Underwriting Wave assumes management of all of your current underwriters, just as if you hired a new rep to replace an outgoing rep.  When we take over an underwriting department, we introduce ourselves to each current client, assess their satisfaction and their needs, and carefully track the time when each is to renew.  

The key to attracting and retaining sponsors is effective packaging.  The numbers have to work - for everybody.  Underwriting Wave brings nearly 25 years of sales experience to the table to create compelling, sustainable sponsorship packages that keep underwriters on the air for years.

If a market is large enough to sustain a public broadcasting station, there are typically enough sponsors in that market to make underwriting profitable.  (But, there are exceptions.)

Underwriting Wave compiles lists of hundreds of prospects in each market.  We compile those lists using categories that have proven effective over decades: health care to financial services to the performing arts. 

Then, we utilize an outbound calling center that dials hundreds of prospects within a few days and set sales appointments for the following week.  We attend the meetings and make our pitch.  We follow up and close. 

Prospecting then goes dormant for a period.  Weeks or months later, we repeat the process.  The result?  We contact more new potential sponsors in the market every year than most reps contact in their careers.

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It may be helpful to think of it like a pledge drive: a burst of activity, a break of several weeks, and then a new burst of activity.

We still prefer in-person meetings, but we have learned that many prospects prefer meeting online. 

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So, we utilize a hybrid sales approach, regularly traveling to markets for in-person meetings with prospects who will accept them, and hosting online meetings for clients who prefer the convenience of Zoom.

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In smaller markets with less revenue and smaller average contract sizes, we limit sales calls to online only.

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In larger markets with greater revenue and greater average contract sizes, we still make every effort to meet with prospects personally, but we cheerfully accept online meetings if that is what the prospect prefers.  You can expect us to visit your market 2-6 times per year, depending on your station's revenue, the number of potential sponsors in your DMA and how willing prospects are to meet in person.

Closing is the process of advancing from a proposal to a contract.  We call this "Getting to yes."  It requires discerning what a client needs, then finding a way to deliver it.  Closing is simple in concept, but difficult to do well consistently.  Ron brings nearly 25 years of underwriting sales experience to the table to help prospects get to yes.

Underwriting Wave helps sponsors create compliant underwriting announcements.  We help clients write their scripts.  Our staff also gathers images for TV announcements.  Once we have the elements, we forward them to the station for voicing and video editing, if required.