he thought we could do a 50 share. Excellence was now in our DNA..Everything we did at that station was aimed at reaching the highest highs. It was a feeling I never wanted to lose. We wanted to be the highest rated station in the nation, not just St. Louis. We closely examined every partnership with community organizations, radio and television stations and tried to enhance them...every year...and we made them sign three-year contracts. If you are not getting what you need out of the relationship, time to move on.
Respect
Always under-promise and over-deliver. Great stations get great results not only for themselves but for their partners. They make people stars and help them get traction. Make sure you treat each partner with the respect they deserve and they will "talk you up" in the community in ways your competitors can only dream about.
Make every partner working with your competitors wish they were working with you.
Dominant companies have three things in common--timeliness, focus and consistency. Every project is aimed at gaining the maximum return utilizing the fewest amount of resources and crippling your competitors on a daily basis. Good companies hope their new initiative will work. Great companies KNOW they will.
Remember that once your competitor doesn't think they can beat you...they can't. You have caught the car, now try not to let it go. Grrrrrr!
--Rich Brase
redrich24@yahoo.com
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