This is an article posted on the blog site Journalistics and very helpful for any PR, Marketing or Journalism student. Read on! Smile and dial gets a bad rep. I rarely hear the term used in a positive way. You should know by now that I’m against annoying journalists, whether through PR spam or telemarketing-style phone pitches. If you’ve got a good story to pitch, and you need to score some coverage fast, the phone is the only way to go. “But wait…” you say, don’t journalists prefer email as their #1 method of contact? Yes, journalists want to be pitched by email more than 80 percent of the time. Most journalists view PR people as telemarketers, and the rest are lying. It’s much easier to click delete than reject somebody in person. Most media relations pros assume working the phones isn’t worth the effort. There’s a reason you get those calls during dinner—the phone works better than email. Here are some tips for making the most of working the phones: Smile. Before you pick up the phone, smile. Look in the mirror and smile ear-to-ear. Studies have shown when you smile, people can hear it in your voice. Nobody wants to listen to somebody droning on like a robot. Stand and deliver. When you give a presentation, do you slouch in your chair? No, you stand up, make eye contact, and use good body language. To communicate more effectively over the phone, pretend you’re presenting to the journalist in-person. Embrace rejection. In sales, some jest that it takes three “nos” to get one “yes.” I don’t suggest that you try to pitch the same story to a journalist three times, but you should prepare to hear a lot of “nos” before you get a journalist that’s interested. The more you do it, the easier rejection gets. Turn it into a game. See how long you can make it through your pitch before you get to know it. You might be surprised by how many yes answers you receive. Script it. Don’t sound scripted, but you should have a script. Don’t wing your pitches, practice them. Seriously, have you practiced your pitches before? I know very few PR people that do. Practice makes perfect (or close to it). Warm up. Because you need to practice your pitches, warm up with people in your office. Call a friend and pitch them. Then, when you start calling real media, start with the outlet on your list least-likely to write about it. Work your way up from there. Once you start to hit your stride, go for the gold and call the most important outlet. Learn from every conversation. Gather intelligence on every call. If you get rejected, learn why. Ask the journalist what it would take to get a “yes” from him? Ask: What could I have done better? Is there anything I could do to make this type of story more appealing? Let them know you don’t want to waste their time in the future. Most will help. CRM. To the last point, don’t rely on your memory. Have a contact management system that everyone on your team can access (if that’s not supported in your organization, do it yourself). I like Basecamp’s Highrise. It helps you keep notes on all your conversations, schedule follow up tasks, manage your opportunities, and even forward emails to have notes entered automatically. The more you know about the people you pitch, the better you will be able to truly match stories to outlets. The law of averages. The more calls you make, the more likely you will find interested journalists. Your conversion ratio will also improve overtime, as you get better at communicating your stories over the phone, but also overcoming objections and working around gatekeepers. Pre-call plan. before you pick up the phone, do your legwork. Know what the journalist has written about. Know the average length of his or her stories, the frequency of articles or posts, the balance of quotes to text, and any other consistencies that could help you better tailor your pitch. You have a much better chance if you can not only communicate what you want a journalist to write about, but also how you see the story fitting into the editorial strategy and what information you can provide to keep the story objective and balanced. Overcoming objections. Keep a list on a piece of paper, in Evernote, or on your whiteboard of all the objections you hear when you pitch. Figure out a great response to each—and tailor this to each pitch. If a journalist says, “I don’t write about X”, maybe you want to respond with, “I apologize, who should I talk to?” Of course, if the objection is legitimate, cross them off your list and never pitch that topic again. Working around gatekeepers. I have mixed feelings about this, but journalists have a lot of filters – because most PR people abuse journalists. If you have a legitimate story to pitch, and you are 100 percent sure you are calling the right contact, you need to be able to work around gatekeepers. I’ve always found the best approach is to be specific about your call. If you don’t get transferred, ask to leave a personal voicemail for the recipient. If you don’t get a call back, try again one more time and then move on (take the hint). Learn from others. Who are some of the best communicators you know? Do you know any good salespeople? See if you can listen to them making some calls. How do they deliver their pitch? How do they handle objections and rejection? What triggers do they look for before moving in for the close? How do they track their process and plan their work? All of this information can be applied to media relations. Give it a shot. What do you have to lose? Know the buy signals. If the person on the other end of the phone talks to you for more than 10 seconds, that’s a buy signal. If they ask you a question or want clarification on the call, that’s a buy signal. If you leave a message and they call you back, that’s a buy signal. A buy signal shows interest and purchase intent. In media relations, if you see any of this behavior, you have a chance. Close the deal. If you pick up on a buy signal, go in for the close. “When would be a good time for you to talk with our expert on this?” or “What additional information do you need from us to consider this?” Sales training. Do you feel a little uncomfortable smiling and dialing? Want to boost your success rate? Take some sales training. The principles taught in a professional sales course can be applied to media relations. Just for Fun. Here’s an extreme example of working the phones. While this fictional sale from Boiler Room isn’t exactly what I’m advising for your media relations approach, it is a good illustration of preparing for the call, practicing the script, overcoming objections, and closing the deal. Don’t lie to people, but know your stuff, prepare and practice, and you’ll do well. Bonus Tip. If you work the phones every day in your job, invest in accurate lead lists, segment those lists for each pitch, and consider using an auto dialer (software that dials the phone for you). A lot of people will hate this suggestion, but it’s a huge time saver. While it might normally take a day to make 80 calls, a dialer would help a caller complete the list in a few hours. What do you think? Should PR professionals still pitch on the phone? Have you had more success landing press via email or phone? If you’re a journalist, do you even answer your phone anymore? What approach has been most successful for you when working the phones?
