To Sell is to Serve

When was the last time you saw a movie praising the sales profession?

Movies haven’t treated sales professionals too kindly in the last half-century. In “Death of a Salesman” Willie Loman was an inept loser who failed to sell himself. Many critics thought Loman was a symbol of America’s decay.

Barry Levinson’s “Tin Men” was hilarious in many respects but reflected a sales culture of aluminum siding salespeople who would use chicanery to close any sale.

“Glenn Garry Glenn Ross” may have been the ugliest indictment of the sales profession. Most critics agree it was great black humor and drama with superb characters. As an actors’ ensemble it was magnificent. The characters in a real estate office represented every bad sales stereotype trapped in a gray cloud of greed, featuring some of America’s most talented actors. They skillfully underlined what the writer and director believed was the sleazy underbelly of the sales profession.

Alec Baldwin won a supporting Oscar for a hard-bitten sales manager whose ABC’s began with “Always Be Closing.” He molded a sales team with incentives designed to help his “team” destroy each other to keep their jobs.

The Al Pacino character was the most ruthless. Pretending to care for his clients he schemed to close any way he could. Widows and orphans beware!

There were harsh moments of truth in all these movies. They were entertaining but they were movies and not real life.

In real life, dedicated professionals rise to the highest levels of spiritual, emotional and financial success. They base successful careers on serving others with their products, knowledge and compassion.

Search the Internet and you won’t find any movies praising professional sales. Certainly, there are industries that carry the label of “Buyer Beware.” Even within those industries there are marvelous exceptions to the negatives consumers often expect.

Good salespeople are all about serving both their clients and their companies. One of my favorites was a professional on a sales team I managed years ago in the broadcasting business. Often, his clients didn’t think they got the best deal. Because he did a high sales volume, his company often didn’t think he got the best prices.

He did a great balancing act as an honest advocate for both sides. He supported each when he thought they were right. He would be first to tell either side when they were wrong. In short, he built trust with everyone he touched.

I made many solid management decisions based on his input. His clients made profits on his strong advocacy of ad products that were good for their businesses. He’s in his 70’s now and still consulting in the Baltimore market. He was one of the few salespeople in a pure sales role in that industry who became a millionaire.

One of the salespeople I bought insurance from is an exceptional human being. Service is automatic with him because it is deeply faith based. You’ll never hear him preach or say a whole lot about his faith. He’s just simply first in line when something needs to be done.

A few years ago, his blood type matched a young woman who needed a kidney. I don’t know if the young woman’s parents were his clients or not. They were at least friends of a client. Nonetheless, someone had a need and he could help. Many of us watched as the young woman and this sales professional’s kidney went through high school and graduated from college.

When a client passes away, he is always there working outside the norm of settling an insurance claim; organizing legal counsel, helping with financial statements and just being there for the bereaved. Yes, he’s successful in many other ways besides a comfortable income.

There is a major contrast between movies and real life. One gets the sense when watching the movies I mentioned the characters are always looking over their shoulders afraid someone will catch them in a lie. Sadly there are many people in real life sales situations that have sore necks for the same reason.

Then there are others who understand that salesmanship is the art of knowing how to serve others. They are the ones who understand the first order is easy to get, but unless they build the relationship on service and trust there may not be a second and third contract.

Mike Plumstead

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Michael (Plum) Plumstead spent a lifetime in the broadcasting industry starting with juvenile voiceovers and working as a DJ, announcer and broadcast journalist. Selling was always a key part of his life. As a youth he sold magazine subscriptions and Christmas cards. As a college student he was the youngest licensed insurance salesman in Ohio and also sold encyclopedias. However, broadcasting was his passion in those years.

After graduating from Kent State University he served in the Army as a Signal Intelligence officer during the Vietnam War. Resuming his broadcasting career he became a record setting, award winning sales rep, general sales manager and general manager.

In 1999 he retired from broadcasting and started a second career as a freelance writer, researcher, and consultant. His first book, “A Passion to Lead” is still a staple of SkillPath Publications.

Plumstead and his wife Li Chen Plumstead live in Northern Virginia. They are currently developing several blogs directed at both American and Chinese markets.

Where Best To Begin Can Be A Difficult Question

I have been trying to determine the appropriate next (second) entry to The Marketing CORNER. As initially indicated, the primary motivation for launching The Marketing CORNER was to create a site where all levels of marketing professionals and related associates from all industries could visit to share and access simple, straight forward information on marketing planning, implementation, and ongoing management for mutual benefit.

The Marketing CORNER
We aspire for this to be a site for anyone who is so inclined to contribute creative, field-tested marketing ideas and programs and to also take the ideas and programs of others to enhance their own marketing plans and programs. The CORNER, primarily therefore, is a site for marketers to interact for individual and mutual benefit.  This effort is based on the belief that collectively we are all better than we are individually.

Marketing Professionals Are Also People With A Variety Of Interest.
Since we are all more than just business robots operating within the context of professional marketing, it was suggested that the CORNER should also provide an opportunity for visitors to contribute and comment on a wide variety of topics virtually without limits.

In the final analysis this mission may be too broad and lack the focus necessary to have a long-term compelling appeal. I suggest that the approach may very well be interesting and interactive enough in a variety of ways to make the CORNER a good site to visit and interact for mutual benefit and entertainment. Of course, the only way to be certain is to give it a try—so, here it goes.

A Broad Menu of TOPICS Beyond Marketing May Be More Compelling.
Below EXHIBIT I is a list of suggested TOPICS that we can address together in part, or in whole, depending upon our interest and motivation.  The list begins with “marketing”.   The topic “marketing” is only the beginning—and the list of Topics is only the beginning.  Feel free to add to this list of Topics and to make whatever information contribution you feel appropriate.  Also, remember that this site will only be as interesting and interactive as we have interesting and interactive participants.

Marketing Clearly Is Our Primary Focus.
Because this is not just any CORNER, we also want to always maintain a sufficient focus on the marketing part of The Marketing CORNER.  Since the subject of marketing is so broad and varied from one industry to another with both a consumer and business-to-business focus, we want to provide a site to start the conversation that would give everyone an opportunity to contribute, comment, and learn at whatever point in the marketing process they desired.

It Is Always Good To Start A Project With An Outline.
After giving this challenge much thought, it was decided to start with an overall outline of a Marketing Plan.  With that starting point, visitors are invited to comment on the outline relative to their perception of proper additions, deletions, and modifications.

The objective here is not necessarily to build the best ever marketing plan outline, although if you feel some important aspect of such a plan has been left out and/or has been misrepresented, your input in this regard is most appreciated.  The outline is primarily being use here as a vehicle to logically list various components within the marketing process that can be commented on, as desired, without being restricted to the context of an overall marketing plan.  Again, we seek to be a collection of tried and true ideas and fresh new ideas that can be shared for the benefit of all.

If you want to address the topic of ADVERTISING alone, or DIRECT SALES alone, please do so. In other words, an interactive participant can comment on, expand, and or give specific examples of any segment or segments of the Marketing Planning process.

I’ll Make Contributions, But Our Collective Content Will Be Compelling.
From time-to-time, I will make marketing plan segment entries based on my personal business experience and perceptions accumulated over time.  All of that content will be provided to all visitors with no other obligation than to take the time to browse the site from time-to-time and to occasionally make a comment on the content and to perhaps provide new interesting content.

A Marketing Plan Outline Summary is listed below as EXHIBIT II.  In addition to the summary, another outline with additional background information is provided in EXHIBIT III.

Let’s all make a commitment to gather at The Marketing CORNER for the purpose of exchanging marketing-related ideas for our professional enhancement and to share information on a wide variety of TOPICS to broaden our personal perspectives and for the sheer pleasure and enjoyment. Don’t be a stranger. Invite your friends and associates to join in and visit the CORNER.

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The Backstory

Greetings and WELCOME…

This is a brief introduction to me and my new blog “The Marketing CORNER” and its purpose.

Having been a marketer for more years than I care to remember in a variety of industries (hospitality, travel, retirement, home improvement, as well as, marketing and advertising) there are many things that I have learned beyond text book descriptions and parameters that I have a desire to share with anyone who has an interest.

It is clear to me that the essence of marketing simply put is communication between buyers and sellers to meet individual and collective wants and needs. More often than not it is far less sophisticated than creatively developed, arresting national television commercials on the Super Bowl or some other network

program. More often than not it involves simpler communications generated by the foundation of commerce in our country–the small business.

This became clear to me with my early entry into the field of marketing involving a very personal product—myself. I enlisted in the U.S. Navy between high school and college. While in the Navy I served as a Journalist with an anti-submarine warfare squadron (VP-8) at the Naval Air Station in Patuxent River, Maryland. While stationed there I met the local owner and operations manager of a 500-watt daylight radio station, WPTX. My experience as ship’s Journalist and my association with the radio station operations manager, fueled my desire to learn the business of on-air broadcasting.

I was given some personal instruction on how to operate the radio “board” and pointers on voice modulation and annunciation. In a very short period of time I had my own radio show on Saturday morning called the “Nuttiest Show in Radio–The Tom Meeks Show”. With my own voice imitation of Bull Winkle J. Moose, I developed promotional spots for my Saturday morning, top 40-radio show that played throughout the week. On that small radio station in that small market in Maryland, I became completely hooked on broadcasting and journalism, and (more importantly for me), on the fundamentals of promotion and marketing communication.

From NAS Patuxent River, I was transferred to the U.S.S. Forrestal, the first of the “super” aircraft carriers. There I headed up the Journalism department and supervised external “Hometown News” releases and other communications about the ship’s activities. Additionally, I produced the ship’s newspaper and managed broadcast activities in the ship’s radio and television station.

As my four-year tour of duty neared an end, I began to think seriously about what I would do after my discharge from the Navy. In order to pursue a journalism career at a major university, I knew I would have to work while attending school to pay for college. I decided that an “on-air announcing” position on a local radio station in my hometown of Memphis, TN might offer me the perfect opportunity to do this. At twenty-one and fresh out of the Navy with limited broadcast experience, how was I to break into the competitive broadcast market of Memphis with no industry connections?

The first thing I had to do was to identify decision-makers in the Memphis world of broadcasting. I went to the local library and looked-up the names of all the Program Directors for all radio stations in the market and their mailing addresses.

The next step was to develop a communication to these decision-makers. The big question, however, remained: What could I communicate to these broadcast professionals about myself that would get their attention and secure an interview for me with a realistic chance of turning into a broadcast job?

I decided that a simple letter with my Navy and WPTX resume would most likely not be impressive enough to make this happen. I also decided that one communication would not be enough to cut through the many letters and resumes they must all be receiving on a regular basis from more experienced and talented individuals.

Four months before my discharge, I developed a unique mailing program that promoted my skills and talents to the targeted program directors. Lacking funds, I used standard vanilla postcards from the ship’s Post Office that would be sent weekly over a twelve-week period to each targeted program director. (Each program director would receive twelve postcards from me over the three-month period.)

So, with my customer targets (the program directors), my communications-vehicle (the postcards), and the weekly campaign strategy (one-card-per-week-per-program director), all I needed was the creative message that would be powerful enough to get the job done. I realized that my postcard communications should emphasize the product (me) and be done in a humorous way to grab attention and over time-built interest and recall. If this sequential communication campaign did not get me into the offices of the targeted program directors for an interview it would all be in vain.

I decided that each postcard communication would include a headline and a supporting paragraph of three or four lines. The headline would always include my name and the supporting paragraph would also include my name at least three times. To differentiate between the headline I would make it BOLD. Since I was working on a standard Navy issue typewriter, to achieve this BOLD effect I would have to retype over the headline about ten times. I also wanted my name to stand out in the supporting paragraph. So every time my name appeared I retyped over it about ten times so that it would stand out as BOLD. (A few samples of this postcard campaign appear at the end of this introductory article.)

The results were phenomenal. After my discharge in December, I went home and enjoyed Christmas, the New Year holiday, and my birthday (January 5th) with my family and friends. Around the middle of January, I started to follow up on my direct mail campaign. At EVERY radio station I was warmly welcomed by the program director and told how much they enjoyed receiving my postcard communications. I was told by one program director that my communications were presented to the sales staff as an example of how a consistent effort always pays off. I was not offered an announcing job at any of the larger radio stations, but I established a positive and beneficial relationship with all of these people. However, several program directors from local smaller stations offered me positions as announcer and my tenure with these various stations, early in my career, proved to be a fertile training ground.

Eventually, an assistant promotions manager position became available at the local NBC affiliate station in Memphis that operated AM and FM radio stations, as well as a television station. I got that job in large part because of the relationship that I had established with the program director early in my broadcast career. It became a very good position to hold while attending college (Memphis State University) by providing generous income, flextime, and a world of valuable professional experiences.

I have successfully used this same sequential communication campaign to well-defined decision makers in every company in which I have worked, and for many clients while running my marketing companies.

I have many more experiences like this and I am sure that there are thousands of similar stories that thousands of others have throughout the world. I would like for 
The Marketing Corner to be a place where we can all share such experiences and successes for the benefit of all. Again, successful marketing does not always include sophisticated and expensive advertising and promotion. Much can be done with a good plan to reach the right targets with CREATIVE communications that are well executed with proper follow up.

Please accept my invitation to share your marketing successes and to ask and answer questions for the benefit of all.

All the best, Tom Meeks