Season 2 - Episode 35: New York Detective Veteran to Entrepreneurial Veteran with Greg Demitriou

10 December 2021

Mark Edwards has a lively and engaging conversation with seasoned US entrepreneur and former NYPD detective, Greg Demitrou.

Background

Greg is CEO of Lorraine Gregory Communications and Greg’s Corner Office. A retired NYC Detective, he rebranded himself in the marketing space, where he's been for almost 30 years.

Greg says being a detective was an ‘interesting ride’ that gave him many skills, including ‘good ears’, so when he's talking to marketing clients those skills help him listen and understand what they really want.

They started the business in a little shop back in 1992 with no fax machine, no computers - just 3 ladies stuffing envelopes. Fast forward 30 years and they’re a fully-integrated marketing company with 30 employees. The agency is front of house and they have a print & mail factory at the back of the house. They’ve recently added two television & film studios.

Greg says his company takes customers on the complete marketing journey: all the necessary skillsets are in-house so they very rarely need to send work out

Detective Greg Demetriou.

He joined the Police force just before his 18th birthday in a clerical trainee position but they sent him over to the detective squad in East Harlem by mistake - These were the days when detectives had tattoos, wore Fedoras and smoked cigars. They taught him how to be a detective and he loved it.

One sunny August day, a suspect was being pursued by officers so Greg joined the chase. As the youngest and fastest, Greg was first through the door and he was shot. The suspect also shot & killed the uniformed officer Greg was with.

This was a life-changing event in Greg’s life. It ended his Police career and set him on a different path.

After that, he worked with his brother for a while but when his brother passed away suddenly, the business was closed down. So, again, Greg was out of a job.

Lorraine Gregory Communications

A little later, Greg found a little direct mail company for sale in The Times. He bought the company and they've been growing and evolving ever since to the point that they now invoice in a week what they used to invoice in a year.

Recently rebranding to match the look and feel of their clients, they’ve used their website to showcase what they can do for their clients.

Fear - the Great Motivator

Fear is a great motivator and if you approach your business from the perspective that you could destroy it in a heartbeat, it keeps you from making disastrous mistakes. Obviously, you should make mistakes because you won’t learn if you don’t - But not big mistakes.

So, you need fear, courage to look over the horizon and the energy to follow through and take action.

Greg's approach is that he's willing to take a chance if an opportunity presents itself but he first identifies the worst-case scenario and if he can live with that, he’ll go ahead; if not he won’t.

Beyond the Physical Trauma and Finding a Purpose

The physical damage of being shot was significant but two months after the incident, Greg started having symptoms. This was before PTSD but it turned out this is what he had. To a certain extent, he found the experience humiliating because he was broken - on the inside. But the internal scars didn’t show. Because of this experience Greg is dedicated to helping mitigate against law enforcement suicide.

On the day of the shooting, Greg came close to dying. Later on, he also nearly died of a heart attack and was hospitalised for 23 days with Covid-19 - So, his life has been spared several times and he now feels his job is to find out his life’s purpose - What he’s supposed to be doing.

His aim is to do whatever he needs to do to warrant still being here. He explains that being on this earth is really about other people, not yourself and goes on to say he loves his employees and gives them the opportunity to grow. Often, they’ll stay with the company, sometimes they won’t. But he still goes around the office every morning to say ello to each employee because he respects them all as without them, he feels he’d have nothing.

Communicating with Your Audience

Greg’s corner office was created specifically to talk to CEOs. In these conversations, Greg is able to share his corporate story and he’s also enhancing his personal brand. He uses the platform to gain access to the C-suite to generate business for Lorraine Gregory Communications.

They have a ‘follow up’ process for all podcast guests, which even includes an award sent via UPS. They’re now Alumni of the podcast and that’s how we treat them. This keeps Greg front of mind with his guests. They may not need him right now or ever - But they know a lot of people and they recommend him.

Direct Marketing Works

Digital marketing is great but direct marketing also works. That’s why Greg’s company does “integrated marketing” - That’s digital, traditional print, radio, tv, as well as billboards, kiosks, branding a wing in a hospital. There are so many different ways to reach your audience but you need to know where they’re consuming information. It’s not just one channel.

Good copywriting is also very important - It's about selling as if you’re having a conversation with somebody. Words always matter; they always have.

Over the years, Greg’s company has made three acquisitions and they’re poised to make more. The industry is hurting and they’re discounting their services, which is bad news for the whole sector.

Lorraine Gregory Communications is now positioning themselves as a holistic partner for their clients, operating with the maxim, “Your success is our success”.

Top Marketing Tips for Software Companies

It’s all about the audience - Who is the audience? - What does the audience need? Software companies create solutions to address a need - How deeply did they interrogate that need?

It's important software companies communicate their “Why” - Why do people need their software? - Can it save them money? - Can it get them more business? - Can it make their lives easier? It’s not about the features of the software; it’s all about the benefits. "If I buy your software, what is it going to do for me?” This needs to be communicated.

Greg finishes almost with an aside that neatly epitomises the essence of what marketing is all about: “What is a brand? A brand is a promise of an experience.”

Thanks for your detailed insights and amazing story, Greg. We appreciate your time.