Part 1 of 2

Coming in a little earlier than usual on Wednesdays had become my habit because Wednesday was sales meeting day.  When we had sales meetings, I liked to get in and prepare for the day before the meeting so that I wasn't thinking about all that I had to do during the meeting.  Later in my radio sales career, I was surprised to learn that some sellers dread the sales meeting.  Thinking back on it now, the reason is clear - they didn't have Dick Harlow.  

Dick understood that a sale was a transfer of confidence and if one expected sellers to make sales then it was necessary for them to be confident.  There was no better place for that to happen than at the radio station and no better way to make that happen than in a sales meeting.

I waved at the morning dj's, through their aquarium-like, sound-proof window and headed down the long hall to the sales area.  After checking the phone to make sure there were no messages, I grabbed a clean pad of paper and the one filled with my notes and headed to the conference room to organize my thoughts.  As I flew into the room, I almost crashed right into Dick who was sitting in a chair facing away from the table.

"Shoot!  Hi Dick," I said as I danced around his outstretched legs.

"Hi, Timmy, what are you up to this early?" Dick wondered.

Dick was allowed to call me Timmy, even though I had banned all others, even my family, from referring to me by this boyhood nickname.  I didn't mind it coming from him because he had a younger brother with the same name and, when he said it, I pictured him teaching his younger brother to ride a bike or catch a ball.  Now, he was taking me under his wing and teaching me the sales lessons that would build the foundation of my career.

"I should ask you the same.  This is my usual time on Wednesdays but I don't usually see you hanging around here until the meeting is getting ready to start," I retorted.

"That's true," Dick agreed "but, today I am using this whiteboard to prepare for the meeting."

I looked at the whiteboard where Dick had written the following:

            What is a three frequency?

"No offense, but that doesn't look like a lot of preparation," I said.

"The preparation isn't in the writing of the sentence but rather the thoughtful guidance surrounding the answers the sellers will be giving me during the meeting," Dick said with a grin.

"Well, I was just going to transfer my 'to do' list from one pad to another so do you mind if I get a sneak preview?" I asked.

"Okay," Dick agreed, "tell me your definition of a three frequency."

"Right.  Okay, a three frequency occurs when a broadcast advertising schedule reaches a group of listeners or viewers at least three times during a week."

"So, if a campaign is two weeks long and we've achieved a three frequency during the first week, is the second week a waste of money?" Dick queried.

"No, it's not a waste of money because during the second week we'll continue to reach additional people and then achieve a three frequency with those folks.  Plus, some of the people who didn't hear the commercial three times the first week will then have a chance to achieve a three frequency during the second week."

"Wait a minute," Dick said holding up his left hand as if to stop traffic.  "You just said that a three frequency had to happen during a week.  If some people don't hear a commercial three times during the first week, would they still achieve a three frequency if they heard it one time the first week and two times the second week?"

"I don't know," I said frowning.  "I suppose it counts if they hear it at least three times in any seven day period."

"Here's another question," Dick said as he straightened up in his seat.  "What if the technology we use to determine a three frequency is just flat out wrong.  How would we know if the advertising schedule is going to be effective?"

"What do you mean that our technology is wrong?" I asked.

"Right now, the industry sends out diaries to a group of people in the market and they report their listening by writing down the stations they listen to and for how long.  Everyone agrees that this methodology doesn't measure actual listening but, rather, the diary holders ability to recall his listening.  So, what if it turns out that the typical diary holder doesn't keep accurate records.  How would we know that we're achieving a three frequency?"

"I guess we wouldn't be able to know.  However, doesn't it stand to reason that there is a number of commercials that we should be airing during any given time period that is very likely to impact a certain percentage of the audience at least three times?"

"Yes, of course it stands to reason but it is pretty clear that we don't have the slightest idea how many commercials to air in a given week - even if we've bought into the notion that a three frequency has anything whatsoever to do with consumer behavior."

"Wait a minute.  Now you're questioning whether or not a three-frequency is a meaningful measure of the impact of an advertising message?  What about Herb Krugman and his studies?" I spouted.

"You like Krugman, do you?" Dick asked with a knowing smile.  "Well, perhaps you should check out this article from Inside Media that came out in January of '92."

Dick took some papers that had been laying face down on the table and slid them over to me.  The papers discussed the misconceptions of Krugman's research and the fact that he never said a three frequency was magical.  In fact, his only declaration about a three frequency was that a consumer who heard a message three times was able to come to understand the message and then decide if it was relevant to him.  There was nothing in the study to suggest that a consumer would then take an action that was based on the message.  Further, there was nothing to suggest that it wasn't necessary to remind a consumer who had decided a message was relevant to him that he might like to take action at some time. 

Krugman was unable to determine how many reminders after the three frequency might be necessary because he didn't know one simple fact that is critically important to understanding how advertising works.

I looked at Dick as the first couple of sellers started to enter the sales bullpen.

"Dick, this changes everything," I said.  "We've been doing it all wrong."

To be continued. . .