Tell yourself all the things you need to hear, and do it out loud!

Here are the two greatest inventions of the last 100 (or so) years:

1. The thermos bottle. First mass-produced in 1904, it keeps hot things hot and cold things cold, all without batteries or computer chips. How does it know? Amazing, isn't it?

2. Bluetooth technology. It's great not because it makes you hands free but rather it allows you to talk to yourself in your car as much as you want without drawing unnecessary attention to yourself during rush hour.

You see, I talk to myself. I do it a lot. My kids have always laughed at me because of it. My mother used to say that talking to yourself was a sign that you have a lot of money in the bank but I am living proof that it's not true. I do most of my talking in the car, in the morning, on the way to work. Before Bluetooth, I would glance over while stopped at a traffic light to see the person in the next car looking at me like I was nuts. Now, no one pays attention at all. It is great. If you don't talk to yourself, you should start right away.

The most important part of this is the subject(s) you cover when you talk to yourself. First subject: is your thermos half empty or half full? Making that choice right up front in your monologue will dictate where the rest of it goes and will have a big impact on where the rest of your day goes. The world is full of crap; your mission is to avoid it. Talk to yourself with positive affirmations. It will be a good day. It will be a great day if you say it will. Role-play, out loud, discussions you will have with problem co-workers or direct reports. Make them positive. Practice presentations you will make to customers. Make them winners. Rehearse new opening lines you want to use to make more use of the phone and e-mail. Make them engaging. Tell yourself all the good things you know about yourself and don't let anyone tell you it's not so.

I actually have a Bluetooth car but the coolest part about this is that you don't even have to have Bluetooth to pretend you are using it. But don't pretend with yourself. Sometimes when you're out there on the road doing your sales thing you are the only friend you've got. Keep the relationship a positive, happy one.

If you are really having a challenging sales day and need someone positive to talk to, you can always call me: 315-472-6007 or my cell is 315-439-3485. Or drop us an email at tcuskey@fcpny.com. We can help with sales support, training, brainstorming and more. We are here for you, FCPNY members.

May your thermos always be full and the right temperature!

I assume you've heard this lesson before...

Tomorrow, October 11 is my 38th wedding anniversary. So today, October 10, I went card shopping. Hey, why wait 'til the last minute?

At the drugstore where I went to select the perfect greeting there were a few stacked boxes of cards in the aisle right in front of the "Wife Anniversary" selection. I was working around them, checking out cards when one of the store employees -- a not too happy gal about my age -- came up to me.

"Where's our girl?" she asked me.

"What girl is that?" I replied.

"The regular card girl," she exclaimed. "Doesn't matter, I 'll just have it out with you!"

Mistaking me for the "card guy", I guess, she proceeded to rip me a new one for the lack of effort and good service the greeting card vendors have apparently put forth recently. I waited for a break in her delivery before I uttered "Excuse me, but I am just buying a card."

"Oh," was her somewhat cool apologetic response. "Step up to register two when you're ready."

I'd have complained to the boss but I was too grateful for the great training material to turn her in. Put yourself in her shoes. I'm walking around these boxes, taking out cards, putting them back, not looking very romantic. I totally get it. I looked like a card guy. And I have no idea how rough of a day this gal may have had before she saw me. But it doesn't matter, none of it. She's in sales and customer service and you never assume anything. Anything.

Get flatly turned down by a prospect the last three or four times you approached them? Don't assume they hate you or that the door is closed forever. No matter how unwilling you may be for another letdown, don't assume that's the expected result. Go back in -- you never know when the decision maker, the mood or the need there may change.

Talking about your home improvement tab with a contractor who is driving a dirty old pickup?  Doesn't look like he's in a position to spend on anything but a new pair of jeans to replace the torn, ratty ones he's wearing? Don't assume he can't afford a half page ad on the front end of what should be an eight-week campaign if that's what he needs. Your competitor won’t.

To be successful you have to be a good detective, snooping out great leads and prospects. But the best detectives ask questions and dig for good, reliable information before they draw a conclusion, not an assumption. That is the exact approach to take in your daily sales adventures. Think back on your last 24 hours on the job? Have you driven past prospects that you don't think will invest in advertising? Have you not touched base with a great customer because you assume your relationship is airtight and a competitor will never steal it from you? We all make assumptions everyday; don't be embarrassed if you have made some. Just be sure to not make the mistake twice. Stop assuming, start selling.

You may also assume that you and your staff don't need a little tune-up or training, even if it's just a refresher on the basics. Stop assuming and call us here at 877-275-2726 or drop me an email at tcuskey@fcpny.com to arrange for your next on-site training session. Thank you!

Follow up on trust

A few weeks back I promised to come back with some ideas on building relationships -- building trust -- in a digital world where voice mail, email, caller ID and a host of other gates are keeping the salesperson at bay. Doing it better than any crotchety, old gatekeeper could have done, too (God bless her soul). Here's what I've come up with:

Nothing.

Well, at least nothing new. I have participated these past three weeks in a sales sharing program that FCPNY is sponsoring as a member benefit called the Training Table Forum. Each Friday morning, sales people from our member publications have been joining the call, sharing what is working and not working in the marketplace. And what is working are the basics, applied liberally in a professionally persistent manner. There is nothing new to building relationships and building trust. It takes the same levels of commitment to providing integrity, quality and value in our dealings with others. God bless our souls.

One thing we need to recognize and do more of today, though, is marketing before we try selling. And I'm not talking about huge ad and brand campaigns. Sales guru Jeffrey Gitomer (www.gitomer.com) says cold calls are not how we break through to new business today. You do it by treating existing customers right, by networking through them and groups like Chambers of Commerce and putting yourself out there as a market-giver, not a market-taker. (Yeah, I have a man-crush on Gitomer). In The Speed of Trust, author Stephen M. R. Covey writes about the "Principle of Contribution." It has to do with companies being good citizens and giving back to the markets they operate in with programs that fix social ills, address community needs and help others with nothing sought in return. Both make great points, and what Covey talks about in a corporate sense, you can do on a personal level. When you do what is right, when you give of your time and talents and are genuinely interested in what others do, people will find you and business will find you, too.

If you find yourself in need of help with sales, training or any other publishing business matter, give us a shout at FCPNY -- toll-free at 877-275-2726 or by email at tcuskey@fcpny.com.

Thanks...and may God bless your soul.

Trust me...please!

I heard a commercial while driving in to work this morning for Reputation.com, a service that manages what folks are saying online about you or your company. The commercial said something to the effect that 90% of people believe what they read online about your company, so the inference is that you best be sure that everything out there about you is positive. I did not catch the source of that statistic because I don't think they gave it.

On the other hand, I read a promotional piece this week from a publisher I know that cited Research magazine. The stat: seven of ten people say print advertising information is most important when making a purchase. Consumers still trust print in spite of all the market and media changes. 

Okay.

The real fact here -- and I say this without scientific basis -- is that there is so much information available to us today that you can likely find a study or research to back up most claims made about anything in media. And that's nothing new. There were many times in my own old selling days (B.C. or Before Computers) and when riding with a sales rep where a prospective advertiser would pooh-pooh your readership study or market report. 

"You come in here with your stuff that says you're the best, the TV guys come in with their stuff that says they're the best, and radio and everybody else," was a common comment made by these poor business owners (who probably spent as much time dealing with eager ad reps as they did anything else). And they were right. So how do you separate yourself? How do you develop folks to believe in what you say and what your company says?

Trust. You have to build trust. Build a relationship based on honesty and truth. And that, too, is nothing new; it's just changed. I love Jeffrey Gitomer (www.gitomer.com) who is famous for pointing out that we spend too much time training sales people to sell instead of training them to help people buy. "People don’t like to be sold, but they love to buy!" is the Gitomer mantra. I believe that they love to buy when they deal with someone they can trust, someone who makes them feel very safe and comfortable when they open their wallet to spend. Gitomer also says "You don’t earn loyalty in a day; you earn loyalty day by day." In my own current sales career (A.D. or After Digital), I find this to be the most difficult aspect of today's market. There are too many faceless gatekeepers out there now with voice mail, e-mail and websites that lead nowhere when trying to reach out to someone you think your product can help. How do you build trust in that environment? 

I'm going to look for answers to that question and share them in upcoming blogs. If you have suggestions or ideas, send them to me at tcuskey@fcpny.com and I will pass them along. Thank you. 

It's time to make a hot splash!

Being a creature of habit, the first thing I do when I hit the kitchen in the morning is make a cup of Keurig coffee and take it into the family room for my morning news routine. This isn't a 7-Eleven jumbo cup; it's a standard cup, doesn't hold that much or take long to drink. But this morning I spilled it all over the coffee table (how appropriate) and floor. It went everywhere! Boy, when you spread it out and get a good look at it there is a lot more coffee there than meets the eye.

If you're selling free paper advertising, you've got a product in hand that holds the same mystique. And you may have to pour it out all over a prospect to get them to realize that.

Case in point: there is a lot of interest right now in the $684-million advertising budget that's devoted to the coming Affordable Healthcare Act rollout. The Obamacare marketing budget is being driven down to the state level in most cases and I had the opportunity yesterday to speak with a very nice young ad agency lady about the value that Free Community Papers of NY can provide to an organization that needs to reach as many New Yorkers as possible. Predictably, the young gal told me that metro market dailies would be the recipients of the print dollars in this campaign and thank you very much for calling. Incredible! With a program that potentially affects more people in more places than ever these experts have selected one of, if not the fastest shrinking medium available to them. And as far as all those folks in Upstate New York that don't live in a metro area?  Who knows.

This is nothing new, and my pitch to them isn't over, but it's time that all of us in the free paper business take our media kits and marketing information and pour them over every big agency and prospect we can, just like a cup of hot coffee. Make a big spread. Make it hot. When the volume of value we offer burns into their thick skin on a consistent basis maybe we finally will become the default choice for print dollars, or at least get consideration up front. That will only happen when they know we are the best choice with more reach and readership than our metro daily competitors. But to do so we need to be polished, professional and on top of our game with reliable marketing facts. That's where training and assistance that groups like FCPNY can provide to help you do the best job you can.

Call us at 315-472-6007 or email tcuskey@fcpny.com for assistance. Thank you.

PS: If you're reading this and you live in New York State, consider sending a message to our elected officials by voting against all incumbents in the next elections. Let’s send a message that we want New York to be about New York. The agency mentioned above that the NY Health Department is using is located in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Nothing like keeping all the dollars here in NY. A printing firm I once worked for stopped bidding on state work because bids went to out-of-state printers who didn't have to pay the NY taxes and corporation-related fees that we did. That's wrong, but voters can fix it. Thank you again.