Tag Archives: crisis communications

Best Customer Service Practices Include the Human Touch

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Clever Way for A Customer to Make A Point!

Are businesses ever allowed to provide mediocre customer service? Is it okay to leave customers hanging on a phone tree for more than five minutes? Are there industries that should provide excellent service more so than others?

The answer to all three questions above is a resounding NO-at least that’s my $0.02 worth. But, unfortunately, we all experience poor service on a daily basis as customers even from blue-chip enterprises to boot.

If you are a small business owner you are probably cringing at this thought because YOU know that your success lies in the quality of your customer service. So then why do we allow large conglomerates to do that to us all the time? Why do we still give these companies our precious dollars, especially when we expect more out of own business services?

Today I experienced such an experience. Unfortunately, I am dealing with medical issues associated with a loved one. As such, I had to wait for four hours in a hospital lobby while a family member had tests conducted. Since I was just sitting there I had hoped that I could log on to the Internet and quietly get some work completed. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that they had a daily wi-fi access code, however, I soon found out that the system does not allow access to Apple devices only PCs. Say WHAT???

PHONE TREES DRIVE YOU UP A TREE!

I think I'll Skip This Place.

This wasn’t a life-threatening situation and I could do other work offline, but this example just got me thinking about all the other times that I’ve been frustrated by poor customer service. I attend dozens of small business connector meetings and each always stresses the importance of guest relations. So why is excellent customer service applicable to small owners and not large conglomerates?

A HUMAN VOICE GOES A LONG WAY IN CUSTOMER SERVICE

I would rather do anything than call my satellite provider, healthcare company or phone service. I know that when I call them I’ll be sitting there for a while. Phone trees that put you in sequence are annoying as are the companies that don’t provide any voice connection like Facebook. Most tech companies now provide email customer service and hide their main phone numbers. I don’t care how great you are in answering email support questions, yes I’m including Google, in this rant as well. There are times when a human voice is the best possible service a company can provide.

What companies drive you crazy with poor support and what companies do you think deserve some applause. Do tell.

Arnold’s PR Problem

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Arnold had one heck of a PR Mess on his Hands.

It’s tough when public figures behave badly for they’re scrutinized more than your average Joe. One celebrity feeling the impact of his actions is Former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. In case you missed the story, he recently admitted to his wife, Maria Shriver and his entire family, that ten years ago he fathered a love child.  A boy to one of their own household staff. This all happened under this family’s nose and the story never leaked until today.

Being a former politician, Arnold understands the importance of “spin” and “damage control.” These are two words that he needs act upon now more than ever, in addition to hiring a top-notch crisis management PR firm. I love practicing my PR trade with real-life examples, and, therefore, if Arnold became my client…here’s the advice I’d give him at this time.

FREE PR ADVICE FOR ARNOLD

(1). LAY LOW – The best thing Arnold can do is lay low and stay out of the spotlight. He needs to get his house in order first and start working on how he is going to handle announcing the name of his love child. He doesn’t need to be dining with anyone or attending out of town conferences for he is going to be followed at nauseum by the paparazzi. The paparazzi are on high alert to capture Arnold with any women and especially to snap photos with the mother of his love child. Hence, the real need is to be discreet because he is going to be followed every where he goes.

(2.) TABLOIDS – At this very moment, the tabloids are working overtime to come up with the name and photos of his love child. My advice is that Arnold needs to control the story and out him himself. He should work with a press-friendly TV reporter on a national news program and give an exclusive interview.  He needs to do anything he can to protect that kid from being humiliated by the tabloids or paparazzi if they get to him first.

(3.) FORCED VACATION – I would put the love child in a lock down situation and I would do the same for the mom. They should be vacationing somewhere where they couldn’t be found until a media strategy is in place that will announce their identities.

(4.) BE ON GUARD – Arnold needs to be vigilant regarding his actions.  He needs to take the time that is necessary to heal the wounds with his family and should not be seen conducting business at say places like casinos or on yachts.  He must keep his profile low.

(5). AVE MARIA – Maria is in a good place. The statement she issued was spot on and requires no further explanation. The world understands what she is going through and it needs to give her space for this is a private family matter.

WHAT DOES THE FUTURE HOLD?

This is not the first time a celebrity or politician has fathered a love child and it won’t be the last. In time, Arnold will gain back his stature as well as his credibility and integrity if he handles this sensitive situation right. It’s a difficult time for all involved and their press strategists need to do whatever they can to help this family situation remain private.

Yes it stinks that Arnold kept this occurrence a secret from his family and from the voters. Arnold knew that if he copped to this incident before he was elected, then he would not have been elected.  And now that the cat is out the bag, I guess you can say that Californian’s feel cheated because they didn’t now the whole truth about him.

Arnold has much damage control to do not only with his immediate family of 5, and his love clan of 2, but also with the over 37 million California residents.

If any one can handle this situation, it’s Arnold. Never count that guy out.

I’ll keep my eye on this case and provide PR insights when needed. In the meantime, I’d love to hear what you would do if you were Arnold.

Cindy

HOW TO SET UP A TWITTER ACCOUNT

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Twitter was one of the most valuable sources of communication immediately after the earthquake and tsunami struck Japan recently. Those affected by the quake and tsunami were able to send out tweets even though they were not able to make cell phone calls.  These tweets meant the world to their loved ones for they could physically see that their family member was alive and/or needed rescuing.  Twitter literally saved lives.

TWITTER TO THE RESCUE

With that being the case, I recently wrote about the importance of having a Twitter account in the case of emergency.  You don’t have to use it, but you should understand how to when needed.  To help show you how easy it is to set up an account I’ve produced this brief screen cast.

If you have any further questions, please just let me know. Enjoy and be sure to set up that account! You mean too much to me not to have one at your finger tips!

A Tough PR Act to Follow – Robert Gibbs

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Robert Gibbs Was A Model Spokesman

“This doesn’t stop,” White House Press Spokesman Robert Gibbs said. “This is a tough place to work.”

And that my friends, pretty much sums up why Gibbs resigned today.  Being a PR spokesperson on the front lines is very, very, very taxing and I am not surprised by his announcement and applaud Gibbs for knowing that he’s had enough.  I mean who won’t want a break from having to stay “on alert” every minute of the day, 365 days a year.  Whoever is in this post does not have a personal life for their job NEVER stops.  The only time it will stop is when the world does! And no one knows that date or hour.

PR IS ALWAYS ON CALL

As a PR pro, this is a job that I personally would never want.  Although, there are several things about the post that I would love to do, it’s the daily endless grind that would ultimately get the best of me. I can handle the pressure of being the spokesperson for companies for you can still have a life in addition to your job.  All of us in PR and in crisis communication, pretty much know that we are always on call.  At anytime we could get an unexpected message that will transcend our next hours and/or days and we will have to be prepared to act with carefully constructed comments.  We saw examples of this last year.  The press offices at BP and Toyota never expected that they would have such crises consume their lives in 2010.  These things just come out of nowhere.

But, with Gibbs, he had reporters pepper him at nauseum every day and over every imaginable topic.  Talk about being constantly on your toes.  It does get tiring.

ON YOUR TOES

Tony Snow was a great spokesman for the Country.

Even though I have spent years practicing this trade, I know that I must stay sharp and keep learning. One educating method I use is to observe the White House Press Secretaries for they are the best at what they do.  And you can tell a lot about them and the management of the White House by their actions and words.

I have this saying that my friends often hear: “The fish stinks from the head down.“  What that saying means is that if the person in charge runs a company with good ethics, flexibility and with open communication -the rest of the company will work that way.  If the boss is tight-lipped, dictatorial and/or very private, the company tone will be more closed as an operation.  With Gibbs, I liked him from the start. He always tried to keep an even jovial tone and one that was not combative or heavy handed, only when necessary.  That’s how I like dealing with the press too. I have deep respect for them and understand their function.  Heck, I recognize that the main reason I have my job is because there is a press corp. I also liked Tony Snow in this post too.  He had a friendly relationship with the press as well.

The White House Press Secretary is a tough job as Gibbs stated in USA Today.  He’s been advising Obama’s press comments since 2002, so he’s hung in there awhile.  He’s due for a time to re-tool.

JOB REQUIREMENTS

Do you think this is a job perfectly suited for you? It takes a special breed of person to tackle this challenge.  Here’s just a short list of requirements – how many do you possess?

  • Patience
  • A thirst for world knowledge
  • Understanding of all business facets and culture
  • Press relationships
  • Fast thinker on your feet
  • Expert speaker
  • Accomplished writer
  • Voracious reader
  • Leadership abilities
  • Multi-tasker
  • Ability to pronounce foreign locations and leaders
  • Not prone to anger
  • Politically correct with word choices
  • Possess the ability to apologize
  • Thick skinned
  • Require little or no sleep
  • Speech writing
  • Strategic planner
  • Research minded
  • Great memory/ability to memorize
  • Possess a poker face
  • Love to shoot the breeze

It is a tough job. PR is not for the faint of heart.

Best wishes Robert. May you enjoy a day soon when you don’t have to read every article, comment and tweet about the USA and be responsible for defending the President. You deserve a break today. And thanks for being a good PR role-model. Much success to you and your successor.

Cindy

Foursquare Needs Some PR and PC Cleaning

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Foursquare is getting a potty mouth

How were you punished when your mom caught you saying a “not so nice” word? Did she make you wash your mouth out with soap? Did you get sent to your room or were you grounded for a week?

FOURSQUARE’S BLUE-NESS

As I was using the geo-tagging, hyper-local service Foursquare today, my eyes stumbled upon names and words that I normally do not like to read – and I was offended.

I know some peeps will call me old-fashioned with this post – and I do understand freedom of speech – but I never expected to see what I read today and the volume.  For you see, I simply wanted to check into my local grocery store this afternoon on Foursquare and in doing so I had to scroll through so many crazy dumb names before I landed on Vons.  Such places were listed like “Whore House,” “Sexy room,” or the “Sex Cave,” etc., etc., etc. I even noticed that someone in my vicinity listed her home as “the town drunk lives here!” What’s wrong with people?

I’ve noticed this happening for some time, but it wasn’t as prevalent as it is now.  Try searching the word “whore” on Foursquare and you’ll be astonished what comes up! You will see what I mean.

There's Always Some Rotten Apples that Taint A Good Thing

With potty mouth taking over this platform, I would like to recommend Foursquare start to enforce some policies where certain terms (i.e., whore) are not appropriate and thus are banned from the service.  Other services do watch what’s posted, like Facebook and myspace. Sometimes we have to police people for themselves.

I do like Foursquare and have enjoyed it, but if it continues to get more and more vulgar, I will stop and recommend others do so as well.  It’s getting quite the potty mouth lately.  Have you noticed it too?

FOURSQUARE MAY NOT BE GOOD FOR BUSINESS

I have a been a giant fan of the application and think it is a tremendous service for businesses. I would hate for it to become a place where childish blue humor hangs out.  I’m all for creativity…but seeing ho and drunk and sex all over the place isn’t good for business. For what business wants to be listed being near “the town drunk?”

Note to Parents: In addition to checking in on your kids Facebook comments, also check about how they have listed your crib on Foursquare.  You may be surprised what they’ve labeled your lovely home as and more specifically, their bedroom.

I wish Foursquare would issue a badge for good behavior on Foursquare! Now that’s an idea I would endorse.

Cindy

The Importance of Controlling PR Messages

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PR, staying on message

When Changes are Made, Is Everyone Aware that Needs to be Aware?

How many people at your company are allowed to directly communicate with the media and customers?  For some corporations that possess customer call centers the numbers can be in the hundreds.  And perhaps for you, the answer is just one.  You’re the chief cook and bottle washer – and that’s OK — for this post today addresses the need for clear communication no matter the size of the company.

Communication Messages Need to Be Planned Ahead

With that, I would like to address the need for every sized company to have a six-weeks communication plan in conjunction with your media strategy.

What’s a communication plan? A communication plan is document that spells out what messages you want to promote for the next six-week period.  For instance, in the case of timeliness, the next six weeks in real-time includes Thanksgiving and pre-Christmas events. Therefore, a company that provides services should plot out in advance what discounts, promotions, special offers and other such things are to be conveyed to the customers via advertising, PR and/or social media during that period. This plan helps your company stay on track or stay on message.

As an example, if you offer spa treatments as your service, perhaps on Black Friday (the day after Thanksgiving) you could offer a 25% discount on foot massages for weary shoppers.  Or on the day before Thanksgiving, you could offer $10 off on a pedicure, so your customer’s hands look wonderful as they stuff the turkey!

These messages are important to your business and as such, should be a part of your marketing and/or business plans.

Now the next question is, how do you convey these messages to those who interact with your customers? Is every layer aware of your objectives so that they can clearly communicate the message?

Don’t Forget the Layering Effect of Messages

When you are the decision maker it’s very easy to switch gears and make changes without thinking about how it effects the rest of the company.  What may seem like a good idea to you, make not to your head of marketing. The head of marketing has a very involved media plan that she’s implementing that is in motion.  One change could absolutely topple a beautiful, synergistic launch of a product.

Per the diagram below, I’ve outlined how many layers go into communication departments.  In most companies, PR and/or Corporate Communication departments have substantially less staff than does marketing.  And when dealing with social media, depending on which department is responsible for its duties, either PR or Marketing, it’s imperative that a plan is in operation that can quickly filter down any changes in messages to all involved in interacting with the public.  One bad message can shoot down the best intention of efforts. Therefore, it is crucial that the persons involved with implementing the messages are always kept informed.

Stay on Message - PR Tips, Cindyronzoni.com, social media

It's Important to Remember to Alert Everyone Involved of Changes in the Message

Stay on Script

On movie and television sets, there is a person who’s main responsibility is congruency. This person makes sure that the set is the same, the clothes, the hair, the lighting, etc. matches from take to take.  For instance, if there’s an apple in the scene and at the end of the scene it has two bites out of it…the head of congruency makes sure a fresh apple is in this particular scene for every take and that at the end two bites are taken out.  A script supervisor does the same. That person makes sure that the script is followed word-by-word and that any changes in it are recorded thusly.

And that’s the new job you must do if you are engaging with customers over such things as Facebook. You must make sure that the staff responsible for answering comments on Facebook is aware of your script.  They must know that your $10 discount on pedicures is only for one day only and not offer it the entire weekend. You are in charge of congruency and the script up keep. You can do it for the only way to be a great communicator is to communicate.

I’d love your thoughts on this topic.  I do plan to address the need for a communication plan tomorrow when I speak on a panel at ProductCampSoCal. The panel is called  Social Marketing Panel: The Social Spectrum- Social Strategies for Both Large and Personal Brands and I be on the panel with some of the industry’s best brand practitioners, including Scott Schang of Broadview Mortgage; Stacey Harmon of Harmon Enterprises, Kirsten Wright of Wright Creativity and moderator Mel Alcaro, author of The Social Media Marketing Essentials Guide For Small Business Professionals.

PR AND SOCIAL MEDIA GO HAND IN HAND

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Social Media Conferences Provide Valuable Education

I’ve been asked to join a panel on Saturday at ProductCampSoCal addressing this particular topic: Social Marketing Panel: The Social Spectrum- Social Strategies for Both Large and Personal Brands. I am joined on this panel with some of the industry’s best brand practitioners, including Scott Schang of Broadview Mortgage; Stacey Harmon of Harmon Enterprises, Kirsten Wright of Wright Creativity and moderator Mel Alcaro, author of The Social Media Marketing Essentials Guide For Small Business Professionals.

In preparation for this panel, we gathered together last weekend to talk about what we wanted to address and as such I wanted to give you all a little precursor to what I would like to convey in the hour discussion.  I will be speaking from the point of view that public relations is an integral part in any branding process. That’s the hat I’ll have on Saturday and it’s one I’m comfortable wearing.  But, from what I experienced from our pre-meeting is that this is going to be an information-filled panel chock full of valuable take-aways. It will be a panel not to miss.

Did you know that if you participate in social media, then you are also doing the function of PR?

Yep, that’s absolutely true.  By putting yourself or your company out there, exposing it to the public (consumers) and allowing them to comment back…you have now opened yourself to handle customer service and public relations. Whereas, a few years ago, if a company wanted to advertise say either on radio or TV, an ad would run and it would be static.  The call-to-action was simply buy the product, not comment on its performance.  With social media, you are now giving your customers a pipeline to express their views and opinions about your efforts. And when social media is done right and people become engaged that’s when you need to ask yourself if you are ready to hear what they have to say, even when it isn’t nice or sometimes untrue.  However, once a comment appears that is negative against your company, that’s when you need to put on your PR hat and ask yourself questions such as:

  • How are you going to handle the complaint if its legitimate?
  • Will you take the comment offline?
  • Will you remove it completely?
  • What will you do if it becomes viral?

Social Media Isn’t for Everyone

I believe a company, nor matter the size, needs to take a hard look at whether or not it has the bandwidth to take on social media.  Social media isn’t just having a Facebook page and updating it occasionally. To do it well,  a strategy must be made, social policies need to be thought out (i.e., how you will handle off topic comments, trolls and negativity) and a staff must be in place to “listen” to what others are saying about your company online. It’s not something you simply can assign an “intern” to handle. It must be supervised by an employee who understands your product and one who understands messaging.

The Internet is Chock Full of Helpful PR and Social Media tips

If you are not prepared to start interacting with your customers online, then its best not to utilize this communication platform until you are ready.  By not entering into social media at the moment, it one of the wisest decisions you can make until you feel confident.

Social media isn’t easy and one that requires a learning curb. However, to help you understand if its for you there are workshops, meetups, clubs and camps like ProductCampSoCal that can help you navigate these waters and often at no cost.

It’s well worth the investment.

If you are attending the conference, be sure to say come and say “hi.”

Socially,

Cindy

GOOD PR STARTS AT HOME

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The Best PR Starts at Home

Do People Feel Welcome Working With You?

Imagine knocking on a friend’s door and your friend just opens the door for you to walk in. They don’t say hi to you nor call you by name, they just let you in and walk away. No, hellos. Nice to see you. Thank you for coming over. Nothing.

This is what happened to me recently when I volunteered at a major conference. I volunteered to work the event for a rather long time period. For this duty, the volunteers would be furnished lunch…it all sounded good to me and I was happy to be of some help.

But….as soon as I reported to duty things went awry.

I was told to be there very early in the morning and thus, was the first one on the scene. The staff I reported to showed up a hour later. And if that wasn’t enough, they never said hello, or thanked us for volunteering nor did they even care to know our names. And lunch, forgetaboutit. One of the volunteers had to remind them of their offer so they ordered a pizza.

This poor experience reminded me of this hard fact - the best PR starts at home. Here’s what I mean by that.

1) When working with volunteers – it is imperative that you make them feel welcomed and valued. They are as important to your event as the event. Without them, you would not be able to produce the event on a shoestring budget. So do your best to make them feel special.

2) PR people need to be friendly. I am embarrassed that I even have to write this statement. But, I am mortified to meet other colleagues that are not friendly to the press nor to people around them. Being relational in this field is a must.

Are you really Friendly

Are You Friendly or Just Appear to Be?

So, this little lesson isn’t just applicable to working with volunteers, it also applies to your Facebook page, website and reactions to the media.

Therefore, when people visit your Facebook page – do they feel welcome there or do you turn your back on them? Do you know their names? Do you not only listen to them, but do you truly hear them.

When a visitor lands on your website, how are they greeted? Can they easily access the information that they need most like how to contact you. Is your phone number prominently displayed or are you just selling them something?

As you can see a friendly welcome will go a long way in life and business. Check your attitudes online and in-person to make sure you are putting your best foot forward.

There’s no risks involved in being friendly and it all starts at home. Make sure when you put your feet on the floor to start the day, that you remember a warm hello and greeting will go a long way.

Thanks for reading and I hope you know that you are always welcome to leave messages or comments or can contact me directly. If I can ever be of any assistance, I hope you know my door is always open. You will always be greeted!

Thanks for the read.

Cindy

Twitter is the New Wire Service

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Tiger Woods learned about his Ryder Cup standing via twitter.

This morning while I was working out ESPN reported that Ryder Cup Captain Corey Pavin denied that Tiger Woods was getting one of the four wild card spots on this year’s 2010 U.S. Team.  Pavin further went on to say that the official announcement will be made September 7.

OK, you may be saying, big deal, Cindy – this is just an another announcement.  But, it wasn’t. This story broke on twitter. Yes, the Ryder Cup Captain held his own presser (press conference) via twitter. He controlled the news by breaking it –which led me to think about how different the present PR practices are from the past.

In the past, news was usually broken by a scheduled press conference. But, today, celebrities/politicians and those in the public eye are taking matters in their own hands.  No longer do these public figures need to rely on an establishment or a PR firm to announce their latest endeavors.  Now, they can just tweet it and the results are just as effective as a press conference.  Heck, besides messages, you can tweet out images, videos and power point slides too. twitter does it all.

So the question really is …are press conferences things of the past? The answer to that is definitely no.  However, they are not as prevalent or necessary as say last year.  Not only is this sad news for PR agencies, but for the news media.  I mean – how in the world is the news media going to monitor every one’s twitter account? You need a mighty big tweet deck to do that to catch breaking news.

Ryder Cup Captain Corey Pavin's tweet

However, if we unravel how Pavin was able to get the word out successfully today (@RC_Captain_2010), I’m sure that among his nearly 7,000  twitter followers, some of those folks were members of the golf media.  Thus, they must have seen it and retweeted and reported it. With one little 140 character message, Corey Pavin broke news in less than a minute and then went about his day. There was no need to set aside a block of time to phone the sports media.  All it took was a one short message to get the message out. I personally think this is marvelous.

This was a great case study and it’s only the start.  I think the journalists of the future will have large monitors on their desks and be assigned certain people to follow on twitter. I can only see this area growing…twitter has now become the new wire service.

Business Plans and PR – A Necessary Ingredient

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Drinks are never a good idea when being interviewed. The only one who gets interesting quotes is the reporter. Credit: Michael Yarish

Did you happen to watch the premiere of AMC’s “Mad Men” this week? If you did, you might have noticed that the premiere episode was titled “Public Relations.” And with that, executive producer Matt Weiner wrote an excellent episode that showed off the true power of Public Relations in the work environment.  His writing prompted me to write this post to remind all business owners that when writing business plans – do not forget to add in public relations as a viable means to market yourself. Also, this post should remind established businesses to look at when their last interview was conducted. If it has been over two months…it’s time to dust off that area and start the hunt again.

PR is still a necessary ingredient for every established company and extremely helpful for start-ups.  I know I harp a ton about social media…but, basically, I morph social media into PR nowadays.  A business plan needs to include PR&SM. Both are equally important.

As “Mad Men” depicted, the new agency Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce took advantage of public relations to help get the word out about its company free through the media.  They chose wisely…they went after Ad Age, the perfect vehicle to promote the new shop. A Perfect PR hit – it was a bulls-eye.

However, Don Draper blew the opportunity and did not realize that by his reluctance to answering questions, that the reporter filled in the blanks with information that was inaccurate and void of anything of interest to gain leads.  It was a missed opportunity and the perfect example for everyone interviewed for the need to be on their game.

A friend who is experienced in marketing was helping a client who was presented with a great PR opportunity. The client was being interviewed for a cover story in a local business magazine and so, my friend asked me advice.  The advice I gave him is what I give to all.  What message do you want to convey? Basically, when you are being interviewed, you can drive the interview and give the reporter the information that you want said about your company.  If you don’t have a plan, then the reporter has full rein.  It’s a missed opportunity.  You can drive the interviews and you should see them as golden opportunities for free advertising. Think about the entire message and what would you want the headline to say. And when interviewed, present that information in your comments.

We all make mistakes at first and don’t worry if you do for there are second chances.  Don Draper seized upon his failure and hit another bulls-eye. He was able to secure another interview with the Wall St. Journal, and with that second chance, he drove the article and used the medium to convey his shop’s attitude and culture.  He hit a home run after not even getting on base at his first chance at bat.

PR is powerful and never should be overlooked. Thank you for reminding us of that fact “Mad Men.”

What did you think of the episode?  And PR a part of your business model?

Cindy

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