There
are a host of vital services Barry Maher can perform for directory publishers,
both print and electronic, as well as for companies that compete with directory
publishers and need to understand the industry.
The following is from the introduction to
the interview with Barry
Maher originally published in Link, the Yellow Pages Association newsletter.
"Move
over Stephen Covey—the country's next superstar business guru just may come
from the world of Yellow Pages. Barry Maher started out as the number one
premise rep in the country for GTE, and he’s been a sales and management
consultant to the industry for years. He
works with publishers and reps on how to sell more—and with advertisers on
how to make their Yellow Pages more effective. He’s succeeded as a sales
rep, a sales manager, a VP Sales and a VP Marketing. He’s worked in start-ups
and for huge multinationals; for tiny no-tech print publishers and for the
highest tech online companies. His book, Getting
the Most from Your Yellow Pages Advertising has
been called a bible for advertisers, yet it’s pro-Yellow Pages enough that
reps use it as a sales aid, and publishers distribute it as a customer premium. TIME called
Maher, 'The nation’s foremost independent Yellow Pages authority' and 'Easily
the most respected speaker, consultant and writer on the subject.'
"'Unfortunately,” says Maher, 'that’s a lot less impressive when you
realize that TIME knows
absolutely nothing about Yellow Pages advertising. For all they know, Marcel
Marceau could be the most respected speaker on the subject.'
"Over
the years, without leaving Yellow Pages behind, Maher expanded his consultancy
to the general business world. Selling
Power magazine declared, 'To his
powerful and famous clients, Barry Maher is simply the best sales trainer in the
business.' Then Maher found that the techniques he used to enable salespeople to
sell with integrity and yet 'sell more, right now, in the account today' were
every bit as effective with the issues managers face—in fact with the problems all
of us face in business. That led to his highly-successful Filling
the Glass keynote speeches and
workshops, and to his new book, Filling the Glass: The Skeptic’s
Guide to Positive Thinking in Business."
Besides
management, sales and sales management, Barry Maher consults with publishers on
any number of directory publishing issues. His sales training
sessions—customized
for the needs of each individual publisher—range
from one hour motivation and skills keynotes to half day and full day workships,
not to mention trainings lasting for multiple days, even weeks.
Then too, publishers ranging in size
from AT&T to tiny independent Cameron Communications have brought him in to
conduct his Yellow Pages workshops for advertisers or sponsored him at
conventions for various industries that advertise heavily in phone directories.
And when you can't have Barry, his book, Getting the Most from
Your Yellow Pages Advertising is a perfect independent-verification
sales aid as well as a premium that's popular with both publishers and
advertisers.
