Until recently, most direct response radio was limited to low-price offers for vitamins, music and household gadgets. The belief was that expensive merchandise needed the visuals, time and space that come with TV and print. Now many advertisers have discovered that radio can deliver not only qualified leads but also sales and revenue from products that cost hundreds of dollars.
Radio offers several advantages. The cost to generate a call on radio is often a small fraction of what you would pay using TV or direct mail. Run of station (ROS) space is available at a deep discount, and many stations and networks also accept per-inquiry deals where you pay a set amount for each lead generated.
And producing a radio ad is both cost- and time-efficient. A high-end radio spot can be produced in just a few hours for $10,000 or less, including talent, and be on the air the next day. Revisions based on test results are economical and easy to make. Plus, studies show that high-income consumers are more likely to listen to radio compared with the general population.
With all these advantages, the “problem” with radio has always been how to make the sale. A low cost per lead doesn't do any good if you can't convert the caller into a buyer. By working closely with your call center, you can develop strategies to encourage prospects to order with confidence during the initial call.
Closing the Sale
Use radio to drive call volume — and then close the sale at the call center. It's nearly impossible to fully describe the benefits and features of a product with just 60 seconds of audio, so don't try! Instead, focus on building interest with a compelling promise and/or a lucrative premium. Oreck's radio spots offer a free trial of its vacuum without ever mentioning the price. The See Clearly Method's campaign promises to improve your vision and never says that the product is an eye exercise program. Both campaigns generate thousands of calls per week.
Of course, the excitement created by a great radio spot fades quickly once a prospect picks up the phone. Instill confidence the moment the call is answered. Once they're on the line, most callers likely will begin to wonder just how much this impulse decision is going to cost. Providing highly personal service will reassure your prospects that they have made the right choice.
This requires a departure from the traditional call center approach built around DRTV, where the objective is to field huge volumes of calls in a short period of time. It's not uncommon that callers who've seen an infomercial are greeted with something as impersonal as “ZIP code please,” or “Customer service, what program are you calling about?”
This won't do for a radio campaign, where there are few quick and easy sales. Your call center must provide personal attention, highly capable service and skilled salesmanship. Here are some ways to make that happen.
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Train a specific team of sales consultants to field all calls from the campaign. By arousing curiosity with your radio spot, you set up a conversation where the consultant can act more as an adviser and less like a salesperson. Train your consultants to become product experts. Structure the script to allow them to ask questions, reaffirm the need for the product and build a rapport with the caller. Let the consultants touch and try the product, so they can share their personal experience with the caller and answer questions knowledgeably.
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Create a virtual extension of your company with direct call routing. Have your call center provide the call handling and notification systems needed to identify the source of the call before it's answered, so that the consultants can greet customers in your company name, the same way you would if they called you directly.
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Simplify upselling with computer telephony integration (CTI). It is important to maximize the return on your media investment by increasing your average order size during the call. CTI systems automatically display the appropriate order-entry page on the consultant's PC screen based on the source of the call. This allows the consultant to provide pricing and shipping information quickly and authoritatively.
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Pre-sell callers with a custom on-hold message. One effective call center technique for radio is to create a pre-recorded message that callers hear before speaking with a consultant. This message can address common questions and repeat the benefits before the consultant comes on the line.
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Create a no-risk offer to increase conversions. After your sales consultant explains the features and benefits of the product and answers any questions, many callers will be ready to buy. Convert these leads into sales with a low-risk offer that makes it impossible to say no. Defer payment for 30 days, extend the satisfaction guarantee or provide free return shipping. These steps are often too costly for a DRTV or mail campaign, but the efficient cost per lead of radio makes this approach highly profitable in most cases.
Of course, your radio spot will also attract many good prospects who are not ready to order during the inbound call, as well as many buyers who will order again if given the chance. Before you go on the air, be prepared to follow up with the names in your database. Plan ahead so that your call center collects all the information you'll need to make this follow-up effective, such as e-mail address, lifestyle information, whether or not the purchase is a gift, etc. You can then use mail, the Internet and outbound telesales to create even more sales.
Steve Pittendrigh is president and CEO of The AfterMarket Co., a telemarketing consultancy in Phoenix.
