Facing the hard, cold facts about the newspaper industry; the good and the bad

I've never attended a roast, except the kind that involves a hot dog. And certainly I cannot imagine being the subject of a roast, having to sit there and listen to people say horrible things about me; even if it is good-natured ridicule.

Recently, I attended a training session that felt a little like a roast at times. Though some of the facts didn't feel very good-natured at the time. It was some hard cold facts about the newspaper business that I'd prefer to ignore if I could. But I can't, and shouldn't ignore them. Instead, as was the case at this training session those issues were turned into opportunities and ultimately a positive experience.

We asked a local advertising agency leader to come speak to our sales team as a part of an off-site training program. Before his arrival, we spoke about the basic expectations of our sales team from the number of sales calls, the use of spec ads and the importance of selling campaigns vs. ads. Audience, reach and frequency are the basics of any marketing campaign no matter the delivery mode.

Our advertising agency representative was brought in to talk about the various competition. He talked about the strengths and weaknesses of each competitor we face, along with all the changes that have taken place in all media. I think often times we in the newspaper business get all wrapped up in the fact that we've been going through seismic shifts in our industry, forgetting that the same is true with all of our competitors.

As expected, he started to talk about the negative changes in the newspaper business. Circulation has declined, both daily and Sunday. Our print audience, while getting smaller is also getting older creating long term concerns for the industry. Each fact stung as he said them, even though I'd heard every one of them countless times.

But....

Just when I thought I couldn't take anymore, he turned to the next slide to discuss all the reasons he still believed in newspapers. Just like those celebrity roasts on TV, after the hurtful comments, they always came back and talked about the traits that endeared the person to them. And so it was with newspapers for him.

With all the circulation loss, there was still not a single local competitor that could deliver a bigger audience than our Sunday newspaper. Only Facebook can reach a bigger audience in our market. I would bet that is the case in nearly every newspaper market.

That single fact made me smile, and yet he wasn't done. The core newspaper reader, baby boomers are big spenders with high levels of disposable income and the segment is growing. As every media outlet tries to adjust to the new norm, the newspaper industry has large audiences in both the traditional and digital platform. Who else can tout that?

For me, the best comment he made was his last. In this world of fake news and a general distrust of things you see and read online, it is the local newspaper that remains the trusted source. "You have the largest staff of professional journalists and reporters of any medium in the market, translating to high quality, trustworthy content." While he was speaking about my market with that comment, that is the case in nearly every market across the state and around the country.  Providing a safe, trustworthy platform for content - in print and online - is a valuable asset to offer the communities and advertisers we serve.

Choose your words carefully to improve the confidence your customers have in you and your products

In my local market, one of the radio stations is playing regularly a public service announcement against drunk driving. As is often the case, the PSA is very well written and certainly has got me thinking.

The obvious intent of the message is to get my thinking about the dangers of drunk driving. Point taken. But for me, the story the thirty second spot has universal application beyond that initial intent. The basis of the commercial is the narrator talking about the word "probably," calling it the least convincing word in the English language.

Probably is certainly not a power word, or one that evolks confidence. And that has got me thinking about the selection of words that move people to action, or a lack of action in some cases.

At the Battle of Gettysburg during the Civil War, Robert E. Lee famously told a general to "take that hill, if practical." That general evidently didn't think it was practical and didn't take the hill. As a result, the next two days the Union army had the high ground and won the battle, stopping the rebel army advance through the northern states.

Word selection is critical in every facet of our lives. The battles won or lost might not be as pivotal as Pickett's Charge during the Civil War, but in the day to day of business, your sales team the choices made are still critical.

I would encourage you to spend a few minutes listening to your sales reps and see for yourself. When they role play - they are role playing as a part of training, right? - are they talking with confidence, using words to suggest they know something instead of think they know? In the case of a staff that is not doing role playing, listen to them on the phone. Are they talking with their customer, mentioning the benefits of the product and the results you (the customer) will receive, or are they focusing on themselves?

Simply things like what is the distribution of your product. For example, many sales reps will tell the customer the distribution is "about 10,000." The interjection of the "about" into that phrase makes it less exact, and can have a negative impact on the perception of the customer. If the distribution is 10,000 then the salesperson should say "it is 10,000."

Setting up training for your team on word choice is a good investment. Jonha Richman wrote for Salesforce.com a guide for the most powerful words to use in sales and marketing. Richman charts five examples that should become a guide for your team on the right frame of mind for all communication with customers. And while I've focused on the verbal form of communication, these same rules would apply to email communication as well by your sales team.

https://www.salesforce.com/ca/blog/2016/06/powerful-sales-and-marketing-words.html

Spend a few minutes shopping on Amazon.com and you'll see one of Richman's examples of great word choices. Amazon will try to sell you new products to increase their revenue and thus profits. It is how they do it that is noteworthy, and something your sales team could learn. Rather than saying, "Here are some products to considering buying," Amazon let's you know "We have some new recommendations for you." Simple word choices puts the focus on the buyer in a consultative approach.

Picking powerful words is likely training you've never considered doing in the past, and that could be because you didn't need to. For years, your sales staff like mine was experienced and had already developed a proven sales method with a quality vocabulary. But the job market has changed, and the new candidates you are getting likely have significantly less experience than those previously.