National Radio Network Uses Hoover's to Generate and Pre-Qualify Sales Leads

Business Roadblock

National Public Radio gears its programming towards an educated, upper-middle class listener base, so selling airtime should be a slam-dunk. Not so fast! NPR has to compete for dollars with The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, the Internet and television programming. Moreover, FCC regulations prohibit sales-focused messages in ads that air on NPR. There can be no call to action and no mention of prices. In fact, advertisers cannot disclose any qualitative information whatsoever.

All of this puts NPR at a distinct disadvantage when it comes to selling ads, so it's critical that the radio network's sales professionals generate leads at corporations that can afford to invest in a brand-focused ad campaign, which requires a sustained air presence of at least six months.

"We're an affordable national buy, but you need at least $250,000 a quarter to utilize us correctly," said Frank Casamento, national corporate sponsorship representative, NPR. "To tap into the affinity of NPR demands longevity; short-term blitzes don't work."

As a result, the team targets large corporations-this is where its investment in Hoover's has paid off.

Solution

NPR signed on as a Hoover's client after Casamento, who used the service during his time at PBS, suggested it to a department head. The NPR sales team is divided by territory, so, using Hoover's segmentation tool, professionals can generate lists that are highly targeted by geography and company size. Doing so cuts down on the time spent qualifying prospects. Furthermore, they don't need to spend valuable time tracking down the right person in an organization. Hoover's allows users to pull up lists of professionals in specific departments, so Casamento can focus his outreach on individuals in sales and marketing, who most likely control a corporation's ad budget.

"I like to find three or four people who have an influence on advertising and PR strategy," Casamento said. "Then I write a letter of inquiry referencing the fact that I'm writing to the entire group. This creates a sense of urgency. It's not a magic bullet, but I've found that it gets me a lot of meetings. I like the big list of names that Hoover's provides, which otherwise would be hard to find."

By efficiently finding the right kind of corporation in his territory and then targeting the right people, Casamento has been able to maximize the amount of time he's on the road in face-to-face meetings. Since he focuses on the Midwest, Western New York, Western Pennsylvania, and Delaware, there are the obvious names, like Ford, General Motors, and Dow Chemical. But to exceed his goals, he can't rely on the obvious. He credits Hoover's with helping him arrange meetings at Dow Chemical, Harris Interactive, Birds Eye, Delaware North, Kindred Healthcare, and Education Management. He said he wouldn't have known any of these companies were in his territory, nor would he have known that some of them even existed, or that they have substantial marketing budgets.

"They all continue to be good prospects," Casamento said. "Bottom line, the geographic function (and Hoover's in general) definitely aids me in my effort to thoroughly cover companies in my territory."

Bottom Line

NPR has been using Hoover's Premium for two years. During that time, sales revenues have jumped from $32 million to $40 million.

"There is no question that Hoover's is part of the equation," Casamento said. "Personally, I billed at $5 million last year, and I would say Hoover's is responsible for helping to generate at least $500,000 of that, which represents about a 50-fold return over the cost of our Hoover's subscription."