As an editor, my job is to develop, manufacture, and then shape a product. The product in my case is this magazine.
I’m still reeling over author and business consultant Don Beveridge’s lecture at the ARDB’s Exploring Success conference last month. He’s the guy who told Boston Chicken to change its name to Boston Market.
Why? Because its original name was too synonymous with its product. And most people don’t make a decision to buy something because of a product, he says. They make a decision to buy based on what the sales person does for them.
If this is true, what is my — or any editor’s — purpose? I’m on the manufacturing side of the company. I plan, write for and edit a magazine. Then, our (very talented) sales reps go out and sell it to potential advertisers. I’m clearly not in sales, so what contribution, in Beveridge’s eyes, could I possibly be making to that buying decision?
I’d been disturbed by this for weeks. I could have brushed off Beveridge’s theory, if only it hadn’t made sense. Beveridge has been a management consultant to companies such as General Motors and Pillsbury.
When Cadillac couldn’t sell its well-reviewed Allante — developed in 1987 to compete with Lexus and Infiniti — he told GM not to spend any more money on refining the vehicle. It wasn’t a quality issue, he told the company’s executives. It was a people issue.
The bottom line, he says, is that successful companies have employees who focus on the customer. “If you’re not taking care of your customer, you better be taking care of someone who is,” he preaches.
Yesterday, I was finally able to put my job in perspective. I was interviewing A.J. and Barbara Vasaris, owners of The Anderson Group, for a story you’ll see in the December issue.
The Anderson Group is a very progressive, innovative technology company. Most of the employees are creative-types: programmers, Web designers and marketing people. But when I asked A.J. how many people he had on his “sales” staff, he said, “When anybody asks us how many are on our sales staff I say ‘everybody.’ Everybody has that unwritten title on their business card.”
While I still believe that journalists are going to be the last breed to ever associate the word “sales” with their jobs, I have to agree with A.J. that all professionals need to be continually “selling” their company’s product. For me, that may simply mean being an advocate of my company’s mission, wherever I go, and to whomever I meet. I can honestly say I already do that.
Connie Swenson ([email protected]) is editor of SBN.