Revenue Journal®

I get a lot of calls from PR folks. Each call is a sales call, which is why I'm talking about it here. Anyone who sells for a living - and that includes CEOs and entrepreneurs - can learn from the mistakes that PR houses make. This article will also help you manage your PR folks, who are probably making these same mistakes.

PR people call me because they have a story they want me to "buy" and write about. Their methods, for the most part, are pitiful. It's sad, because just about every person who calls is a decent human being who wants to do a good job.

Most of the calls come from young females who have been hired to call editors, reporters, and bloggers and try to line up an appointment with the company's CEO. They must all attend the same school of Dysfunctional PR, because they all say the same thing:

Hi, my name is Jennifer. I'm calling because XYZ company is rolling out a new widget. Did you get my press release? Would you like to interview the CEO?

I'm sad to say that they've been saying this same thing to me since 1984, when my monthly columns started appearing in a marketing magazine. After hearing the same pitiful pitch for 23 years now, it would be easy to be impatient and cross. But I was young and in PR once, so I try to help them.

More often than not, they refuse to be helped. Why? Because they are so ashamed of what they're doing that they can't wait to get off the phone. Any excuse, even the hint of a rejection, confirms their worst fears. This editor hates me and can't wait for me to get off the phone. I'd better say goodbye now.

I try to help by asking them about the product. "OK, slow down. Before we talk about interviewing your CEO, let's talk about what you're rolling out and why it's significant."

Most of them stumble at this point. There's usually a dead silence for a few awkward seconds. They honestly can't answer this basic question. This is pitiful! They don't understand what they're pitching. All they know is, they're supposed to call an editor after the press releases are blasted out, and try to secure an interview with the CEO.

Somehow their training doesn't include an actual conversation with an editor. It's as if they're hired to "pitch" a neighborhood - by running up to each house, ringing the doorbell, yelling what they're supposed to be yelling, and then turning and running to the next house. If someone were to actually answer the door and start asking them questions, they wouldn't know what to do. That's exactly what happens when PR people call.

PR people still call me because they want to talk to the editor of Marketing Technology, a newsletter I wrote from 1991 to 2004. I tell them I'm not writing it anymore, and, no, no one else is here who can help them, because I wrote everything in Marketing Technology. Then I explain that I'm now writing this blog, and my audience is mostly CEOs and entrepreneurs. Quite often, what they're pitching could be interesting to my current readers.

But all they know is, I'm not writing what they thought I was writing. Their brains shut down. "Oh. I see. You're not writing Marketing Technology anymore. OK, thank you. Bye." Another opportunity, blown.

What salespeople - and PR people - need to do

Instead of being taught how to recite pitches, salespeople should be taught how to listen and to think.

Ah, this editor doesn't write Marketing Technology anymore, but instead writes a blog for entrepreneurs and CEOs. But she's still covering marketing and selling. Hmmm. Maybe I should find out more about the Revenue Journal, to see if it's right for my client's story. I'll tell this editor about this product and then ask if her audience might be interested in it.

Instead of running away, the listening and thinking PR person could say, "OK, I understand, you're writing a blog called the Revenue Journal. What is the URL? [Goes there.] Uh-huh. Yes, I see. Hmmm. Yes, I see what you write about. Well, you might be interested in this product. It is a [describes it in 3 - 4 sentences]. Would that interest your readers?"

This conversation is now going somewhere. We are discussing the client's product. The PR person has taken a moment to understand what I write about, and is telling me something that will help me decide if the subject would be interesting to my readers. All good sales calls are two-way conversations, not a one-way speech.

I am sorry to say that for every 100 PR calls I get, only one of them leads to coverage. If PR people were really pitching properly, I could imagine that percentage increasing to 10 or 20%.

Are your salespeople listening and thinking? Do they actually hear what the person says and then figure out how to work with that response, in a way that makes sense to the customer and could even result in a sale? Have you helped to teach them how to have actual conversations?

Or, are they ringing the doorbell, yelling their pitch, and then running away?