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SALES & MARKETING When Persistence Becomes Stupidity By Landy Chase, MBA, CSP Ihave a plaque on the wall of my office that has been a fixture in my work environment since it was given to me as a fledgling salesman nearly twenty years ago. The words were penned by Calvin Coolidge, and they are among my favorite quotes. Space limits me here from reproducing it here, but the piece is entitled “Persistence,” and the main idea it offers is that nothing can stand in the way of persistence; that if you are persistent in your efforts, it is inevitable that you will attain your goals. Like most people, and particularly as a former sales person, I have learned from personal experience the truth in those words. However, when it comes to making a living as a sales person, this principle becomes a bit complicated. Why? Because too often, sales people equate persistence with doggedly pushing on, even when it is not productive to do so. They have bought into a myth that the sales profession could be considered a ‘sacred cow,’ and the simple idea that the harder you work, the more success you will experience. For example, I can’t begin to count the number of times over the years I have had the following mantras waved in my face by former bosses, sales people, and even some of my fellow pundits conducting seminars. Do any of these sound familiar to you? – “Sales is a numbers game. The more calls made the more sales you close.” – “Don’t take no for an answer.” – “Cold-call your way to success.” 16 PARTNERS Fall 2010 – “Wear them down with persistence they’ll eventually buy.” Don’t get me wrong; I admire a strong work ethic in sales as much as anybody. What frustrates me is all of those hard-working, goal-oriented sales people who follow these rules and work themselves to the bone while barely scratching out a living – all in the name of working hard instead of working smart. Let me share a real-life example of what I’m referring to. Not too long ago I spent an afternoon with a very promising but inexperienced sales representative who had been infected with this persistence-creates-success virus. His marketing strategy? We spent a long, hot, down-the-street afternoon in his sales territory, dropping in unannounced on legions of cheery, sword-wielding receptionists. He asked them clever, engaging questions, like “can I have a few moments with your decision maker?” then “okay can I have their phone number?” then “okay can I have their e-mail address?” and “what is a good time to reach them?” and … and ... well, you get the idea. At the end of the day, this poor guy had worked his tail off, collected some marginally-useful information on some marginally-qualified prospects, and had sold – well, nothing. Oh, but he was persistent. No, he wouldn’t give up, not he – at least not on that hot afternoon. Predictably, I heard later that he gave it another six weeks before quitting “sales” – if you could call it that – and moving into a different field. Chalk up another example of the persistence crossing over into stupidity. The travesty Too often, sales people equate persistence with doggedly pushing on, even when it is not productive to do so. was that he was a bright, ambitious guy given poor direction from his manager. This, of course, is but one example. Here are some other common examples of stupidity disguised as persistence: – The untrained sales person who lacks good phone skills and finds that they have to make 100 telephone calls to generate two or three marginally promising appointments; continued on page 23
Do-It-Yourself Public Relations Secrets to Getting PR with a Little Know-How and Elbow Grease By Marsha Friedman The cycle of marketing was once summarized in the story of the circus coming to town. If the circus is coming to town and you buy a billboard saying “Circus Coming to the Fairground Saturday,” that’s advertising. If you put the sign on the back of an elephant and walk it into town, that’s promotion. If the elephant walks through the mayor’s flower bed and the local paper picks it up, that’s publicity. And if you get the mayor to laugh about it, that’s public relations. If the town’s citizens go to the circus, you show them the many entertainment booths, explain how much fun they’ll have spending money at the booths, answer their questions and ultimately, they spend a lot at the circus, that’s sales. Most of the time, it’s really difficult to get the elephant to walk where you want it. In those cases, you need to generate your own public relations, and I’ve got some basic tips for you to follow to make that happen fast and inexpensively: Find your inner expert – Think about your business or your profession and zero in on your expertise. Pick the area you know the most about, and focus on that. Do you have a ballpark idea of what that is? Keep that in mind, and we’ll get back to that in a minute. Surf the Internet – Just about every key news source has a Web site, so do some surfing. Go to the Web sites of the news media outlets in which you’d like to be featured and harvest their contact information to build your media database. Read the papers – One good way to figure out if what you are doing is newsworthy or relevant is to read a newspaper to see what the press is writing. If you want their attention, you need to figure out what currently interests them. Specifically look for news stories in your area of expertise or interest. Put it all together – In remembering your media targets and the stories they typically publish about your topic or area, go back SALES & MARKETING to your expertise. Is there something that you found that was in the news related to your expertise? Is there something you can comment on with veracity and credibility? That’s how you thread the needle. PR Tools – The press release, as a reliable tool for public relations professionals, had been on life support since 2005, when newspapers first realized that they weren’t competing with television or radio as much as they were competing against Internet news portals. Dozens of newspapers and magazines have folded, and hundreds more have scaled back their staff and even their publication size. Consider the shrinking news hole, the shrinking staff and the emphasis on competition from online outlets, and you have to ask yourself if they even have the staff to read the volume of hundreds of press releases per day that they receive from e-mail and wire services. So, if they aren’t reading press releases, or only selecting press releases from trusted or existing sources sparingly, how can you get through to print media editors? The answer is content. Most publications are not seeking news, but rather, ready-made content that they can plug directly into their publications, Web sites or both. The key is ensuring that the content you offer is more than just a sales pitch for you or your project. At the end of the day, the most important thing to remember is that this is NOT a marketing project or a promotional project. It’s a news project. You want to take who you are, what you do, and your primary message, and marry it to something already in the news. Think like a news editor and not like an artist, and you’ll find something between the lines that will resonate with the media as well as the audience. z About the Author Marsha Friedman is a 20-year veteran of the public relations industry. She is the CEO of EMSI Public Relations (www.emsincorporated.com), a national firm that provides PR strategy and publicity services to corporations, entertainers, authors, and professional firms. She also hosts a national weekly radio talk show, The Family Round Table, and is author of the book, Celebritize Yourself. PARTNERS Fall 2010 17
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