PUBLIC RELATIONS MANAGEMENT
PUBLIC RELATIONS MANAGEMENT
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What Is Public Relations (PR)?
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Public relations (PR) is the set of techniques and strategies related to managing how information about an individual or company is disseminated to the public, and especially the media. Its primary goals are to disseminate important company news or events, maintain a brand image, and put a positive spin on negative events to minimize their fallout. PR may occur in the form of a company press release, news conference, interviews with journalists, social media posting, or other venues.
Every individual or entity operating in the public eye faces the spread of information about them or their practices to the public. While public relations is an industry unto itself, any attempt to portray oneself in a certain way to others can be considered a form of public relations.
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KEY TAKEAWAYS
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1. Public relations (PR) refers to managing how others see and feel about a person, brand, or company.
2. PR for corporations, notably publicly traded companies, focuses on maintaining a positive corporate image while handling media requests and shareholder inquiries.
3. PR is especially important to defray public or investor outcry following negative news announcements.
4. PR is different from advertising or marketing as it’s often meant to look organic and may not necessarily try to promote a product or service.
5. Public relations can be used to mitigate negative events, though history has shown PR may cause problems to become worse.
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Understanding Public Relations (PR)
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Although not inherent in the definition, PR is often thought of as "spin," with the goal being to present the person, company, or brand in the best light possible. PR differs from advertising in that PR attempts to represent a person or brand's image in ways that will appear organic, such as generating good press from independent sources and recommending business decisions that will incur public support. Loosely defined until the mid-twentieth century, PR is one of the fastest-growing industries in the United States.
PR is essential to any company's success, especially when shares in the company are publicly traded and the value of a share depends on the public's confidence in a company or brand. In addition to handling media requests, information queries, and shareholder concerns, PR personnel are frequently responsible for crafting and maintaining the corporation's image. Occasionally, PR professionals engage in negative PR or willful attempts to discredit a rival brand or company, although such practices are not in keeping with the industry's code of ethics.
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Types of Public Relations
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Public relations is often divided into different agencies or departments. Each department is specifically suited to handle a specific aspect below:
1-Media relations is the emphasis of forging a strong relationship with public media organizations. A media relations team often works directly with external media by directly delivering them company news, providing validated content sources, and being accessible for public comment on other news stories.
Production relations is closely related to the direct operations of a company. This department supports broad marketing plans and is often related to specific, one-time endeavors such as the launch of a new product, a special campaign, or management of a major product change.
2. Investor relations is the oversight of the relationship between the company and its investors. This aspect of public relations handles investor events, oversees the communication of the release of financial reports, and handles the complaints of investors.
3. Internal relations is the public relations branch between a company and its employees. Internal relations pertain to counseling employees, ensuring all workers are satisfied with their working conditions, and mediating issues internally to avoid public disclosure of dissatisfaction.
4. Government relations is the connection between a company and related governing bodies. Some public relations departments want to forge a strong relationship to provide feedback to politicians, sway decision-makers to act in specific ways, and ensure fair treatment of the company's clients.
5. Community relations is public relations focused on brand and reputation within a specific community. The community could be physical (i.e. a specific city) or non-physical (i.e. the dog-owner community). This branch of public relations keys in on the social niche of the community to align itself with its members.
6. Customer relations is the bridge that connects the company and its customers. Public relations often involves handling key relationships, conducting market research, understanding the priorities of its customers, and addressing major concerns.
Many public companies have a separate investor relations (IR) department for dealing with communications to shareholders and analysts.
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Public Relations vs. Other Departments
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Public relations may overlap or be confused with other similar departments. Here's an overview how PR may or may not relate to marketing, advertising, or communications.
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Public Relations vs. Marketing
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Marketing is sometimes more squarely focused on driving sales, promoting products or services, and ensuring financial success. Meanwhile, public relations is sometimes more focused on managing the reputation of a company or brand.
Both departments may embark on very similar types of activities. For instance, both may interact with customers to garner feedback. From a more direct marketing lens, this information is used to better understand sales trends, product demands, and ways to generate more sales. From a more direct public relations lens, this information is used to understand customer satisfaction, ensure customers are happy, and make sure any dissatisfaction is managed quickly.
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Public Relations vs. Advertising
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Advertising is the act of garnering public attention, often through the use of various types of media. A company may want to advertise to promote a product, announce expansion into a new market for a growth company, or reveal pricing changes.
While advertising is the intentional act of trying to be in the spotlight, public relations is a more strategic and thoughtful approach about how a company should be interacting with internal and external stakeholders. Sometimes, it may be in the company's best interest in "lay low" and strengthen its relationship with the public by not being front and center.
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Public Relations vs. Communications
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Public relations and communications are heavily intertwined. Both involve portraying information outwardly in hopes of creating a brand, image, or relationship that fosters value. Communications may be a separate department within a company solely responsible for written or verbal comments issued internally or externally.
One potential difference between public relations and communications is the exchange of information. Sometimes, public relations is a one-way channel that imposes information in an attempt to have a more favorable public image. Communications may be more rooted in the two-way functionality of receiving feedback and making changes based on information collected. In general, most companies will see overlap between public relations and communications.
There's many titles and roles an individual working in public relation can hold. As of December 2021, individuals working as a publicist in the United States reported average total compensation of $73,164.
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Working in Public Relations
A career in public relations has no defined career path. An individual can obtain a degree in a number of different fields such as public relations, communications, marketing, journalism, broadcasting, or political science.
Professionals in PR must have soft skills including strong written and oral communication skills, the ability to solve problems, and the ability to think critically and creatively.
A career in public relations can take many different turns. Some aspects of public relations emphasize digital media; potential careers include content creators, social media managers, or digital artists. Individuals can specialize in an industry (i.e. finance) to emphasize working between a company and its investors. Individuals interested in working for nonprofit organizations may find the branch of fundraising overlaps many aspects of public relations.
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Public Relations in Practice
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PR also involves managing a company's reputation in the eyes of its customers. In a 2012 PR crisis, restaurant chain Chick-fil-A was forced to issue emergency statements with respect to its stance on same-sex marriage after a Chick-fil-A executive publicly came out against marriage equality. The statement stressed the company's "biblically-based principles" and its belief in treating "every person with honor, dignity, and respect."
2. It was an example of how companies must exercise good PR. Most major companies have a PR department or utilize the services of an outside firm.
A company often has multiple publics to impress. Internally, a company will want to present itself as competently operated to its investors and biggest shareholders, which can involve arranging product demonstrations or other events directed towards shareholders.
In response to the 2010 oil spill off the Gulf of Mexico, BP issued a public statement outlining its course of action.
3. Some felt the response missed its mark, a stark reminder of how public relations may sometimes make matters worse.
Externally, a company that sells a good or service directly to consumers will want to present a public image that will encourage genuine, lasting brand support, which extends beyond the somewhat knowingly specious goals of advertising.
This can involve reassuring customers during a crisis, such as when Target (TGT) offered an $18.5 million settlement to its customers following a 2013 credit card hack in an attempt to restore good faith or the promotion of a lifestyle that would make the company's product or service attractive.
4. The company also generates PR to attract investors. In this respect, good PR is especially important for startups or rapidly expanding companies.
What Is the Primary Role of Public Relations?
Public relations often boils down maintaining the image of a company, individual, or brand. Public relations creates media, connects with external media, crafts public opinion, and ensures customers have a positive disposition towards the company's brand.
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What Skills Do You Need for PR?
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Public relation specialists often have strong communication skills. Their role is to absorb information, process how it may impact a company's image, and how to externally communicate to shift this image. Public relation specialists often forge relationships with many different types of people including key customers, government officials, and external media.
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Why Is Public Relations Important?
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Customers make decisions for a number of reasons. One of those reasons is the relationship they feel they have with a company. If a company has a negative image or is ensnarled in a controversial public issue, a customer may no longer feel as connected with the brand, image, and product. Public relations often manages this brand and ensures customers, employees, investors, and other external parties have a positive disposition to continue involvement with the company.
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Who Uses Public Relations?
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Public relations is useful for any party that wants to have a positive public imagine. Most often, corporations and publicly traded companies will embark on public relations. A company may have a different public relations team or public relations strategy for specific brands or products. Also, individuals such as celebrities or high net worth individuals may have private public relation teams. These teams are used to maintain a positive public image as well as handle media requests.
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What Is Social Networking?
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Social networking is the use of internet-based social media platforms to make connections and share various media with friends, family, colleagues, or customers.
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What Is a Gap Analysis?
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Gap analysis is the process companies use to examine their current performance with their desired, expected performance.
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What are the different types of PR?
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PR is used to help an organisation cultivate a good relationship with its publics and maintaining a positive relationship with stakeholders is crucial to the success of every organisation. If the public perspective of a company is negative, people will look elsewhere and avoid using its products or services.
Public relations professionals are experienced in communicating with a huge variety of people on behalf of organisations across all sectors. Given this scope, there are many different types of public relations and various areas of focus.
There are 7 different types of PR:
1. Strategic communications
Every action that is undertaken by a PR professional should fall under strategic communication. This essentially means that all PR efforts are coordinated to help a company achieve its business objectives. Understanding an organisation’s priorities from the outset is a must, with communications objectives and subsequent activities established to support these priorities.
2. Media relations
A good working relationship with the media is needed in order to spread key messages to the target audience. PR professionals can put clients into the spotlight by sending press releases and pitching interviews into the media outlets that enable these companies to reach their desired, most important audiences. Journalists need a consistent stream of news to fill their pages and airways, so creating compelling news stories for media involving the organisations looking for media exposure is a win-win for both parties.
3. Community relations
While the media is an important outlet for PR professionals, sometimes a more effective means of communication is direct engagement with the community or audience through owned channels - e.g. drafting a company blog. Engagement with the community in which an organisation operates should work two ways. For example, when a business opens a new facility, getting feedback from the local community is just as important as highlighting the benefits for the local economy. Good listening skills and the ability to coordinate events are essential for this.
4. Internal communications
Internal communications is quickly becoming a major area of focus in PR. Employees can be a company’s biggest advocates or harshest critics so keeping them satisfied, motivated and loyal is crucial to the overall success of a company. Developing ongoing programmes to keep staff engaged and informed, whilst understanding their needs and concerns, is a challenge for companies and one which internal communications professionals are now playing a crucial role in assisting with.
5. Crisis communications
Contrary to popular opinion, the communications team shouldn’t just be brought in when a crisis occurs; that is too late. Organisations should take a planned and consistent approach to crisis management, with a clear crisis communications plan in place and strong relationships with both stakeholders and media built up over time which they can rely on at such times. This makes crisis communications as rewarding and valuable as it is challenging.
A behind-the-scenes shot of Minister Pat Breen, TD; and Michael Cronin, managing director, OpenSky at a recent announcement
6. Public Affairs
Those who work in public affairs - or lobbying - are involved in building and developing relations between an organisation and politicians, governments and other decision-makers. It is a relatively distinct subset within PR and those working in the field have a keen interest in the political system and the process for enacting legislative change. They can also add incredible value by providing assistance to organisations in areas such as regulatory compliance, corporate communication and trade associations.
7. Online and social media communications
In today’s instant world of communications, it is essential that businesses possess a strong online presence to stand out from their competitors. Customers are increasingly turning to the web to do their own research before making a purchase decision, so online PR has become hugely important in generating leads, building brand relationships with blogs and social media, and attracting new talent. Both organisations and PR pros today must be adept in choosing the best social media platforms and other digital channels to achieve their communication objectives.
As a profession, public relations offers an incredible array of opportunities and can be broken down into endless types and categories. However, there are underlying PR skills which are required across the spectrum for PR professionals. For businesses considering how PR can work for them, public relations can help to achieve business success in a wide variety of areas. Whether it is technology or international PR, working with a talented team is key to success.
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Top 6 Tools of Public Relation
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Public relations programme of a company consists of various decisions, such as establishing objectives of public relations, choosing message and vehicle, implementing the marketing public relations, and evaluating marketing public relations.
Thus, choosing appropriate tools or vehicle is one of the important decisions of PR/MPR. Various media are used for market public relations. Selection of suitable means or tool depends on a large number of factors, such as objective, type of message to be conveyed, costs, time, parties with whom public relations are to be built, etc.
After analyzing various relevant factors, suitable means/tools should be selected. Most popular and widely used tools for public relations, as stated by Philip Kotler, have been depicted in Figure 2.
Main media or tools of public relation
1. Publications:
Publications are widely practiced tools for developing public relations. Publications include publishing the annual reports, brochures, articles, company’s newsletters, pamphlets and magazines, diaries, calendars, and audio-visual materials such as films, slides-and-sounds, video and audio CDs.
Cost of audio-visual and multimedia materials is greater than printed materials, but audiovisual media have comparatively more impact on the audience. Using these all tools, the company tries to provide information on its products, services, facilities, schemes, achievements, etc. These all publications reach the shareholders, general public, employees, customers, traders, etc., and can create a good image.
2. Events:
A company may highlight certain attractive events for developing public relations. It can draw public attention toward new products, other activities, and achievements by arranging special events.
These events may include news (press) conferences, seminars, exhibitions, contests and competition, sport and cultural events sponsorships, anniversaries, etc. For example, Coca-Cola has sponsored the World Cup. Such events can gain high degree of popularity among the various publics.
3. News:
Many times, public relations professionals prepare favourable and interesting news stories about the company – its activities, products, employees, achievements, and so on. Though news generation requires a great deal of skills, knowledge, and experience.
The news stories must be interesting, attention getting, timely, and written well as per press media needs. Public relations officer needs to maintain good relations with reporters and editors for getting more favourable coverage to the company.
4. Speeches:
Speeches are also widely used for public relations. Key position holders such as managing director, general manager, or outside experts deliver speeches on the company’s products, policies, its outstanding achievements, etc., before a large audience to get popularity among various masses. Carefully prepared and effectively delivered speeches build the company’s image. Speeches delivered during special functions can create a good impression on various groups of people.
5. Public-Service Activities:
This tool includes various activities directed for the public welfare or interest. The firm can improve its goodwill by contributing money, time, and efforts to support community affairs where its offices and plant are located.
Such activities involve running schools, colleges and charity-based hospitals, tree plantation programmes, organizing medical/vaccination camps, events for offering charity or donation publicly, preparing and maintaining gardens for general public, taking villages as datak, provision of potable water at public places, etc.
For example, Reliance Petrochemicals Limited has taken certain villages as datak for their overall development. These types of activities can contribute tremendously to popularize name of the company and its products.
6. Identity Media:
In order to be easily identified in over-informed society, a company must create its distinctive visual identity. A company uses advertisements in forms of signboard, hoardings and wall-paints. It can use word, logo or symbol, slogan (in particular text format), picture, uniform of the employees, shapes, colour combination, and so on visual means to create a unique image or fame.
They may be known as visual identities. The familiar logo of Ambuja Cement, Logo of LIC, our national flag, Desh Ki Dhadkan slogan by Hero Honda, and uniform of Indian Military are a few examples. Just by looking these visual identities, one can easily identify the company or its products. Such identities remain in the mind of people for relatively permanent period of time.
Each of the tools has its merits and demerits. A company should use the most suitable tools for successfully establishing public relations with various parties concern. Which tool is to be used depends on the overall suitability of the tool on one end, and policy decision of company management on the other end.
Mostly, decision on public relations tools is taken after due consideration of relevant variables stated in the beginning of this topic. A company spends considerable amount for arranging events, hiring space and time of mass media, preparing and delivering speeches, and carrying out various activities in the interest of common public.
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Effective Client Relationship Management
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Effective client relationship management is more than simply telling workers they should maintain good relationships with clients: It’s about setting up a strong CRM structure and process within your organization and training your team to follow that structure and process.
That structure and process will likely include an overview of how your organization is going to track and monitor your relationships with clients, and that overview might include software services. Your organization should also set overall goals for its structure and process; these goals should guide all of your employees, even during staff and leadership changes.
“People who set up the process may leave, but the process will never leave you,” says Netomi’s Max.
Some companies even train specific departments in social psychology to help bolster customer relationships. Harley Davidson Motorcycles, for example, has sent employees on the road with brand enthusiasts in order to help build relationships.
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Client Relationship Management Techniques
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Organizations use a range of techniques and practices to manage client relationships effectively. In order to establish trust, companies focus on useful information tracking regarding client relationships.
Here are some important processes and techniques that can help an organization manage its client relationships effectively:
Perform Ongoing Client Relationship Marketing
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Relationship marketing focuses on customized ways that you can reach out to current and former customers in order to offer help and remind them of your organization’s value. The organizational staff member who first brought a customer to your organization can send a personalized email. Or, your CEO might distribute a regular newsletter with tips and guidance. All client relationship management should be attuned to customer loyalty. But, client relationship marketing is even more focused on developing relationships and trust that encourage loyalty and drive repeat business.
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Engage in Relationship Marketing
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These efforts work especially well with service businesses, where your company has an opportunity to create a direct and ongoing relationship with a client, who will then grow to trust your work.
This type of engagement has the potential to generate a large return on investment, as your company is able to drum up new business simply by doing good work and building strong relationships on a current job.
This kind of marketing encourages great word-of-mouth advertising, which is the best and most trusted kind of advertising.
Justin Butlion
“Word of mouth is everything,” says Justin Butlion, a business analytics consultant and Founder of ProjectBI, which provides information and advice for using business analytics and data. Butlion says that a potential 50 percent of business can come from recommendations by current customers or clients. “Our attention span is limited. We get to the point where we’re really blind to most advertising. We don’t trust advertising. We trust our community — that is, people.”
Engaging in relationship marketing can lead to positive online reviews from your current customers, which also lead to new business.
Understand What You Want and Can Expect from the Relationship:
Brian Zotti
“From the moment you reach out to a particular stakeholder or client, you have a responsibility to define, create, and form that relationship,” says Brian Zotti, Senior Vice President of Services and Operations at Contek Consulting LLC, a business strategy consultancy.
Manage Expectations:
Underpromise and Overdeliver: Don’t put yourself in a situation where you can’t keep a promise you’ve made. Therefore, be cautious about what you promise, and then deliver beyond that promise.
Don’t Overcommit: This tip acts as a corollary to underpromising. Don’t say yes to everything just to please a client. Down the road, you may pay for that tendency. Learn how to avoid and deal with “scope creep” — requests for work that was not part of the original scope — at “Scope Creep: A Project’s Worst Enemy.”
However, Be Open to Reasonable Client Requests: Some client requests that fall outside the scope of work can require little extra effort and add value to a final project. In addition, these ad hoc requests may entail work that clients are willing to pay for. So, don’t always be afraid to say yes — especially when a request makes sense. You can find free and customizable project scope templates “Free Project Scope Templates.”
Have the Confidence to Push Back on Some Client Requests: When a client request has the potential to hinder the success of a project, you need to say no. In order to determine whether you can accommodate a request and still benefit a project, think through the consequences of that request. If you conclude that such a request can’t help your project (but can only hurt it), here are some tips on saying no effectively:
Give Your Client Your Opinion, Based on Your Expertise: Explain to the client why their idea will hinder the project or their organization. Use examples of similar circumstances that you’ve encountered in your past experience.
If the Client’s Request Is Outside the Agreed-Upon Scope of Work, Tell Them: Provide details on the additional costs and fees to do the new work.
If the Request Is Going to Delay Another Part of the Project, Make Sure That the Client understands That: Talk about adjustments that you might need to make (in the project’s schedule or in anticipated results) if you accommodate the new request.
If You and Your Team Don’t Have the Capacity to Do the Additional Work, Tell the Client: Suggest alternatives that might accommodate at least part of the request.
Contek Consulting's Zotti says that, in some cases, a client request emerges as an attempted fix for a perceived problem on a project. However, clients often don’t understand enough about an underlying problem to be able to offer the best solution, he adds.
You need to make sure that the client-identified sources of a problem are real, “so that when you implement the solution, it actually fixes (and doesn’t just cloak) the problem,” Zotti notes.
“You have to be confident enough about your level of expertise — and articulate enough to ensure the client that you understand that the issue they’ve identified is real — while also communicating that you have a responsibility to examine the issue in the context of the overall project.
“It’s being able to speak from a place of confidence. When a client says, ‘I want this done sooner,’ if you respond right away with, ‘Sure, we can do that,’ you’re blindly setting a submissive tone for yourself that is sure to cause problems downstream,” Zotti says.
Communicate Well and Consistently: Experts say that the single most crucial part of strong customer relations is maintaining consistent, effective, and reciprocal communication. In this article, you’ll find expert advice for handling your customer communication, keeping your customers happy, and increasing your profits.
From the Outset, Be Specific about the Communication Process: Zotti says a provider must be able to quickly escalate problematic issues with a client representative who can address and correct those issues. “If both parties agree upfront on how to resolve conflicts, that agreement significantly minimizes potential problems down the road.”
Track Communication with Contacts and Respond Accordingly: Your organization must set up a structure and system to guide and track communication with clients and prospective clients, and then be able to customize that communication accordingly. Customer relationship management software can help with such work; you can also set up a client relationship management dashboard. (To learn more about CRM dashboards, read “Customer Dashboards: CRM, Customer Service, Success, and More.”)
“You have to record your activity [with customers],” Dylan Max says. “If you don’t, you won’t have any way to gauge the efficacy of your communication process.”
With Current Clients and Projects, Set Mutual Goals Together: From the beginning of a new partnership, make sure that your company and your client agree on project goals and expected outcomes. Sit down in person, if possible, and work toward some agreed-upon goals and expected outcomes. Those goals and outcomes will likely include the essential deliverables that your client expects.
Build Credibility and Trust over Time: Trust won’t exist at the very beginning of your first project with a new client. But, you will build trust over time if your team is professional and consistent. Setting the right tone at the beginning is paramount. When selling yourself to a prospective client, you can establish your credibility by doing the following:
Sharing previous work, especially examples of similar projects
Providing testimonials from past clients who appreciate your work and your professionalism
As you work on your first project with a new client, you can establish trust by doing the following:
Communicating Professionally: Don’t be too informal at the beginning. From the client’s communication, you can get a sense of what tone is appropriate.
Being Transparent and Honest: Be upfront about everything, including your experience in certain areas and potential project delays. Being cagey will only poison a relationship and bring it to an early end.
Zotti says that when a provider starts building credibility and trust with a client, the client will naturally come to them with new projects or other opportunities. “In essence, your company is going to be viewed as a colleague or as an extension of the family.”
Take the Initiative and Anticipate a Client’s Needs: Show your client that you’re working to understand their industry and their issues:
Research your client’s industry to understand the challenges they face.
Don’t offer a client solutions that focus on what you’ve done in the past. Instead, tell them how you can fix specific problems that they’re confronting or how you can complete their project in a stellar way.
Diffuse Difficult Client Interactions: Clients often get frustrated, for both good and bad reasons. Here are some ways to deal effectively with those frustrations and occasional freakouts:
Always Remain Calm: No matter how angry your client may get, stay calm and don’t respond emotionally.
Make Them Feel Heard: Acknowledge their frustrations. Take notes and talk through possible solutions, including any they might suggest.
Find Areas in Which You Agree: Even if you disagree with some of their proposed fixes, find areas where you can come together to move forward.
Agree on a Plan: End the meeting with concrete first steps on moving forward effectively. That might mean simply scheduling another meeting, possibly with other participants. If you have agreed on some concrete actions, write them down and send them to the client to ensure that both sides have a common understanding regarding solutions or next steps.
Understand That Some Clients Are More Important Than Others: We may want to treat every client as though they’re the most significant. But, that’s not realistic — or even wise.
What’s important is “understanding that not all of your customers are the same,” says Netomi’s Max. “The most effective form of customer management involves segmentation,” which means segmenting out your best clients (or your best prospective clients) and giving them more focused attention.
Don’t Compete on Price: There will always be someone who will do a job for a lower price — sometimes an unrealistically low price. Compete by convincing customers that your organization does great work and that it is worth every penny you charge.
The art of client relationship management (CRM) focuses on organizations (particularly professional services) that work repeatedly with a group of clients. To learn more about customer relationship management that focuses on organizations that have thousands or tens of thousands of customers, read “CRM: Beyond the Technology.”
Best Practices for Client Relationship Management
Successful organizations follow some common best practices in day-to-day client relationship management. Here are some of those best practices:
Respect a Client’s Time: Schedule meetings and arrive on time. Some introductory small talk is fine, but potential clients will respect you if you quickly get to the specifics you both want to discuss.
Meet Face to Face: Not all meetings need to be face to face, of course. But, in order to introduce yourselves or discuss a significant problem with a project, in-person meetings are best, as they build trust and are more productive.
Be Professional and Avoid Pettiness: Be professional in how you communicate and do business, and don’t allow yourself to devolve into pettiness because of a problem or conflict.
Know Why a Client Should Buy from You: Don’t just tell prospective clients what your organization does or what it has done for past clients. Give them specifics as to why you’ll do an extraordinary job on their project or in solving their problem.
Explain How You’re Different from Competitors: This best practice acts as a corollary to explaining why clients should buy from you. You need to understand your industry and your competitors’ capabilities and offerings. Understanding your market will allow you to differentiate your organization from others and explain why you offer better value than any competitor.
Don’t Just Email — Pick Up the Phone: Just as face-to-face communication is often preferable, in other cases, a regular phone call is preferable (to an email or other form of digital communication). Clients will appreciate the time you take to make a phone call. Calling a client can also prevent misunderstandings that may occur in writing. An email may inadvertently convey curtness or some other perceived form of disrespect.
“Email and text are not sufficient,” says Levin, with Custom Solutions, Inc. “You still have to pick up the phone. Even if your client never answers the phone, you greatly increase the chance that they’ll return an email or text if you make a phone call.”
Ask for Feedback and Reviews: During a project, you must get continual feedback from a client in order to maintain a project’s momentum and keep both parties happy.
Contek Consulting’s Zotti says that a provider and its clients must agree upon a structure and process for communicating feedback and other information. He also emphasizes that such communication must be reciprocal; a provider must feel free to offer feedback on a project, and, likewise, a client must feel free to contact a provider with any concerns.
“One of the biggest mistakes I’ve seen...is when a client believes that it’s a one-way feedback loop. You generate a far more effective and desirable result when a partnership allows for information to flow both ways.
”Providers should also ask clients for assessments and reviews after a project is complete. This postmortem feedback can be both private (to help a provider improve) and public (especially concerning successful projects). Those positive reviews can have a huge impact on a provider’s future business.
Understand When a Client or Potential Client Is a Bad Fit: You may want to believe your organization can help everybody. But, some clients or potential clients are simply a bad fit for your organization: They quickly become far more work (and cause much more anxiety) than they are worth to your organization. Following are some red flags that indicate a bad fit:
They ask for large discounts off your traditional price.
They’re vague about the work they want you to do.
They’re indecisive or they frequently reverse course.
They’re unwilling to pay an upfront deposit (in the case that such a policy is standard in your industry).
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FAQ
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What is the role of a public relations manager?
Public Relations Managers create and maintain a favorable public image for their employer or client by communicating programs, accomplishments and/or points of view. They typically report to the head of a unit/department.
What are examples of public relations?
Public relations can be: proactive – for example, sharing positive news stories to raise your business profile. reactive – for example, responding to an event that can have a negative impact on your business's reputation.
What is relationship management theory in public relations?
Relationship management theory specifies how to build toward symmetry (managing organizational–public relationships around common interests and shared goals) and when to apply that approach (over time).
What does public relationship do?
Public relations specialists build and maintain a positive public image for a company or organization. They create media, from press releases to social media messages, that shape public opinion of the company or organization and increase awareness of its brand.
What qualifications do I need to be a public relations manager?
You'll need:
1. knowledge of media production and communication.
2. customer service skills.
3. the ability to use your initiative.
4. knowledge of English language.
5. to be thorough and pay attention to detail.
6. persistence and determination.
7. excellent verbal communication skills.
8. to be flexible and open to change.
What Are the Main Functions of a Public Relations Firm?
1. Media Representation. Media coverage is just one aspect of the functions of public relations
2. Crisis Communication
3. Content Development & Management
4. Social Media Management.
What are the advantages of public relations?
5 Advantages of Public Relations
1. Increase your brand's credibility. Publicity through public relations gives credibility to your business as the content is more authentic and informative
2. Attract your target market
3. Provide added value
4. Short and long-term lead generation
5. Build your brand image.
Why is relationship management important?
Business relationship management (BRM) promotes a positive and productive relationship between a company and its business partners. BRM seeks to build trust, solidify rules and expectations, and establish boundaries. It also can help with dispute resolutions, contract negotiations, and cross-sale opportunities.
What is the main purpose of the relationship management practice?
The purpose of the relationship management practice is to establish and nurture the links between the organization and its stakeholders at strategic and tactical levels. It includes the identification, analysis, monitoring, and continual improvement of relationships with and between stakeholders.
What is an example of relationship management?
Sending out a thank you when a customer makes a purchase. Upsell or cross-sell a client if they purchase a particular product. Offering a birthday greeting with a promo code. Sending a discount to a customer that hasn't made a purchase recently.
What are the 7 types of public relations?
There are 7 different types of PR:
Strategic communications.
Media relations.
Community relations.
Internal communications.
Crisis communications.
Public Affairs.
Online and social media communications.
What is the most important part of public relations?
Understanding the target audience is the most important part of any successful public relations strategy.
What are the three main purposes of public relations?
building awareness and a favorable image for a company or client within stories and articles found in relevant media outlets. closely monitoring numerous media channels for public comment about a company and its products. managing crises that threaten company or product image.27-Feb-2018
What are the limitations of public relations?
SEVEN Limitations of Public Relations
PR is Not Advertising. That's an important thing to understand for any brand. ...
PR is not Selling. ...
Guaranteed ROI. ...
PR cannot Completely Clean the Unclean. ...
PR No Bunker to Hide. ...
No PR out of Nothing. ...
No Visibility without Appearance.
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