Bad Phone Tales

When we ask editors for their pet peeves about vendors and publicists, the item they mention most is the phone. When we ask clients what they dislike most about their dealings with editors, we get the same answer. That's reason enough to spend some of our time here with a look at editorial phone calls, what you can expect, what they do expect, and the etiquette of it all.

An anecdote.

There's probably no better beginning than this real-life anecdote, thanks to Byte editor Rick Cook:

 A couple of years ago I was doing a story on LANs, including AT&T's apparent lack of success with its Starlan product. Not knowing where else to start, I called AT&T headquarters in New York City. I asked the operator for public relations. "Whom did you wish to speak to?" she says.
 "Someone in public relations," says I.
 "I can't give you to someone unless you know their name."
 "I'm a magazine writer doing a story on Starlan."
 "What?"
 "Starlan, your local-area network. Look, just give me to someone in PR and they can put me right."
 "I can't do that. You have to have the name of the person you wish to talk to. Just a minute please." (A brief pause while she hands me off to her supervisor.) "May I help you?"
 "Yes, I'm a writer doing a story for a magazine about Starlan and I'd like to speak to someone on that."
 "Starlan?"
 "AT&T's local area network."
 "Since divestiture all our local products are handled by the Regional Bell Operating Companies. You will have to. . ."
 At that point I'm afraid I screamed at the poor woman, which got me transferred to the the Special Assistant in Charge of Handling Cranks. She'd never heard of Starlan either ("and I've been with the company more than 20 years"), but she did take my name and run it down for me. At this time AT&T was spending several million dollars a year to advertise Starlan in trade and business publications as part of its push into the computer business. Starlan was failing miserably. I think I know why.

Pet peeves.

Editors legitimately hold many pet peeves about editorial phone. Here are some examples from a recent survey: Vendors who call without a clear purpose. People who don't return phone calls, or who don't call back until weeks later, apparently assuming that the editor works without deadlines. Voice mail mazes that lead to "please hold" recordings, then half-hour delays on hold and still nobody picks up. Company receptionists who have no idea what publicity or public relations is about and shunt the call to personnel, or investor relations, or building security (it really happens). Publicists who call every editor at a magazine, but don't see fit to mention the other calls. Company PR people who try to short-stop calls for interviews with quotable executives. Those who call who have no idea what the journalist writes (especially true for columnists). Those who try to wave advertising buys in a writer's face (a Church & State issue). Those who call at outrageous hours. Those who try to solicit a review, then want to dictate terms about timing. Those who suggest, even by implication, that the editor is out to steal the product.

Bad timing.

Vendors may think of editors as aloof and unresponsive, but that's often just a case of bad timing. On deadline day, few editors could return a call to anyone, and few can take a call (except for a legitimate emergency or breaking high-news story). On any day, few editors can spend more than two to three minutes on a call that is not directly related to an assigned story; most will request relevant information by mail, fax or e-mail. And during trade shows, both the onsite and the back-home staffs are swamped, each doing essentially double duty.

Advice.

We humbly submit this advice on your phone dealings with the press. First, be very sure that you're asking for the right person. Second, have a fact sheet ready to send (preferably e-mail) if the editor asks for more information, and mention it during the call. Third, be prepared to respond to the editor's request for more information, access to an authority for an interview, whatever. Fourth, realize that if you have legitimate news for the journalist on the other side of the wire, you're essentially working together, cooperating, to achieve a common goal. Don't oversell. Don't demand. And don't ask too many favors.

Expectations.

Finally, consider that there are only four possible responses to an initial phone contact with an editor on any specific subject: not interested, send more information, set up an interview, or send a product for review. If the editor is not sure, you'll probably pick up on the tentativeness of the response; take the shot anyway. If the editor wants names of customers, have them ready and respond quickly - but only once you've cleared the contact with them. And if you hear the tiny, rapid clicks that indicate the editor is typing notes, don't assume that it will definitely lead to a story, nor that the story it may lead to will be in the very next issue, nor that the story will include only you to the exclusion of your competitors. Read the publication for stories under that individual's byline for an idea of the norm, and what to expect.