The Art Of The Make-Good

I was raised in a business where the make-good was a vehicle to cultivate relationships. 

When we didn't run your radio schedule in the right dayparts - we never said sorry, that's too bad. We offered make-good spots.

When we ran the wrong ad copy, we never said - oh, how embarrassing for you -  we offered make-goods. 

When we ran your sixty-second commercial spot next to a competitor - after we promised not to - make-goods where what we offered.

It was a rare moment when the radio station suggested a cash refund. In fact, so rare I am not sure we ever did. For a couple of reasons.

We wanted the cash to stay on the books. We were after all - a for profit business. If we suggested make-goods on the next schedule the implication was there would be a next order. We wanted to keep the client relationship moving forward.  

We wanted it known that yes - we acknowledge the fact we screwed up but we care enough to make it right and to do better the next time you picked us to air your ad campaign. We knew that it was a lot easier to renew an existing customer - even a slightly disgruntled one - than to go out and find a new one. And the best way to do that was to let them know we cared enough to own up to our error and right our wrong. 

What we never, ever did was say - Gee, so sorry that happened. Too bad. Here's your money back.  Buh bye!

We looked for a way to make that client feel heard and special - because we knew at the end of the day that is all any of us really want and that is how relationships are cultivated. We knew the relationships we made were the foundation of our reputation - both personally and as a radio station -  and that would pay itself forward. It was never just about our product and delivery - but how we made that client feel.

We understood market volatility. It was inherent in the radio business. One day they had to buy our station - the next our ratings could sink to the bottom of the heap and we were nothing more than an afterthought. Our relationship was key to getting bought in those downturns. 

So when there was a problem - we looked to make it good. We had no email to hide behind in the eighties. We faced our dissatisfied customers. We picked up the phone and had a real, live human conversation. We didn’t wait 24 hours to respond. We were on it immediately. No matter how big or small the client was. We made it urgent. And those of us who were particularly smart, knew that when there was a really big problem, our best bet was to avoid the phone and get ourselves in front of the person with whom we'd screwed up. Because that is how the best relationships are cultivated and that is how things get mended when torn apart.

I've taken that philosophy to every place I have ever worked and continue to embody it today in all of my business dealings. It’s how I built my reputation as someone people wanted to work with.

So I'm always surprised when I encounter people who don’t.

Especially in a world where it only takes one disconcerted person to take your misstep to soclal media.

The Most Underused App On Your SmartPhone - Day 8

My smartphone sits next to me as I write. I have over six pages of Apps. I can use it to check Facebook, the Stock Market and the weather in Paris. I can snap a picture, edit it with my Camera+ App and then post in on Instagram. I can read The New York Times and listen to Pandora. I can send a text, write an email and set my alarm for the next morning.

But the thing that used to be it’s primary purpose - before it became so smart - is the most underused App of all. 

According to the IDC Research Study sponsored by Facebook only 16% of smartphone usage is spent talking on the phone !

The phone call has evolved from being "the next best thing to being there" to an intrusion and an infringement of one's precious time. 

Why talk when one can text? 

And email? It's so much more efficient to do business.

Or is it?

Is it a better use of time to watch the phone ring and let voice mail pick up - than to experience human interaction? 

Maybe.

Is it faster and quicker to reply to the phone message with a text rather than doing something rare and what in many circles is still considered polite and call me back?

Could be.

But not always. 

And here’s the reason. 

The sound of another’s voice is a source of human connection. 

Did you hear that?

It’s why radio still endures as a medium in an age of multiple choice. It’s why podcasts are increasing in popularity.

Your voice is a persuasive tool that does not translate in a text message. An email exchange might change the course of a difficult situation - but nothing will measure against the sound of another's voice.

True, it takes more courage to pick up the phone in a world that lets us hide behind our technology. But because it’s used so infrequently these days it also sends this wonderful signal that says the receiver is important enough to actually spend some time and talk with.

What a refreshing thought!

The point of technology is to enhance our relationships - personally or professionally - not substitute. There are plenty of situations where the text or email is the best and quickest route to communicate our message. But not always. 

If you don't believe me, give it a whirl this week and experiment. Let me know what happens.

note: This is Day #8 of a 30 Day Experiment. Here are the details on how it all started.

The Not So Surprising Truth About Selling

When I first got into sales, non-sales types would tell me they didn't know how I could do that. Talk to strangers and get them to listen me. Earn their trust so they might buy commercials on the radio or television station I was offering at the moment.

Sales, I would tell them, is not for everyone. At the time I believed it.

But that's all changed. In today's digital world, everyone is selling. If not a product or an idea, they are selling themselves as a brand through something as simple as a LinkedIn Profile. Understanding that process and how to apply it is critical for anyone interested in earning a living. Sales has to be for everyone, at least those of us who want to succeed.

I've been telling clients that since I left the corporate world in 2008. Most don't want to hear it. They have trouble buying into the notion that they need to learn and understand the process of selling to further their careers. They hear sales and they think sleazy sales person a la Alec Baldwin in Glengary Glen Ross. 

Which is what intrigued me to read To Sell Is Human, The Surprising Truth About Moving Others, by Dan H. Pink, "a fresh look at the art and science of selling."

So what is this "fresh look"?  

Dan Pink takes a subject, unfriendly and scary to so many and makes it approachable and yes, human. He creates a new ABC of sales. Instead of Always Be Closing, he applies the new attributes of Attunement, Buoyancy and Clarity. He offers some great exercises to practice these skills, several of which I have been using in the class in Digital Marketing I teach at NYU, for the explicit purpose of reinforcing how selling must be understood to be a better marketer. He makes a very good case for what is inherently human in the selling process and how all of us, every day are using these skills to some degree.

But is "the surprising truth" surprising? Not to me. 
As a seasoned sales professional, I could not help noticing that so much of what the author speaks to as new to the sales process in the 21st Century, was what I had learned  in my early days in Radio when we had something called the RAB Consultancy Sell. 

That approach to selling taught us to listen more than speak, to unearth the client's problems before offering solutions, to be an expert resource for their business and ours, to personalize our presentations and be real, to be agile and think on our feet, to earn their trust, and to build relationships with these people.

Of course over the years, the trend, certainly in media was not for management to reinforce that approach but to try and get it all on the same cookie cutter PowerPoint deck and to push the sales person to get the deal. At any cost. Something that ties back to big companies being pressured to foster policies driven by keeping the stock price up rather than what is best for the clients.

Nevertheless, this is a fresh look and a much needed one especially for those resistant to accepting that selling is a part of the human experience and an art and science worth honing your skills. It is also a worthwhile read for the sales professional and the heads of corporations who may have forgotten the very skills that got them success in the first place.

But surprising? Not so much.