CCM Coaching Tip #21: The Sound of Silence - in the Office!

by Tommy Kramer, KramerMedia.net

One of the strangest things my partner John Frost and I have pondered over the years is that often, when we visit one of our Christian Music stations, you walk into the lobby, or down the hallway and...nothing. No audio. The station CANNOT BE HEARD in the office. Or it CAN be heard, but nobody turns it on.

When we ask "Why not?" we get all sorts of excuses (most of them lame), like...

"I have work to get done; I don't want the station on in the background." (PRAY that the person you're trying to get to listen to you doesn't feel the same way.)

Or "We don't want people in the lobby to be forced to listen while they sit there." (Well of course not. Why give them a free sample? We're not a grocery store. Our station isn't as good as processed cheese goo on a cracker.)

Or the worst excuses of all, "We don't have it wired up to play in the building" or "We don't want to spend the money to do that."

So consider this question: If YOU don't care enough to listen to your station, why should I?

There are many practical reasons TO have the station on, at least in the hallways:

1. You might actually hear something good and want to comment on it, as the PD, or refer to it on the air if you're on a different shift. I know; it's a pretty revolutionary idea to put forth the notion that maybe the air talents know and like and listen to each other, but go ahead and dare to be bold. : )
2. You might hear something that needs changing NOW - like updating a promo to not say "Thursday, July 28th" when it's ALREADY July 9th. It should just say "Thursday, the 28th" or, if you're already in that week, just "Thursday." Or a spot that's out of date entirely. (I heard a CHRISTMAS spot running on one station in FEBRUARY. That's either really early or really late, but it's also a statement to the listener about your lack of quality control and attention to detail.)

Turn it on. Your station shouldn't seem like a funeral parlor. (Actually, that's not fair to funeral parlors. Most of them DO have music playing in the lobby.)