2012 May

V I S I T U S A T W W W . S A P A T O D A Y . C O M

Southeastern Advertising Publishers Association (931) 223-5708 (888)450-8329 fax 1

SAPATodayAdvancing the free paper industry by providing resources for success and venues for sharing ideas.

Board of DirectorsThe leadership of SAPA is in good hands. The board of directors, director, and assistant are listed with contact information.

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Selling is a Business of WordsJohn Foust helps us find the right words in each sales situation. Learn which words to use when.

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Conference ScheduleWatch your mailbox for the schedule and registra-tion information for our conference in New Orleans, LA September 20 - 22, 2012.

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Graphics Series In this second Color instruction in Ellen Hanrahan’s series we learn specific uses for color and Chevreul’s Law.

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USPS UpdateThe Senate has proposed legislation that will deal with the United States Postal Service’s daily $40 million losses.

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Understanding The CustomerBob Berting helps us improve the way we use our best business tool- the phone.

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Getting the Word OutDavid Crawford of SRDS details to media buyers why we, community papers, matter.

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3 WAYS TO PRODUCTIVELY WORK POSITIVE

by Dr. Joey Faucette

The truck in the next lane weaved to-ward me. I looked over. He was tex-ting.

The car ahead of me at the now-green traffic light didn’t move. “She’s on Facebook on her phone,” my wife said.

The SUV zoomed ahead of me, and then slowed down. And again fur-ther down the interstate. Each time, the driver was on a call when I went around, and off the phone when he

Slow DownTo Speed Up

sped up.

And the thought popped in my head, “If these people are ‘always on’ when driving, how are they at work?”

Numerous studies indicate that our work productivity diminishes by at least 25% when we bounce from one task to another, allowing ourselves to be chronically interrupted. Technol-ogy breeds an expectation of instant responsiveness that we human beings just aren’t wired for.

Want to increase your work produc-tivity and decrease your paralyzing

overwhelm?

Slow down in these three ways to posi-tively speed up your productivity:

TURN OFF EMAILAutomatic email updates are an intru-sion on your thought process.

Be honest now: you read email while on a phone call, right?

Think your caller doesn’t know?

Think again. You’re failing to be 100% present. Too many “Umm’s” give you away.

Southeastern Advertising Publishers Association

THE MONTHLY NEWSLETTER FOR THE FREE PAPER INDUSTRY MAY 2012

continued on page 2



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Turn off the automatic email updates on your office computer, tablet, and phone. Whatever it is will wait until your prescribed time to download and answer email.

“DO NOT DISTURB”Your desk and mobile phones have a “do not disturb” button, or “airplane mode” that blocks calls. Use them as you do problem-solving or creating. It takes your brain a little time to focus on a situation, consider a wide range of options, and discover the best one. Every time the phone rings, your mind chases the call whether you answer or not.

Give yourself a designated time to answer voice mail. Prioritize the calls and respond appropriately.

LIMIT SOCIAL MEDIAI’m convinced half of the bazillion Facebookers wake up posting a status while in the bathroom while the other half post with one eye closed, going to sleep. Talk about overwhelm…major corporations lose tons of bandwidth to social media daily.

Yes, have a presence on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and whatever else

you want. Focus on content creation and hire someone else to manage it us-ing incredible tools like TweetDeck or Hootsuite. Choose a specific time to be available online. Announce it and go live.

Otherwise, leave it alone.

Now what?

Slow down to speed up.

You’ve done it. You’ve increased your work productivity 25%.

NOW WHAT?Positively become even more produc-tive:

Walk outdoors in a green space. Sit on a park bench and listen to the birds. They’re not angry, and happy to sing for free.

Eat lunch with your spouse, your child in preschool, or a friend from Rotary Club or church. Just because…

Hand-write a thank you note to a teacher or college professor who changed your life. He probably works for next-to-nothing or she’s wondering if anybody noticed her sacrifices…es-pecially at this time of year.

And remember—what goes around,

comes around.

SLOW DOWN TO SPEED UP.Productively Work Positive in this negative world.

Dr. Joey Faucette is the #1 Amazon best-selling author of Work Positive in a Negative World (Entrepreneur Press), coach, and speaker who help profession-als discover success in the silver lining of their business and achieve their dreams. Discover more at www.ListentoLife.org/speaking.

Dr. Joey Faucette will be a featured speaker and presenter at our upcom-ing conference in New Orleans. He stimulates and coaches you & your organization to redefine reality and achieve your business dreams using everyday stories that define how to Work Positive.

continued from page 1

You cannot increase the quality or quantity of your achievement or performance except to the degree in which you increase your ability to use your time effectively.

Brian Tracy



PresidentTony OnellionBargains PlusSlidell, LA

985-649-9515

Vice PresidentRussell

QuattlebaumSoutheast Sun

Enterprise, AL 334-393-2969

Past PresidentGreg Ledford

Shelby Shopper & Info

Shelby, NC 704-484-1047

TreasurerCaroline

QuattlebaumSoutheast Sun

Enterprise, AL 334-393-2969

Board MemberAmy

Hollingshead Atlanta Thrifty Nickel

Marrietta, GA 770-971-8333

SecretaryWill ThomasExchange, Inc.

Fayetteville, TN 931-433-9737

Executive Director

Douglas FrySAPA Headquarters

Columbia, TN931-223-5708

Board MemberBill Derby

Johnson City News & Neighbor

Johnson City, TN423-979-1300

Administrative Assistant

Vickie BeldenSAPA Headquarters

Columbia, TN931-223-5708

SAPA Leadership

By John Foust, Raleigh, NC

Ad agency legend David Ogilvy once wrote, “Advertising is a business of words.” The same can be said for selling. The right word can make a sale, and the wrong word can lose a

business people don’t like to think of spending. “Investment” is a better word, because it indicates that there will be a return on their money.

Don’t send the wrong signal. Talk about investing, instead of spending. After all, ROI (return on investment) has been a hot business acronym for years.

2. “Sign here.” When it’s time to close the sale, some prospects flinch at words that suggest an iron-clad, formal agreement. “Sign” is cold. It makes the document sound like a

Selling Is ABusiness of Words

continued on page 4

sale.

Sharp sales people are aware that certain words call for special handling. Generally speaking, these are common expressions that seem harmless at first glance – but can communicate the wrong message or the wrong tone. Let’s take a look at a few examples:

1. “Advertising cost.” Cost suggests spending. When it comes to money,

Southeastern AdvertisingPublishers Association



treaty.

It’s better to say, “Just approve here,” or “All we need is your autograph here.” It’s even stronger to follow up with a benefit statement like, “...and we’ll get to work on that ad idea we’ve worked out.”

3. “But.” This little word has big implications. Consider what happens when a sales person says, “I like your idea, BUT it might work better with a change in the headline.”

The word “but” voids the first part of

the statement. It says, “Forget what I just said. Here’s the bad news.” And it can make the speaker sound condescending and corrective.

It’s better to substitute “and” for “but.” The statement now becomes, “I like your idea, AND it might work even better with a change in the headline.” See the difference? Although only one word has changed, the statement is less confrontational.

4. Waffle words. “Kinda,” “sorta,” and “basically” are puny words that

have joined “you know” in the fuzzy thinker’s vocabulary.

What do these words say about a sales person? At best, they are evidence of bad communication habits. At worst, they suggest that he or she is an indecisive person who has a hard time being specific.

I laugh every time I hear an athlete say, “Basically, we were trying to keep our momentum going.” What does “basically” add to this sentence? Nothing.

5. “You’ll have to...” This phrase creeps into a lot of conversations:

Advertiser: “I need help with my ad design.”

Sales person: “You’ll have to talk to someone in our creative department.”

In reality, your advertisers don’t “have to” do anything. By placing ads in your publication – or on your website – they have put their trust in you to help them grow their businesses. It’s more respectful to substitute “I’ll be glad to” for “You’ll have to.”

Advertiser: “I need help with my ad design.”

Sales person: “I’ll be glad to introduce you to our design team. Let’s set an appointment.”

It’s all a matter of using the right words.

(c) Copyright 2012 by John Foust. All rights reserved.

John Foust has conducted training programs for thousands of newspaper advertising professionals. Many ad departments are using his training videos to save time and get quick results from in-house training. E-mail for information: [email protected]

By Bob Berting, Berting Communications

What does the collective voice of your people say about your publication, your receptionist, your salespeople, and the people who answer your phone in their re-spective departments? Do their voices tell your customers that your publication is willing to provide value-added service? If someone has a legitimate complaint, what do they say and how do they say it? Can your customers tell they are frowning over the phone?

WHAT ABOUT THE CHOICE OF WORDS AND TONE OF VOICE?

Our choice of words and tone of voice give very strong messages of our underlying attitudes which change during a conver-sation. These things can give the wrong impression if we are not careful. We can

also hear the shift in our customer’s voice as they change their attitudes. When we market our services over the phone, our voice is like a broad-cast to the listener. The usual visual dis-tractions are missing, so the voice and tone may be more significant. Attitudes are also very noticeable in recorded messages. To hear your message as others hear it, play back your message with your eyes closed. The voice that your customers hear at the other end of the phone is your company in their eyes. Very important!

EACH TYPE OF VOICE HAS IT’S OWN LABEL

A voice can be described as happy, refined, depressed, macho., smiling, concerned, fragile, strong, etc. Customers are more

How Are Your PhonesBeing Used?

continued on page 10



I welcome your input and suggestions. I was a high school art teacher, but entered the free paper publish-ing business in the 80s. I also write articles for The Inde-pendent Publisher, and I’m still learning.E-mail: [email protected] Ellen Hanrahan ©2012

Color 2LAST MONTH WE LOOKED AT BASIC COLOR TERMS. BUT THERE ARE BOOKS ON COLOR THEORY, COLOR USAGE AND THE PSYCHOLOGY OF COLOR. HERE’S MORE…

Color and PMS… Pantone Matching System, that is! Last month we looked at some basic color terms and CMYK and RGB models. There are other color models to choose from but most of us in the United States use the Pantone Matching System when we want to specify “spot” col-ors— a largely standardized color reproduction system. By standardizing the colors, different manufacturers in different locations can all refer to the Pantone system to make sure colors match without direct contact with one another. While the CMYK process is a method of print-ing color by using four inks—cyan, magenta, yel-low, and black, the Pantone system’s vast array of spot colors used 13 base pigments (15 includ-ing white and black) mixed in specified amounts. The Pantone system also allows for many ‘spe-cial’ colors to be produced such as metallic and fluorescent. Pantone colors are usually described by their allocated number (typically referred to as, for example, ‘PMS 130’). PMS colors are almost always used in branding and major corporations specify exactly what their logo color must be, using the Pantone System. Here are a few of the Pantone spot colors:

Chevreul’s Law?Never heard of this one, until I started to explore the idea of color theories… who knew! M i c h e l E u g é n e Chevreul (1786-1889) a chemist by trade, tried

to produce a systematic approach to seeing col-ors. In 1839 he published a work that dealt with the “simultaneous contrast” of colors, and con-tained his famous law (Chevreul’s Law): Two adja-cent colors, when seen by the eye, will appear as dissimilar as possible.” Let me show you using Pantone 300, a nice medium blue. The Pantone 300 appears to be a little lighter against the dark background (it also looks to be a little bit larger, but I did not change the size or color of either!). This illusion produces the most obvious example of simultaneous contrast.

My take… my laws…So after reading some intensive stuff, I have arrived at some much simpler laws… actually just think of them as some more guidelines to remember when you are putting together a print ad (although these suggestions can be used in any type of design involving color). Here are some takeaways we can use when we work with color:

• Light colors stand out when placed on a dark background, conversely dark colors work better when contrasted with lighter colors.

• White or light colors make all colors more noticeable.

• Place complementary colors together and they appear to intensify each other.

• Outline colors in black and the color seems to intensify.

• Outline dark colors in a thin light color or white and the dark color seems to intensify.

Bottom line—it’s all about the contrast! In the samples below, I have taken type and applied strokes on a light background and on a dark background to show how the contrast intensi-fies the color with the dark stroke and makes the color “pop” with even a .75 stroke applied. By the way, all type is 26 points…

Blue • BLUE

Blue • BLUE

Blue • BLUE

Blue • BLUE

PANTONE RED 032

PANTONE 117

PANTONE PURPLE

PANTONE ORANGE 021

PANTONE REFLEX BLUE

C95 M100 Y0 K0 C50 M0 Y100 K0 C0 M70 Y100 K0

C0 M37 Y48 K0 C26 M63 Y0 K0 C23 M1 Y60 K0

C0 M90 Y86 K0 C100 M73 Y0 K2 C0 M10 Y50 K0

PANTONE 300

PANTONE 328

PANTONE 673

Using a system like this means all parties know exactly what blue is going to be reproduced. Blue can be anything from sky blue, navy blue, ice blue… specify Pantone 300 and everyone knows what it will look like. However, it’s always best to get a swatch book to see how this color will print on newsprint as opposed to an offset or cover paper. Minor things that can still impact the look of the color, but at least the color itself is mixed with the same proportions. Sometimes I work with spot colors because it’s easier to pick out colors I knew I wanted to work with as opposed to creating them in CMYK. Once I was finished with my ad, all I had to do was select ”All Spots to Process” and the program would give me the percentages of the CMYK colors that would come the closest to replicating the Pantone Spot Color. As a matter of fact, that’s how I am handling all the variations of color on this page. Printing a page full of spot colors would get very expen-sive! A spot color is very effective when you have black and one color and a limited budget!

FavoritesThe color swatches above are just a few of my favorite combinations, which I have broken down into the CYMK model. I also included all the percentages of CMYK, even if the percent-age was zero. Most of us print on newsprint (very absorbent, lots of dot gain, colors are not always “crisp”), which means that if you run across a favorite color combination and there isn’t very much black, you could probably omit black because “black on newsprint = mud.” These colors repro-duce pretty well on newsprint. That’s why a lot of gray in an ad tends to lack contrast—unless you add white borders or other white relief to add that “pop.” The bottom row of color swatches are actu-ally Pantone Reflex Blue, Pantone Red 032 and Process Yellow (but I like to add a little Magenta to the mix and tone it down, because this is a great background color.

HierarchyYou may create any number of color combina-tions using the CMYK model, but it’s best to prac-tice restraint. Too many colors in an ad becomes too distracting and focus is lost. It’s all about pro-portions… so what you need to do is pick your dominant color, the others then become accent colors. In all the swatches listed above, you could switch those around and you would get different looks and moods for that information. Your second color choice, or accent color should be used more sparingly than your domi-nant color… you don’t want the colors compet-ing with each other. You are trying to create a color harmony or balance. The third color accent should be the one that creates a definite contrast… to call attention to some of the most important information in the ad so make it bold. Remember contrast?

Curses, ran out of room… againI just have a little bit more to say, but it looks as if it will have to wait. There is a panel in the InDesign program (the Kuler Panel) that can help assist in creating color combinations. It isn’t easy picking colors that work well together but this can be a good place to start… later!



The SenateMails It Inby Editorial Board: Washington Post

THERE ARE THREE ways to evalu-ate the Senate’s newly adopted plan to deal with the financial crisis at the U.S. Postal Service (USPS), which is losing more than $20 million per day and has almost exhausted its $15 billion credit line from the Treasury.

One is to compare the bill with what’s politically possible. By that standard, the bill helpfully trims the Postal Ser-vice’s workforce — which accounts for 77 percent of costs — by 100,000 over the next three years, mostly through early-retirement incentives. The leg-islation also would eliminate some of USPS’s debt to the Treasury and stretch out payments to a retiree health-care fund, saving billions more. And it passed with an admirably bipartisan majority of 62 votes.

By a more important measure, what the Postal Service actually needs to be solvent, the Senate bill falls disas-trously short. In February, USPS man-agement spelled out a five-year plan to cut $20 billion in costs and restore long-term viability. The plan required ending mandatory Saturday delivery, downsizing a bloated network of mail-processing facilities and restructuring the employee health insurance pro-gram. The Senate bill enacts none of these reforms.

In fact, the legislation makes some of them harder to accomplish. It requires Saturday delivery for at least two more years and puts a one-year moratorium on the closure of rural post offices. What few workforce reductions the bill does impose are paid for by cre-ative accounting: shifting $11 billion in Postal Service “overpayments” from the federal civil service pension fund. Stretching out retiree health-care pre-payments reduces a major cost-cutting incentive. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that the bill will in-crease deficits by more than $6 billion over the next 10 years.

In short, the demands of the Postal Ser-vice’s various “stakeholders” — from advertisers to unionized employees — triumphed over the public interest. “If this bill were to become law,” Postmas-ter General Patrick R. Donahoe candid-ly remarked, “the Postal Service would be back before the Congress within a few years requesting additional legisla-tive reform,” i.e., another bailout.

Finally, you can compare the bill to a genuine legislative solution, such as the amendment that Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) unsuccessfully proposed. Mr. Corker’s measure would have al-lowed five-day-a-week delivery imme-diately, permitted USPS to set prices more freely and eliminated costly no-

layoff provisions in USPS’s labor con-tracts. Mr. Corker’s proposal has much in common with a House bill drafted by Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.); what little hope remains for genuine postal reform now lies in an eventual House-Senate negotiation.

Albeit in exaggerated form, the Postal Service exemplifies much of what ails the American public sector. For Con-gress, the effort to bring this proud but technologically obsolescent entity into the 21st century is a dress rehearsal for the broader task of putting all neces-sary public services on a financially sustainable footing. The results so far are not encouraging.

AMERICAN POSTAL

WORKERS UNION NEWS

BULLETINGUFFEY: SENATE BILL A “MIXED

BAG”The Senate passed an amended ver-sion of the 21st Century Postal Service Act (S. 1789) on April 25, and legisla-tive action on postal reform will now move to the House of Representatives.

“Although the bill is flawed, the amended version is far better than the original,” said APWU President Cliff Guffey. “That is a result of the tremen-dous effort of APWU members, postal customers, and elected officials who appreciate the importance of the Post-

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al Service to American life. Thank you for your hard work,” he said.

“With the moratorium on the closure of mail processing plants and post of-fices set to expire on May 15, we must now turn our attention to the House. We expect to face very tough challeng-es there,” Guffey said. “But we will do everything we can to get a good bill. We call on our members, small busi-nesses, individual customers, and lawmakers to re-double our efforts to Save America’s Postal Service.”

“House leaders have not yet given any indication of how they plan to pro-ceed,” said Myke Reid, APWU Legisla-tive and Political director.

The House could consider H.R. 2309, a bill sponsored by Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) and Rep. Dennis Ross (R-FL), which would destroy the Postal Ser-vice. More than half of the members of the House are co-sponsors of another bill, H.R. 1351, which postal unions support, but Rep. Issa, the chairman of the House committee with juris-diction over the Postal Service, has refused to allow it to come up for a vote. The House also could consider the Senate bill.

A MIXED BAG“The Senate bill is a mixed bag,” Guffey

said. It would provide the USPS, which is facing imminent collapse, with short-term financial relief, by re-turning $11 billion in USPS overpay-ments to federal pension funds to the Postal Service. “Keep in mind,” Guffey said, “this is money paid by postal cus-tomers, workers and the Postal Service – not taxpayers.”

The legislation also would restructure USPS payments to pre-fund healthcare benefits for future retirees, spreading the payments over 40 years – instead of the current 10 – and reducing the funding mandate from 100 percent to 80 percent. No other government agency or private company is required to make such payments.

“These are positive steps,” Guffey said, “but they do not go far enough. As a result, the USPS will not have access to the capital it needs to meet the chal-lenges of the future,” he said.

CLOSINGS, CONSOLIDATIONSAnother improvement, Guffey said, is that the 21st Century Postal Service Act would allow more community in-put in the decision-making process for closing or consolidating post offices and postal facilities. It also would give the Postal Regulatory Commission au-thority to reverse USPS decisions on

USPS Update:Changes that Matter


these issues.

In addition, the bill would provide limited protection for service stan-dards for a minimum of three years. “Although we sought stronger, longer safeguards, this is an improvement over the original bill, which did noth-ing to preserve service,” Guffey said. “Protecting service is essential to pre-serving the Postal Service – and postal jobs.”

But the legislation also would have devastating consequences for the thousands of postal and federal em-ployees who were injured on the job and who receive compensation from the Office of Workers Compensation Program (OWCP), Guffey noted.

Among other provisions, the bill would authorize the Postal Service to offer retirement incentives. It also would allow the USPS to negotiate with postal unions to create a health plan separate from the Federal Em-ployees Health Benefit Program.

The legislation also would require ar-bitrators to consider the financial con-dition of the Postal Service, along with other relevant factors.

For the latest news, visit www.apwu.org.

Southeastern AdvertisingPublishers Association



SAPA Annual Conference: New Orleans, LA, September 20-22, 2012: SAPA and IFPA joined together to have one of the best joint conferences ever in Nashville in 2010. We are joining forces again in 2012. This time we’ll get to visit one of the most dynamic and interesting cities in the South —New Orleans, Louisiana.

Conference SchedulesThe theme of the conference is “Rollin’ On The River.” You can expect great speakers, local cuisine, and enjoyable activities to make this a conference to remember. Watch this space for more information as plans progress. Call Douglas Fry at 1-931-223-5708 for more info.

Community Papers of Florida May 4 -5 , 2012: The 2012 Community Papers of Florida (CPF) annual conference will be held at the Hutchinson Island Marriott Beach Resort & Marina near Stuart. Community Papers of Florida, P.O. Box 1149, Summerfield, FL 34492-1149. Dave Neuharth Ph: 877.373.3142 or 352.347.4470

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The Free Paper Industry Thoughts from the Floorby David Crawford, SRDS

Good morning dear readers! Last week found yours truly sitting in lovely downtown Atlanta (my hometown) at the Association of Free Community Papers (AFCP) Conference. The AFCP and other dedicated associations (like the Independent Free Papers Associa-tion, or IFPA) work diligently to pro-mote the vibrancy and vitality of local media publishers. They have banded with many state and regional asso-ciations to form PaperChain, which works to educate media buyers and planners on The Free Paper Industry.

They represent the “hyper local” reach that so many of my clients asked for when I was a media buyer (way back in the day).

But if that’s the case, then why is there still a disconnect between those publi-cations and their potential advertisers? Having the pleasure of knowing buy-ers and sellers of media, I did a crazy thing: I asked them.

One of the key responses I received from media buyers (in varying degrees of articulation) was that “free publica-tions are not invited into the home,” followed by the question “are they?”

There is a perception (let me under-line that a few times)…a perception that “free” does not mean a given pub-lication is invited into the home or included in that household’s reading/consideration. The concern is that an ad in such a publication would not be seen or that the message would not be

delivered.

According to third party research pro-vided by the Circulation Verification Council (that surveyed a national com-bined circulation of over 65 million):

Over 97% of potential recipients con-firm receipt of a free paper

Close to 4 out of 5 homes that receive a free paper read it

Close to 75% of the readers of free pa-pers make buying decisions based on information taken from those publica-tions

Looks like 3rd party numbers show that these fine publications are, in fact, being welcomed into the home and used to make ad buying decisions.

continued on page 9



Justin Gerena, President, Director of Salesp: 888.592.3212 x710e: [email protected]

JB Multimedia, Inc. P.O. Box 704 N. Bellmore, NY 11710 888.592.3212 phone/fax www.jbmultimedia.net

M a k i n g p u b l i c a t i o n s i n t e r a c t i v e.

The Free Paper Industry Thoughts from the Floor

And for those of you Preprint buyers, guess who (in many cases) can offer Sub Zip Distribution? You guessed it, the free paper industry.

I spoke to many media owners at the conference who have made inroads with advertisers that would not have returned a phone call six years ago. With rising circulation and close ties to the community, these publications are worth a look to compliment an ex-isting print media buy. You can learn more by checking out paperchain.com, or of course by looking up mem-ber publications featured and profiled within SRDS online.

I’d like to know what you think out there, folks.


Motivation get you going and habit gets you there. Make motivation a habit and you will get there more quickly and have more fun on the trip.

Zig Ziglar

We can no more afford to spend major time on minor thins than we can to spend minor time on major things.

Jim Rohn

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has teamed up with Rotary International to end Polio forever. Download the ads to run in your papers at:

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appreciative if our voice is in the middle range that is approachable and pleasant. They expect us to be friendly and eager to please them, even when they are un-happy and complaining. Instead we take their complaints personally and our voices change to show our disapproval. This is exactly the time when our customer care training matters the most. The way we handle disagreements is a measure of our genuine concern and care for our custom-er.

WHAT ABOUT YOUR CALLS THAT GET VOICE MAIL?

When calling people who know you, these are “warm calls” and there are several points to consider:

Prepare a rough script before you make the call. State your purpose clearly and ask for what you want.

Include a benefit statement. Anything go-ing on in your publication like a special savings or a new promotion.

Referrals are gold. “ I promised Bob Brown I would call you. He is starting an advertis-ing campaign with us and is very pleased with the results”

Details. When leaving a message, deliver a one way conversation message and ask for exactly what you want.If you talk to a sec-retary or receptionist, they may interpret your message incorrectly to a customer.

Create a sense of urgency. Give the con-tact a pressing reason to call you. Never lie about your deadlines to create urgency…it’s not worth ruining your reputation.

Be unique. Create a script that’s unique and different.

Be clear and concise. Keep your message down to a maximum 30 seconds. Prepara-tion is important. Unprepared callers tend to ramble.

In today’s market, we are not always able to hire the perfect person for the job. Instead we must be prepared to teach our staff to

build their self esteem, people skills, and better attitudes. When management cre-ates a caring service environment, it also cuts down on turn over. The base of “in-stant friendliness” is genuine caring for the customer. It’s like being the host or host-ess at your own party….but sometimes the party is being held at the end of a telephone line. The host or hostess always makes sure that everyone is enjoying the process, even when something goes wrong.

So before you address your next customer, think about what your tone of voice is say-ing. Sometimes it talks louder than words.

How Are Your Phones Being Used?continued from page 4

Bob has a new webinar program “Getting New Business and Keeping It.” for print media asso-ciations. The 4 consecutive week course covers 4 one hour topics: 3 call selling system, un-derstanding media competition, creating eye catching ads, working with hard to please cus-tomers. Every association member purchasing the course receives a free Bob Berting e-book for the newspaper industry “Dynamic Adver-tising Sales and Image Power.”

State, Regional, or National Association lead-ership can contact Bob at 800-536-5408 or [email protected] to see when his course will be conducted. Berting Communications is located at 6330 Woburn Drive, Indianapolis In 46250.

Web design is BIG business



Your National Connection To Free Community Papers

missionTheofPaperChain

is to brand and promote theFree Paper Industry

PaperChain





Jazz It Up

September 20-22, 2012New Orleans Marriott

SAPA & IFPA Fall Conference

Documents

2012 May