Take Theodore Roosevelt’s advice: Dare greatly

By Bob Davis

Picture a scene in the boardroom of a large newspaper chain. I have just presented a proposal that will require a considerable investment but will deliver a fantastic return. It’s decision time, yet many of the leaders in the room seem only to be looking at their shoes. At last a mid-level manager speaks up. “This is a great idea,” he says. “I think we should do it.” What a hero!

Now is prime time for newspaper managers who can take charge, influence others and exert authority. The young man in the scene above owns the project. If it works, it will make his career.

In my ongoing work with newspapers over the years, I have seen what makes leaders highly effective—and what makes them less effective or even paralyzed—during trying times.

Being decisive, taking action

The young mid-level manager who speaks up for action while others contemplate their shoe shines is an example of what it takes to be highly effective—quick decisions. True, the industry is in uncharted waters right now, and nobody will make the right move every time. But it is better to make mistakes once in a while than to do nothing for fear of making the wrong decision. Such paralysis will doom the newspaper to continued decline in circulation and advertising revenue.

Consider this quotation from Theodore Roosevelt. “It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat.”

Supporting top performance

Besides decisiveness and taking action, it is critical in these times for executives and managers to ask their people to function at their very best. This does not mean pushing them beyond reason or burning them out. Instead, leaders must set goals that are worthy of the highest aspirations of the group and communicate those goals over and over again until they are accomplished.

Do you expect a great deal from your people? If asked, would they say you are always testing their limits? Would they say you have high aspirations for them? Would they know their top priority?

What’s more, have you made sure they have the skills and training to achieve their goals? Screams from the stands don’t get baseball players their hits. Batting practice does. Your people can excel only if you make sure they have the skills, training and tools to excel.

Having a sense of urgency

Thriving despite today’s challenges in our industry requires a sense of urgency. One successful executive I know is an excellent example. As publisher for one newspaper and regional vice-president of a group of newspapers, he:

• Returns all calls within 24 hours.
• Returns all email with 24 hours.
• Makes decisions quickly. (On one Monday I sent him four large proposals requiring big-dollar decisions. By the end of the week he had rejected three and accepted one.)
• Does what he says he will do, when he says he will do it.

The fire of enthusiasm

Finally, a leader’s ability to help people feel good about themselves and their work is the very essence of leadership. Toward that end, leaders capture followers emotionally with enthusiasm. So, do you light your fire of enthusiasm every day before you arrive at work? Doing so brings positive energy into the organization—not only among subordinates but also among colleagues and superiors.

Making the Cut: Selling your online partnership

(This article was originally published in the latest edition of Inside Call Center, published by MacDonald Advertising Services.)

By Bob Davis

I love the story of the old-time logger who had always done his work with a two-blade axe. His son left the Maine woods to go to college, and while he was away he sent his father a gas-powered chainsaw. The son called home to ask how his father liked it. His father answered that it was all right, but he preferred his axe. The son was puzzled. How could his father not love the chainsaw?

The son came home on break determined to show his father what a great tool the chainsaw was. He gave a couple of sharp pulls on the starter cord while his father watched. When the engine fired up, the father exclaimed, “What’s that noise?”

The story provides an apt analogy to how most newspapers are selling the full functionality of their online partnerships compared to what they could be accomplishing. When publishers and advertising executives hear what these partnerships can do with their motors running, they will ask, “What’s that noise?” And it will be the sound of money coming in!

Most people tasked with selling online advertising have received product-knowledge training, but that is not enough. In fact, studies have shown that a salesperson’s product knowledge is only 15% of what is needed to be successful in sales. If product knowledge was all they needed, home builders would sell their own houses instead of turning the job over to REALTORS®. Selling skills are more important than product knowledge.

First, salespeople must be skilled at asking key needs analysis questions on every call such as:

• How hard is it going to be to fill that job?
• How many viable candidates are in the local market?
• Would you like to go after viable candidates rather than waiting for them to come
to you?
• What will it mean to you to fill that critical position more quickly?

The next selling skill is to use responses to questions like those above to create and present a customized solution to the customer in a compelling way.

Then comes the need to overcome objections. I spoke recently with a salesperson newly tasked to sell online employment ads. He told me he would rather make cold calls to a business that had never advertised with the newspaper than try to sell the online partner to an advertiser already running ads on the competitor’s Web site. Why? He said he did not know how to answer their objections.

There are so many features and benefits to sell — such as résumé search and candidate search — and we are just scratching the surface in selling these high-ticket items.

Just about everyone reading this article probably knows how to use needs analysis. I have little doubt that you also know how to deliver customized, compelling solutions and how sales success requires being able to overcome objections. But with so much money to be earned from online partnerships, I have to ask a question: What would it mean to your newspaper if your sales reps received intensive training on skills and knowledge that would empower them to sell all the online functionality more effectively?

Trying to sell without the right skills is like using a chainsaw without the motor running. It’s possible to make the cut, but it’s much less effective.

For more information on MacDonald Advertising Services, please visit GoMacDonald.com.