Name: Guest Blogger
Bio: BurrellesLuce invites marketing and public relations professionals with valuable information and perspectives to share their thoughts.
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- You’re speaking to customers in their language
- Your customers are getting your messages quicker
- Your message is consistent and recognizable across all customer groups
- You’re giving customers assurance that you will meet their needs
Recentering Required: Regaining Trust and Finding Opportunity
March 23rd, 2009Paramjit L. Mahli of SCG Legal PR Network helps small to mid-sized law firms increase their visibility, build their reputation, and grow their business by using public relations.
The legal industry is not faring well in these difficult economic times. For years, the lone pioneers have been screaming to restructure how law firms function and operate. I can recall back in the summer of 2007 when I read in one of the legal publications that lawyers were now billing clients at $1000 an hour. I knew then the writing was on the wall, unless of course your clients are oil sheikhs! The end was in sight. According to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics, the legal sector lost 4,200 jobs in February and 1,300 in January. And the body count continues….
Regardless of how we got here, one thing is for certain. Rightly or wrongly distrust of the former masters of the universe – whether they are of the legal field, the newspaper industry, or some other sector – is at an all-time high.
Nevertheless, there is still hope. The cornerstone of a good relationship is trust, and trust is based on open and honest communication. A company’s reputation, or the essence of how it is viewed by all of its publics, is the leading factor in its ability to achieve success.
Restoring the battered image of the corporate world is not going to be a small feat, especially when each passing day the public is becoming more and more annoyed about the bailout monies given to institutions. Undoubtedly these institutions will need the help of sound public relations leadership, making the role of public relations more critical than ever before.
It is also an important time to evaluate what we in the public relations industry are contributing. Are we taking a reactive or proactive role? Is the glass half full or half empty?
Time is the most precious commodity we have. For those of us with jobs, I say reach out into to your networks, take that time to find out if someone needs a writer, pass on job opportunities to those in need. Every little bit counts; you never know how it will boomerang back to you. It is great time for building and strengthening communities and relationships. We are all connected and if we stick together the center will absolutely hold.
Customer-Focused Communications, Seriously?
December 2nd, 2008Sandra Holtzman, today’s guest blogger and president of Holtzman Communications, has over 20 years experience as a marketing strategist and writer/creative director working across a spectrum of sectors including consumer products. She’s the author of “Lies Startups Tell Themselves to Avoid Marketing.”
Many companies give lip service to customer-focused communications. Think – when was the last time you actually sat in a market research session (not behind the two-way mirror or sending one of your minions) with your customers – face-to-face – and listened to them? And when was the last time they had a chance to help you with your marketing? Most companies would answer never, or worse we do that all the time.
It’s likely that neither response is true.
In traditional market research you usually ask for their response to your already-created materials. So you’re communicating to them that you’re not asking what they think, you just want to know what they think about your ideas.
If that’s what you do, be prepared to learn next to nothing about how they really feel.
True customer-focused communications does not resemble what most companies are used to calling marketing. To resonate with your customers, you need to communicate with each person in a way that is compelling to them, based on their needs. Given the chance, they will give you the information you need to make your marketing more effective. But you have to be humble enough and listen enough to learn from them about how they want to be “told and sold”.
There are multiple benefits to using this kind of communications:
This type of research is more efficient and effective-you do the research once, and you execute the right message once, saving you time and money. And finally, by using actual customer-focused communications, you are separating yourself from the usual clutter, which strengthens your brand. For a comparison of traditional market research vs. customer-focused research see www.holtzmancom.com/teamwork_openmind.php.
Example: Stiefel Laboratories wanted a direct-to-consumer website created to launch their new Rx acne medicine. The primary audience for this launch was teenagers with active acne. In a customer-focused research session, the kids shared with us not only what they wanted to see on a website, but also their concerns about acne – for instance, they were concerned about what to do when they had a breakout on a date night.
They helped us create a website. It was truly unique. Not something that appeals to brand managers or adults, but to the target audience. Scripts for the medication jumped from 100,000 to over a million.
Some of their competitor’s tried to imitate their site (see the case history) but they never caught on to why the Stiefel website was so successful. It’s simple.
If you listen to your customers, they will end up listening to you, seriously.
