Megan Keenan on life in sports radio event sales

Megan Keenan left Spartanburg, S.C., to join Capitol Broadcasting Company's Sports Radio division in 2015. Megan works with 99.9FM The Fan as an event sales representative. Her main goal is to create partnerships with local businesses, providing them the opportunity to have their names prominently displayed at some of the area’s top sports and charity events.

"Starting in 2016, Sports Radio made a big push towards creating community-focused events that raise money for worthy causes while allowing local businesses to get their name in front of their ideal customers," Keenan said. "My job is to find relevant local businesses and have conversations with them about sponsoring or participating in our events, such as the ACC Baseball Tournament, Beericana or our Annual Sports Radio Golf Open."

Prospecting, Presenting and Event Planning

Megan's day-to-day work often focuses on researching and cold-calling potential customers, presenting events and organizing and managing those events.

"When I find a business that's interested in a Sports Radio event, I will usually have two or three different phone calls with them," said Keenan. "By the time I meet them in person, they usually know what to expect for the event and we usually sign a contract within one or two in-person meetings. Once someone has agreed to sponsor one of our events, I begin preparing for the event and my role changes from a salesperson to an event organizer."

"Whether it's a golf tournament or a Craft Beer festival, the 'big day' is always hectic, but in a challenging and stimulating way," she continued. "I get so excited about actually delivering what our partners and I have been working on and anticipating for months! On the day of the event, the first thing I do is help set up and make sure all my clients have exactly what they need. Once they are settled, I take a deep breath before I get back to work! I always make sure to visit each client and ensure that they're getting the experience and service they signed up for."

What She’s Working on Now

"This June we are hosting the 4th Annual Sports Radio Golf Open. The title sponsor is the Jim Allen Group, a local real estate office of Coldwell Banker. They are partnering with the Helene Foundation to raise money for families of local youth whose mothers are dealing with cancer." Keenan described. "This is a perfect example of why I love my job and how our events are such a win-win situation for everyone involved. I am very honored to have a partnership with the Jim Allen Group where we can help support the Helene Foundation and give back to our community. Also, all the sponsors involved will have their name in front of 120 golfers, and actually get to speak with prospective clients among the golfers and attendees. Event partnerships are unique because the local business doesn't just reach their audience, but gets to have a face-to-face conversation with them."

"I'm also really excited about the 2018 ACC Baseball Championship in Durham this spring. I'm a big sports fan and haven't had the opportunity to sell an event at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park, so this should be a great weekend," she said.

Team Selling

Although her work is in radio sales, it doesn't directly focus on selling radio ads. Keenan does, however, generally include radio ads with event sponsorships in order to promote the event and get the sponsor's name in front of more people.

"Whenever I include radio advertisements, I get to partner with another radio salesperson from 99.9FM The Fan on the campaign," Keenan said. "We have an awesome, supportive team here at Sports Radio and I love getting to work with different coworkers on campaigns."

Working for CBC

"I just love it here! You spend a lot of time at your job and to walk into a place where you love what you do and love the people you work with, it’s such a blessing," Keenan said. "I feel like I have longevity and security and I know that if I have a problem of any kind I can talk to anyone on our team. I love hearing stories about employees who’ve been here for 20 years and I want to be able to do the same."

She continued, "Additionally, I love our Capitol Women's Network, where I get to meet and learn from all the amazing women throughout our company. Fourteen months ago, when I applied for the event sponsorships opening, I really leaned on the Women's Network for support and confidence."