For the last several weeks I’ve been digging into the most common challenges radio stations face in becoming successful. Now it’s time to count down the final four. Drum roll, please.

#4 – Inside thinking

We go to a restaurant. We instantly see what needs to be changed. The people at the restaurant can’t see it at all.

We check into a hotel. We instantly see that the very doors to enter the lobby are too cumbersome for anyone with luggage! Well, who in the world would bring luggage to a hotel?

When my daughter Carly was younger we would be out together and someone would inevitably say, “You look so much alike.” What a stranger could see instantly we struggled to see at all.

So it is for your radio station.

There are important things about your station you’ll be the last to see because you’re simply too close to it.

The importance of perceptual research or trusted outside counsel cannot be overstated. If you have neither, consider this idea.

Last week I was with my new friend David Salyers, head marketing guy at Chick-fil-A, and regular contributor to Keep The Faith. While showing us around The Hatch (the entire building devoted to hatching new ideas) he shared numerous remarkable concepts that drive their success!

The Hatch includes a mock up restaurant where they attempt to address “Points of Pain”; where the customer must overcome an inconvenience or an irritant to have a satisfying experience. What a great idea, I thought!

What are your station’s “Points of Pain”?

Is it the unfamiliar music you play that keeps your listener from hearing their favorites? (Everyone’s favorite radio station is the station that plays their favorite music).

Is it endless deejay banter that interrupts and interferes with their enjoyment of the music?

If you’re lacking an objective outside perspective on your station, consider asking your listeners.

After all, the only place to read the label is from outside the bottle.