Sales isn’t just about airtime, CPMs, or impressions. For Ryan Schultz, Account Executive at Capitol Broadcasting in North Carolina, sales is about relationships, storytelling, and impact. His role puts him at the intersection of digital and radio; two worlds that don’t always speak the same language. With TopLine, Ryan has found a way to bridge them, drive results for his clients, and win back hours of his week.
This is the story of how a local AE turned insights and creative into $100K-plus deals, 150% enrollment jumps, and stronger partnerships, all by rethinking how he shows up to a sales conversation.
From Local Fan to Local Seller
Ryan’s story starts long before his first TopLine login. Growing up in Raleigh, he listened to Mix 101.5 on his way to school and checked WRAL for weather alerts.
“It’s full circle,” he said. “I grew up listening to these stations and now I get to sell them.”
That connection to the community is what drew him to Capitol Broadcasting instead of a remote role with a national firm. He wanted to make a local impact, and selling media — from radio and digital to sports sponsorships — gave him that chance.
Wearing Every Hat
As an AE, Ryan does it all: prospecting, meeting prep, negotiations, creative brainstorming, and long-term account growth. Capitol Broadcasting Company’s portfolio is stacked — WRAL (the #1 TV station in Raleigh), the top news site in North Carolina, Durham Bulls baseball, Rocky Mount Mills, Mix 101.5, HighSchoolOT.com, and sports radio 99.9 The Fan, the state’s only ESPN affiliate.
“It’s competitive,” Ryan explained. “We’re selling across categories, across platforms. You might be talking digital OTT in the morning and a local radio sponsorship that afternoon.”
That variety means one thing: he needs to be prepared for anything.
The Before: Manual, Slow, and Guesswork
Like most sellers, Ryan used to spend hours digging up audience data, prepping decks, or chasing his production team for spec ads. He knew relationships mattered, but being an expert by providing research and data-driven insights takes the conversation to a deeper level.
“You want to build relationships, not just sell products,” Ryan said. “Anything I can have before that first meeting to give me a great start is huge.”
Before TopLine, that prep meant manual work, like searching for stats, guessing at what might resonate, and hoping the creative process would catch up in time.
Additionally, Ryan’s digital-only clients struggled to understand the true value and reach of radio in Raleigh/Durham.
“They viewed radio as outdated or secondary to digital channels,” he said. “It made it difficult to justify integrated campaigns, even when radio could drive brand lift and local engagement.”
The After: TopLine as a Sales Partner
With TopLine, Ryan could finally translate market-specific radio data into clear, compelling insights that resonated with data-driven clients.
“TopLine gave me access to trusted research, Nielsen data, and audience behavior stats,” he explained. “That helped build trust and bridge the gap between traditional and digital media in a way that felt strategic and data-driven.”
With TopLine, Ryan’s approach looks completely different.
- Preparedness at every meeting. Personality profiles give him a read on communication styles: short emails vs. detailed decks, direct intros vs. rapport-building.
- Faster creative. With SpotOn, he can produce radio spots in minutes — sometimes good enough to run as is.
- Instant data. Instead of spending hours piecing together audience stats, he has market data at his fingertips, ready to tailor to any industry.
- Prospecting power. Reports uncover new audience segments, competitive over-indexing, and digital-to-radio opportunities that spark fresh conversations.
“TopLine saves me time and makes me feel more confident walking into a meeting,” Ryan said.
Digital + Radio: Better Together
TopLine gave Ryan the tools to change his clients’ hesitant attitudes toward radio. With access to trusted research, Nielsen data, and audience behavior stats, he demonstrated how radio could effectively complement digital campaigns.
“TopLine helped me bridge the gap between traditional and digital media in a way that felt strategic and data-driven,” Ryan said.
Here are three examples of how that played out:
- A major university: After seeing TopLine reports and category-specific insights, they expanded beyond digital. The result was a 150% increase in applicants post-campaign; proof that radio + digital drives measurable outcomes.
- A national elevator company: Initially digital-only, they signed on for a multi-station campaign during March Madness on Sports Radio, followed by a summer-to-fall run on MIX 101.5. By leaning into local sports sponsorships, they reached new audiences and reinforced their brand.
- A national coffee chain with local branches: TopLine reports uncovered a previously overlooked radio audience. Ryan used that data to restart the conversation, helping the client realize they were missing a key local demographic by staying digital-only.
“Digital-first became radio-strong — and now they’re all in,” Ryan said.
By pairing digital with radio, Ryan isn’t just selling more inventory — he’s helping clients expand their reach to new local audiences through trusted, brand-safe platforms. The payoff? A 30% uplift in results when digital and radio run together, and a stronger appreciation for the role radio still plays in modern marketing.
SpotOn in Action
One of Ryan’s favorite examples is the elevator company.
“There was even an elevator ding in the spot,” he laughed. “The client loved it. Sometimes the spec is so good we just run it as is.”
That speed matters. Instead of waiting weeks for creative, Ryan can walk into a meeting with a polished ad ready to play. For clients, hearing their brand come alive makes the conversation real.
Discovering New Audiences
TopLine has also helped Ryan uncover opportunities he didn’t see before. For a national coffee chain with local stores, he ran a report that showed how well WRAL’s radio listeners indexed against their target demo.
“They’d never really considered radio with us,” he said. “But once I showed them the data, they realized they were missing an audience. That report gave me what I needed to restart the conversation.”
Building Trust Through Results
Ryan’s process doesn’t stop at the sale. Each month, he sits down with partners to review results, ask about outcomes, and tie campaigns back to client goals.
That’s how he learned about the university’s 150% applicant jump. It’s also why renewals and upsells come more naturally: When clients see results, they want more.
Lessons Other Sellers Can Take
Ryan’s journey echoes across sales teams everywhere:
- Preparation builds confidence. Walk into meetings armed with insights on who you’re talking to.
- Creativity closes deals. Specs and spots spark excitement in ways numbers alone never will.
- Data opens new doors. Fresh audience insights give you reasons to re-engage prospects.
- Integration multiplies impact. Radio and digital together drive stronger results than either alone.
- Follow-through matters. Regularly asking clients about outcomes strengthens renewals and upsells.
Why His Story Resonates
By using TopLine, Ryan is able to show up as a partner, not just a seller. He’s blending data and creativity, digital and radio, local impact and measurable ROI.
For other AEs facing the same grind of the cold calls, the skepticism, the pressure, his story is a reminder that with the right tools and approach, you can stop chasing numbers and start building relationships that last.
About Ryan Schultz
Ryan Schultz is a Strategic Accounts Manager at Capitol Broadcasting (CBC) in North Carolina. A data-driven marketer, girl dad, golf enthusiast, and proud Carolina Hurricanes fan, Ryan specializes in simplifying digital and radio marketing to deliver real business results. He helps local, regional, and national brands connect with the right audiences through integrated campaigns spanning WRAL.com — North Carolina’s largest local media platform — and CBC’s influential radio stations, including MIX 101.5 and 99.9 The Fan. With expertise in strategy, storytelling, and first-party audience data, Ryan partners with businesses to cut through the noise and build campaigns that resonate and perform.
