In a past life, as they say, I worked in the Olympic Movement. I will wait while you drift off and think of only the glamorous side of that because yes, I was a Chief Press Officer at two Summer Games. But let me take you behind the scenes.

There’s a popular expression, “It takes a village.” And people are also quick to whip out phrases like, “It takes teamwork to make the dream work.” But the fact of the matter is, there honestly was really only one person who was responsible for women’s fast-pitch softball ending up as an Olympic sport. While the International Olympic Committee voted in June of 1991 to add the sport to the programme of the Games starting with the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Don Porter had worked and traveled and fought to get the game added to the world’s stage for years and years. In fact, he would end up telling people that it took 29 years, 6 months, and 13 days to finally get the vote he so tirelessly pursued.

Fun fact: Every year June 13th is celebrated as World Softball Day. I was the one who actually had suggested to Porter in 2005 that the occasion be created, to commemorate the day that the IOC voted women’s softball onto the Olympic programme.

Me and Don Porter at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing

That sort of tenacity is what gets you results. In fact, in one of the rooms at the softball world headquarters, there was a sketch hanging up of a fish inside a pelican’s beak – trying to strangle the bird! Clearly, he didn’t want to become its prey. The accompanying text read, “Never give up.” (There was also another wall hanging that asked, “What have you done to promote softball today?”)

Imagine the possibilities.

Making the Pitch: Not a Softball, but Potential Exposure

Late last year, we sent a pitch on behalf of one of our author clients to a horse industry magazine. Our client’s newest book is filled with poetry she’d written as inspired by the 29 years she owned her horse. It seemed logical for this publication to want to feature her and mention this collection that was now available.

Success seemed in the bag when the editor accepted our pitch. We swung into action, coordinating the interview and gathering up photos supplied by our client. A headshot, certainly, and the book cover, of course, but the magazine had very specific instructions for what they wanted in terms of pictures. The shots needed to show our client, with her horse, and the latter’s ears had to be up.

Yikes. This was starting to be a little tougher. After all, our client admitted to us that when the pictures she sent us were taken she never thought that one day she’d be a published author or have someone wanting to use the images in a magazine.

Nonetheless, off they went, and the publication seemingly was all set. Phew.

A Curveball

Two months after the above, having already received a Word document so we could proof the story that would run and having been told that next would come a PDF with the final layout and design before it went to press, I received an email from the editor, saying that the photos weren’t up to the quality that they publish. I was given a link to see for myself via the online version of their magazine. In other words, it was being reinforced that this is a very high-end magazine.

Watch yourselves here, folks. This is where, left unchecked, your emotions can get the best of you. Your knee-jerk reaction might be to fire back a response that you’ll regret later.

Instead, I used an expression I’ve come to warmly embrace and I’m happy to share it with you as well to take for a test drive. It’s three simple words that I learned from a sales trainer that he uses when a potential customer comes out with their objection. “Help me understand,” I wrote back to the editor, explaining in the sweetest, kindest, most gentle, and professional way – almost asking for some teaching – and pointing out what had already been sent to us and over what period of time.

It worked.

She wrote back and admitted that she should’ve looked at the pictures when they were first sent but instead simply made a mental note to herself, ‘Okay, good, there are lots of photos for us.’ But she still couldn’t proceed if we couldn’t produce what they needed. Gulp.

Time to Pivot?

Don’t default to all-or-nothing mode. I wanted to salvage something after all that we’d put into this. First, I suggested that perhaps an online-only story could be published. Then I went as far as to ask if we could even just get a social media post from them across their different channels.

The client wasn’t happy. This had taken too much time. She felt as though there was going to be an expense (hiring a photographer). The horse isn’t even alive anymore. And oh, by the way, she was in Europe and not home in the States where she is engrained in the local horse community. Any new shots seemed impossible.

As a last-ditch effort, she dug up some photos and emailed them to me. These showed her daughter with the horse. There were also only two of herself on the horse.

Success! The editor gave the pictures the thumbs up and now we are on for the print edition in May or June.

Never give up.

A client of mine in a TV show interview

A TV Interview?!

Another client of mine wasn’t in Europe, but she might as well have been.

I had her booked for a speaking engagement and thought I would try to get a network TV affiliate to have her on a morning show as a guest, to not only talk about the books she has written but plug the event where she’d be presenting.

When one of the shows responded saying they were passing my pitch along to the producer of a different show, I was simply happy that it was being kept alive and given consideration.

Lo and behold, the offer came back for my client to come in to record an interview (to be aired two days later). This would require a 12:30 pm arrival at the station. And that’s where things got challenging.

My client responded, telling me that she had an appointment scheduled with a specialist that very day at 1:00 (a good ways away). She went out of her way to not only say that it had been booked some time ago, but that she did, in fact, really need to see this doctor because of some symptoms she had been experiencing lately.

Her initial response back to me was, “Oh well, I guess it wasn’t meant to be.” But I couldn’t just let it go.

As I tried to talk to both sides to find a best-of-both-worlds resolution, my client made me aware that she was actually texting me from a cruise ship and that the cell service was poor, at best, out there. I suggested she call the doctor’s office to see if she could just tell them she had an opportunity to be interviewed on TV and thus would need to be a little late for her appointment.

This was a Thursday, and she said she wouldn’t have success trying to make a call from out at sea but would happily do so on Monday morning when she’d be back on land and the doctor’s office would be open. I emailed the TV station to let them know what was happening and could they possibly hang in there until then.

When I didn’t get a response, I adopted the, “Well, that’s not a No” attitude.

The client called the doctor Monday morning and texted me with an, “Okay, I can do the TV interview.”

I booked it and everybody was happy.

My Four Ps Approach

This was the latest testimony to the four Ps approach that I’ve always said that I take with Now Hear This, my PR agency. That is, patient, polite, professional, but persistent.

Note that throughout both of these cases, we did not make any demands – on the magazine or the TV show. It’s because I know that there is a long, long line of people wrapped around the TV station who would happily say Yes to being there at 12:30 pm on that particular Wednesday to be a guest on the show. Remember that when your ego tries to convince you that you have some bargaining power and/or something that the other party needs.

We’re all carrying a lot on our shoulders these days. Multi-tasking, despite not recommended due to the inefficiencies associated with it, has become commonplace. When something looks like it might be falling apart, don’t give in to the urge to say, “That’s fine. I’ve got plenty on my plate these days as it is.”

Don’t give up. You just might end up with that highly coveted booking.

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