Where art thou, phone pitch?

POSTED BY tolly ON October 20, 2010

Oh, ye olde phone pitch. What a tricky animal are you.

Publicists, how many times have you had this phone pitch conversation?

You: “Hi! My name is ____, and I’m working with ___. I –”

Media: “Stop.”

You: “Eh, em … pardon me?”

Media: “I mean, can you email me?”

You: “Well, yes, I just wanted to let you know about a story idea I–”

Media: “Great. Email it to me. Thanks!”

You: “Wait! What’s your email? Hello? Hello?”

Dial tone …….

We’ve all been there, publicists. It’s not just you.

When I first got into PR, phone pitching was very common. In fact, at one firm, we had to log minimum phone pitch numbers per week.

But I think that’s changing.  A lot.

Phone pitching still works for me – sometimes. In fact, with TV, it’s often quite effective.

Radio is a toss-up.

Print, no.

And bloggers? I wouldn’t dream of calling a blogger. Why? Because so many of them are hobbyists. If I happen to catch their phone number, and rang them up while they weren’t on the computer – but, say, in a work meeting? Or picking up their kid from daycare? AWKWARD.

“But nobody checks their email anymore!” a publicist will argue. “How can I possibly get anyone’s attention with email alone?”

A valid point. The solution, however, is still not phone-stalking someone.

So – when is it ok to phone pitch? Publicists, should we give up phone pitching entirely? I’ve been asking around, to both media and fellow publicists, and the general consensus to those two questions seems to be:

It depends on the medium.

No: But it’s all about your current relationship with the media contact.

And really, this isn’t surprising. Publicity has ALWAYS been about relationships.

So here are 5 general rules about phone pitching in our new communications era, one of email, Twitter, text messaging, and even Facebook wall posting:

1. TV Minds Phone Pitching the Least. Especially when it’s breaking news. TV newsrooms are very physical places — producers are not sitting at a computer all day, but instead, are helping prep shoots, are on-location with anchors, etc. So, phone calls are a little more expected here. And, producers seem to check their voicemails on a regular basis.

Just remember this: Pair your phone pitch with an email. Whether you email first, then follow up with a phone call, or vice-versa. This could be applied to all media contacts, but especially TV, where they literally run around all day.

2. Print Minds Phone Pitching the MOST. Think about it. You’re in the middle of writing an awesome press release, so timely and yet so eloquent, when all of a sudden…BRRRRING!!!  “Hello?”  “Hi! I’d like to offer your company a brand new cable-phone-internet bundling package!” –So annoying. I hate to think this is what we publicists sound like to print media, but unfortunately guys, I think we do. Writing is cerebral. Writing takes concentration. When you’re in the “zone,” there’s nothing more disruptive then a phone call, out of nowhere, demanding you drop everything and chit chat.

Note:  This rule MAY be broken if you already have a relationship with the print contact.  Still, choose your phone pitches to print wisely, and do NOT bird-dog a print contact if they aren’t responding to your phone pitches.

3. With Radio, Think Local and Small Market. In general, they are more responsive to phone pitching, especially when you’ve got a local event and/or hook to offer. You can see why this makes sense: The news cycle is less competitive and noisy in small-town Missouri, than it is in New York. But what about national radio?

I still think email wins. The last three times I’ve booked national, or large-market radio, it was with email. One was a person I had a relationship with; two it was not. And the few times I’ve booked NPR – again, those were through email.

So — no hard and fast rules here, since radio shows and studios each have incredibly diverse operations. Still, it always comes back to relationships: You’ll be more successful when you invest time and energy in a handful of great producers whose broadcast interests match your client stream.

4. Ask Questions. I have better luck with phone pitching when I’m straight-up about my intentions, and I lead with a question. “Hi, I want to pitch a puppy care expert. Who at your studio books lifestyle guests?” No need to be coy. They all know I called to pitch.

This approach works because it gets a dialogue started, rather than you jumping in, guns blazing, to offer a GREAT! GUEST! OPPORTUNITY! to the person on the other end.

“Oh, that would be so-and-so, but I kinda help out booking those guests also. Whatcha got?” This was the exact response I got from a CBS affiliate in Florida a few weeks ago when I led my phone pitch with a question. I told her about my person, then followed up with an email, and then, she booked.

The classic, “Hello, I’ve got a guest opportunity for your program” still works sometimes, but it also has the slight, subtle ring of ‘telemarketer’ to it. And when you talk too long without pausing, the other person’s ears turn off.

5. Look for New Ways to Build Relationships. Are you on Twitter? Mention a reporter you love in a Tweet. Are they following you back? Thank them via DM, and mention a great story they wrote. Send a reporter a compliment via email on a recent article, one that was NOT about your client, and leave comments on blogs you’d really love to book. These are all low-pressure ways to build rapport during your off-pitching times, so that your first phone call – if you do have to call on them one day – is a little more natural.

Media: We would LOVE to hear what you think about phone pitching. Do you think these rules are bunk? Or OK? What do you wish all publicists knew about phone pitching?

Publicists: What are your experiences with phone pitching? Tell us in the comments section!

Tags: phone pitching, traditional media, Twitter

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