It happens. Bad people do bad things. This week, I learned about a company that hired a guy who snookered bosses and customers, set up false sales accounts and basically embezzled thousands of dollars. Lawsuits, accusations and the facts swirl in a tornado of chaos that hurts people, the company, the bottom line.
Welcome to crisis communications and the value of crisis planning and preparation. Welcome to the Heart of Public Relations (PR) where communicating is about real people and real issues. It's about solving real problems. Frankly, PR is really about preventing problems, helping companies get healthy through genuine, truthful, accurate communicating with people--employees, customers, marketplace consumers, vendors and suppliers, regulators. The media.
Good PR is about generating goodwill based on truth, integrity and honesty, all of which require TIME to birth and build. Sadly, a lot of PR is project driven, which drains its effectiveness. It becomes tactical vs. strategic; printed pieces and news clips instead of powerful PR that transforms organizations, messages, employees and others.
Should a company invest in public relations? Here are some reasons I say yes:
- Lawsuits filed. Media ask questions. You got the answers?
- You're adding or shuffling the Executive Management team. Do you have a plan in place that systematically shares the news--good and bad? Have you planned a Q&A with employees? Have you alerted your customers? Can you share a story that showcases vision, optimism and excellence while also being prepared to admit problems, challenges and mistakes?
- Mergers, acquisitions, strategic partnerships and alliances interest the media. And your employees. Share the news.
- "He who shouts the loudest gets the recognition." Sad but true. If you're not proactively sharing news, advice, and success stories to the marketplace somebody else is. That SOMEBODY may be your top competitor.
- You are uniquely YOU. Every CEO and every company has GOOD NEWS to share. It needs to be shared by you. Your experiences, hardships and high-fives are uniquely tied to you. Good PR focuses on good people, good stories and practical insights that help others. Share yourself. Get the exposure you deserve.
- Putting dollars into PR extends your marketplace reach more effectively than an advertisement. Think about it. You can spend $5,000 to $8,000 to create, produce and publish one ad in one publication, on one certain page in that publication. How many people will find your ad, and read it? That same investment in PR extends your message (perceived as a more credible message) to hundreds of key publications, reporters and editors, online and print. Probabilities are higher to gain more exposure through PR. It's a mathematical fact.


