PR Begins at “Home”

To be successful, every business must incorporate basic public relations into their underlying philosophy and into the everyday practice. Otherwise, those connected with the business will become dissatisfied, detached, disloyal…and they could ultimately disappear! Then where would your organization go?

Side Note: Of course, I define successful as more than profitable. I recognize that all organizations have financial needs, but just the “bottom line” of the ledger should not be ultimate goal. Should it? What about job satisfaction? What about reputation? What about community involvement and respect? These cannot be measured with a calculator nor can they be recorded on a spreadsheet. But without them, I fear our lives would reflect that of Ebenezer Scrooge, just before the ghostly visitations—rich in goods, but poor in life.

Scrooge. His very name has come to symbolize that which is undesirable in human greed. One line from Dickens’ novel describes him: “The cold within him froze his old features, nipped his pointed nose, made his eyes red, his thin lips blue, and he spoke out shrewdly in his grating voice ...” He is incredibly wealthy, but despised by most everyone around him. His work demands all his time and energy, to the loss of any family connection. He requires unquestioned loyalty from his employee, but provides no compensation beyond a meager wage, assuming that is sufficient for long-term tenure. (Hmmm. I think I worked for this person once!) Profitable, yes. Successful? Well, it’s not the portrait of achievement that would be featured on any success seminar I’d want to attend!

To initiate a productive PR campaign, it is necessary to clearly define those with whom you want—and need—to build strong relationships. Remember, you are targeting those strategic audiences that will ensure your success, while being mutually beneficial to them as well. Which begs the question: Who are they?

When asked, most business leaders would say that customers/clients are the first and foremost target audience. Makes sense, doesn’t it? After all, without those who buy your products or use your services, success is out of the question.

But there’s another group that might be overlooked, to the serious detriment of your business. We’ve all heard the old saying “charity begins at home.” If I could borrow and adapt that adage, the same can be said of public relations. Stand in your office and look around. There they are!

When you want to begin an effective PR strategy, start with the “front line” folks: the ones who answer the phones when your customers call, talk to them when they have question and listen to them when they have complaints. In short, when you begin your public relations emphasis, don’t forget to look at “home” at your own employees. (i.e., all those Bob Cratchits around your office)

An integral part of your overall, ongoing public relations is what’s generally called “internal public relations” or employee relations (There’s that word again). Staying with our earlier definition, it focuses on building and maintaining “healthy, mutually beneficial” relationships within the staff. Ultimately, it’s one of the keys to success in any organization because it contributes to productivity, motivation, morale and longevity. (Note: This is different from, but complementary to, Human Resources, which is concerned primarily with the logistics of salaries, benefits, performance, promotions, etc.) Internal PR is about communicating your key messages, your brand, your image, your mission, your goals to this essential support group. They see your vision; they share your passion. They take ownership.

And as we’ll see in our next entry, the effort is very cost-effective.

Next time: Your Team As PR Agents