In the
post-Watergate era of the mid 1970's, a Gallup poll of Americans stated that
51% of those surveyed had a lot or a great deal of confidence in newspapers.
That survey would have been right around the time the movie "All The President's Men" with
Dustin Hoffman and Robert Redford was entertaining us in the theatre, telling
the tale of how two newspaper reporters brought down the Nixon Presidency.
The movie "Spotlight", which showcased
the newspaper industry to a brand new generation this past year did not have
the same impact on the confidence of American's in the newspaper industry. Gallup'sannual poll released June 13 reported
that same survey dropped to an all time low of only 20% of responses showing a
lot or a great confidence in newspapers.
Even more
alarming was the record high 36% of responses from people with a low confidence
level in the industry. While both stats are very unfavorable, I believe there
is still a silver lining. Add in the 42% of U. S. adults saying that they have
some confidence, and the majority of the public has at least some respect in
the newspaper industry.
It is easy
to fall victim to reading our own headlines and stories about our industry. I
receive a steady stream of emails from industry experts and publications, and
daily I can almost always find a stat that makes me want to crawl into the
fetal position. That is why I believe so strongly that we have to do a better
job of telling our story as an industry, with the positive research that still
shows the importance and value of advertising in a community newspaper.
Unfortunately
the daily emails don't offer the positive stats as frequent as the negative
ones. I guess the click through rates aren't as good, as even that bad news has
better readership than positive news. The best book for positive and yet
reliable information on newspaper readership is the Newspaper Association of America's annual plan book.
Planning out
sales training for your staff but not sure what do to or what information to
give them? The plan book offers all the information you might need in one spot.
Have a brand new rep and want to give them good, reliable information to build
up their knowledge base of the business? From a top 10 reasons to advertise, to
quick research on how / why American's buy products and services, to basic ad
design and a whole lot more, the NAA plan book offers quick-bits of information
to help seasoned sales reps, and can be a great introduction to the business
for new sales reps.
While
confidence in the industry might have shown a slight decline, a salesperson can
still overcome that mindset if they have built the right type of relationship
with the customer. Many things have changed in the sales process over the
years, but being a trusted and valued resource still holds a high importance.
Sales reps,
especially new ones need to demonstrate that they have interest in their
customer, their customer's customer and in marketing. It is the responsibility
of the sales rep to do their homework prior to making the sales pitch, insuring
that they are bringing something to that relationship with each customer.
The NAA plan
book should be a essential part of that homework.
