I just spoke to a lovely journalist about what I think is a really interesting story. Obviously I would say this, but still. Her first response was – ‘oh wow, you called and explained the story, nobody does that anymore’.

Mind, blown.

And it got me thinking. Is the ‘sell-in’ a thing of the past nowadays? Or is the strategy of choice just the dreaded technique of press send, wait 15 mins and then…..‘have you seen my press release?’

Now, before I go on, there are a couple of things I think need to be pointed out. The first is that a lot of more junior comms consultants are literally forced to do this. To call journalists after sending a release, and then write down the feedback they receive. Often that feedback will be a variation of ‘seen it, not for me’ before the line goes dead. And that’s what you can tell the client – ‘we tried, but it wasn’t for them at this time’. It adds no value to anyone that, but still….

The second thing I need to point out, despite what more vocal anti-PR-person journalists like to blurt out on Twitter may have you believe, is that it works. Sometimes, not every time but certainly more often than many would have you believe, a journo will say ‘oh no I hadn’t seen that, cheers’. So this won’t stop any time soon.

But to hear ‘nobody does that anymore’ when I called to chat through a story was crazy. This job is all about story telling. For me, the best way to tell that story over the phone and work with a journalist to develop it. That’s why I’ve always hated the term ‘sell-in’. It’s not inaccurate, but the job is more than ‘selling the story’ – good PR people work hand in hand with journalists and clients to tell the right story. I think the phone (or Zoom etc.) still has a vital role to play….