CCM Coaching Tip #19: Work from the Listener BACK

by Tommy Kramer, KramerMedia.net

Ever since some food manufacturer put a weenie on a cracker at the end of an aisle, and had people test it in grocery store, finding out what the customer actually WANTED has been a pretty reliable way of not wasting time and money putting out the wrong product.

Feedback was immediate:

"I like this weenie, and the salt from the cracker makes it taste weenier than others I've tried. If I want to buy some, which aisle are they on?"

or...

"Shouldn't this be in Home Depot with the spackle and wallpaper paste?"

But in radio - especially in Contemporary Christian Radio - the process has often been quite different. We've all heard those "the board wants us to do this" elements that only click with 3 out of 30,000 listeners, the "preach and teach" programs on music stations (there's that spackle again), and the totally unnecessary so-called "Imaging" that says things that can't possibly be proven ("the right song at just the right time"), and only sound like COMMERCIALS for you. (Or even worse, commercials for God, whom I assure you does not need them and may one day hit your tower with a lightning bolt just to make sure they don't air again.)

So here's your tip:

Work from the Listener BACK to the Control Room, instead of the other way around, in your prep process. Simply think about what's the most top-of-mind stuff to her today, then reflect it back to her, filtered THROUGH your observations, experiences, and opinions.

Unsuccessful stations are always about what they want to TALK about, rather than what the listener wants to HEAR about. This is a fatal flaw, and it will bring them down if we exploit it.