What the death of the phone pitch means for the PR industry
As the art of the phone PR pitch slowly gets lost amongst a barrage of endless emails, Soraya Calavassy argues that it's time to bring back the personal touch.
It wasn’t so long ago that it was not only an expectation, but also part of the job description for PRs to pick up the telephone, call a journalist and pitch a story, interview opportunity, product placement or feature.
Although it was always done selectively (to avoid spamming already time-starved journalists), it was the most important part of the pitching process and inevitably provided stronger results than simply firing off an email and hoping for a response.
But things change, and with the media landscape shifting, never more dramatically than over the past five years, the way we operate as PRs has also required an overhaul.
PRs know many journalists don’t want to speak on the phone in the first instance, if at all, but in an industry built on relationships and communication (with media, clients, suppliers etc.) the death of the phone pitch has the potential to limit the effectiveness of the PR practitioner and the practice as a whole.
Firstly, the demise of phone calls to journalists makes it much harder as PRs to provide genuine feedback to our clients. Hearing a “yes” or a “no” and the reasons why, allows us to take stock, re-frame an idea or continue to move forward with the elements of a pitch that are working.
Now, with the bulk of communication done via email, when media outlets choose not to run a story, or do an interview, we are often left wondering why, with no clear reason or explanation for rejection.
Furthermore, the chance to brainstorm ideas, segments and concepts with media contacts has traditionally always been best done over the telephone.
It gives the chance for media to take a concept and deliver something completely unique and relevant to their audience. Likewise, it gives PRs the chance to start with the bare bones of a story idea and build something robust and significant that can truly make an impact for a client.
While genuine relationships can be built over email (only pitching strong, targeted stories and responding promptly to requests will always help foster a relationship), there is no doubt it is more challenging.
What was once an industry built on a ‘little black book’ of contacts, the necessary industry-wide need to move away from phone pitching has meant we have had to rely on other methods to cultivate these relationships and generate cut-through for our clients.
The simple change of removing the phone pitch from the equation doesn’t just change the level of relationships PRs have with media. It also means a shift in our industry talent, their skill sets and how they communicate.
Whereas verbal communication was once core to the PR industry at all levels, and picking up the phone and having a conversation was second nature, we are now seeing the next generation of PRs shying away from using the phone altogether and defaulting to written correspondence. This is not only when speaking with media, but also falls into communicating with clients, suppliers and stakeholders.
Historically, a phone pitch was the easiest and fastest method to teach up and coming PRs the art of a news angle, tone and how best to deliver a message for maximum impact. Vitally, it also built confidence and with daily practice, these skills could be refined and used across other areas of a PR role.
As a result, it’s now an industry wide necessity that we invest more time, resources and energy into building the confidence of junior staff members in PR agencies when it comes to verbal communication with clients and stakeholders.
There is no doubt communications is evolving and as an industry, the way we communicate is evolving with it, but it is evident the industry now needs to manage the flow on effects from this inevitable shift.
We now need to quickly engage, train and work with our junior talent to ensure the death of the phone pitch doesn’t also mean the death of verbal communication and real-life relationships altogether for PRs.
Soraya Calavassy is co-founder of PR agency Neon Black.
The thing that PR people never quite ‘get’ is that what they’re pitching 8 or 9 times out of 10 is made-up news to promote a client. Journo’s, unless they are super desperate for a story, have no interest in it. That’s why they don’t want to talk on the phone. For those times when there’s something genuinely interesting going on (and, let’s face it, those times are few and far between as the most interesting stuff is the stuff companies *don’t want to talk about*), a phone call is great. But those times are so few and far between, it’s not even funny.
User ID not verified.
Plenty of journos want to talk on the phone and 9 out of 10 stories on some sites are probably generated by press releases.I agree with the sentiment of this article. I get a lot of releases each day, and generate a few myself, and a thoughtful phone pitch – definitely not “did you get my release” – is always worthwhile if you have something to say.
User ID not verified.
Great piece Soraya. I’ve definitely noticed lots of media now don’t even list their phone, or are using hotdesks so they literally don’t even have a landline number of their own (and understandably don’t want to use their private mobiles – particularly the online publications).
I can understand why journos want to screen calls because they no doubt get plenty of ridiculous pitches throughout the day which deservedly die on their voicemail. But to cut out the phone from the equation altogether is not doing anybody any favours.
I had one journo try rip me a new one the other day because his competitor got a story. When I said “well you’ve never answered an email and until today I’ve never heard your voice before, so why would I be giving you exclusives?” there was stunned silence and then “well you have a point.”
Screen calls? Yes. Refuse to speak on the phone completely? Sure, but know I’ll preference the journalists that I have some rapport with.
User ID not verified.
I tend to agree. Even 4-5 years ago I could phone pitch and discuss a suite of story options and massage to help align with the journo’s agenda, but these days I am leaving up to 3 voicemails before I make the call that they are not interested. I appreciate media are time poor and responding to every email is simply not feasible, but a quick “not for us” with a reason why would help us refine our pitching in
User ID not verified.