Like a Good Neighbor …

by Roger Pynn

Although some Floridians are questioning the sincerity of an old insurance industry advertising slogan these days, I saw first-hand today the acts of nearly 100 good neighbors who came together from across seven Central Florida counties to support another county facing a mammoth workforce challenge.

We had worked for nearly two months with representatives of the Brevard Workforce Development Board to mount a program on behalf of the Florida High Tech Corridor Council that would result eventually in a safety net of sorts for the thousands of aerospace workers who face the end of the Space Shuttle era and career uncertainty.

Some had asked, “Why do you think people from Orange, Volusia, Flagler, Seminole, Osceola, Lake and Polk counties are going to care? That’s Brevard’s problem.”

How wrong. The room filled up with a cross-section of business people (from corporate CEOs to human resources professionals to engineering executives and information technology leaders) who reached out in a half-day effort to help identify strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats and build a core team that will dedicate itself not only to helping Brevard County retain what amounts to perhaps the greatest workforce treasure in America, but to create a template that can be shared with any region that might one day face the kind of massive workforce disruption that may result from a hiatus in America’s space program.

As we had dubbed the Regional Aerospace Workforce Initiative in the promotional material we developed for the event this truly was “Central Florida’s 3-2-1 moment,” a chance to “help turn layoff into liftoff.”

It is nice to have such great neighbors.

It Starts with the First Interaction

by Kim Taylor

If you’re a regular reader of this blog, then you know we sometimes stray away from public relations and marketing topics to write about general business practice and customer service.

I received fantastic customer service from a local car dealership’s parts department when they decided to take service to the next level by installing the part I ordered … even though it was a simple install I could’ve easily done myself. That’s good customer service.

Sometimes it’s not as easy to point out experiences like that when you work for a professional services firm.

At Curley & Pynn, it’s general practice not to screen incoming phone calls.

This may seem like a simple thing; and in this hectic, multi-tasking world, it probably seems counter-intuitive. Why wouldn’t we want to find out who’s calling so the person they’re calling for can be prepared when they pick up the phone?

The answer is simple. Because every call is valued; every caller valuable.

Of course, there are exceptions to every rule. And, they are just that, exceptions.

Good customer service starts with the very first interaction.

Shark!

by Roger Pynn

Just when Microsoft thought it was safe to go back in the water, Google takes a huge bite out of the side of the boat by announcing Chrome OS. You could hear the “ouch” all the way across Puget Sound.

But BusinessWeek’s Rob Hof saw only half of the story when he opined it was not about taking on Microsoft and rather about making the Web work better, which in the end makes Google’s real business – Web searches – more profitable.

The brains at Google are all abound dominance and we may be seeing what I wrote about back in June when I commented on Microsoft’s introduction of its search engine Bing and Google’s not-to-subtle simultaneous uncovering of Google Wave which Andy Wibbels wrote “obliterates everything.”

If Microsoft blinks, methinks the shift could make it just one more AOL. Hof should read his associate Stephen Wildstrom’s post. There’s blood in the water.

At Google they know that doing anything is worth more than just doing it well … it is about doing it completely: a lesson for all of us in business.

Fascination

by Roger Pynn

I’ve written about this before, but the death and subsequent coverage of everything Michael Jackson raises the question again: how interested is the public? Does the news consumer demand coverage or does the media’s coverage drive interest?

So often we hear a reporter talk about “the public’s fascination” with a story, when it seems quite obvious – such as the case of Casey Anthony – that the media is perhaps the most fascinated and readers and viewers (as in “Thriller”) have nowhere left to run.

Helen Popkin’s msnbc.com article raised the question again reporting on a Pew Center survey where some two-thirds of the public said news organizations gave too much attention to the death of the pop icon.

There’s no doubt that Michael Jackson’s celebrity deserves coverage. How much is too much? Better still, does anyone in the media stop to ask is it the public or the man in the mirror that’s fascinated with this story?

Swine Flu or Summer Cold?

by Roger Pynn

Confidence and credibility may be the two most important commodities in today’s business world and more than the economy is responsible. The snowball of doubt has been rolling downhill for business and government for so long that it is hard to remember a time when there was such an incredible lack of faith.

An essay by Margery Kraus, president and CEO of APCO Worldwide and Jerry Swerling, Ph.D., Director of The Strategic Public Relations Center at the USC Annenberg School for Communication issued a call to public relations executives to stop defending what we do and realize that there is a broad assumption that strategic communication is essential to success.

I’m not so sure. Unfortunately there are still those who think they can “get away with it.” Whether we’re talking about politicians or corporate leaders, some just seem to think they are bullet proof and that by the fact that they’ve risen to the top they can do as they please and need not answer to stakeholders.

Kraus and Swerling – writing that the need for strategic public relations is greater than ever because of the economy, say:

“Further, consumers and other stakeholders are more skeptical than ever of the companies they believe created this economic downturn. They see marketing and advertising campaigns as “spin” and believe CEOs have something to hide. For more credible information, consumers join social networks and look to the people they trust more every day—their peers. In short, they evaluate the credibility of the information they receive based on the strength of the relationship they have with the person who shared it with them.”

Kraus and Swerling are right when they say:

“Today’s highly skilled, strategically-oriented public relations professionals have expertise that goes far beyond traditional media relations. Equipped with new-media savvy, a global perspective, a finger on the pulse of the public mood and a field of vision that sees the situation through the eyes of multiple stakeholders, they have precisely the tools needed to respond to, or take advantage of, the extraordinary reputational challenges of the day.”

What’s important for public relations strategists is to talk not among themselves but among those who lead and oversee the leadership of organizations, institutions and companies. The authors were correct that the days of being apologists for our profession are behind us, but not – I believe – because there has been a fundamental change in human nature, but rather because there is a near pandemic of mistrust that without our help will result in economic and social chaos that will make the current economic malaise look like a summer cold.

I Want to Know … Right Now!!

by Dan Ward

Late last week, I posted a tweet that generated some debate … after reading tweet after tweet proclaiming the L.A. Times and other traditional news media irrelevant because “celebrity gossip” outlet TMZ broke the Michael Jackson story, I said this:  “Enough … getting ‘scooped’ on MJ doesn’t make newspapers irrelevant. Role isn’t to be 1st, but to provide in-depth reporting & b’ground.”

My point wasn’t to defend newspapers; they ARE less relevant today than 5 or 10 years ago.  But the problem isn’t just that they are getting scooped.  It’s that in their rush to join the online revolution (which they admittedly neglected for far too long), they’ve forgotten what has always made them different … their ability to provide depth and background to a story that you just can’t get from a 100-word blog entry or a 30-second TV news clip.

It’s this rush to feed information to a public expecting immediate gratification that leads to headlines like this, from none other than Time magazine: “What Killed Michael? What the Autopsy Could Reveal.”  The autopsy could reveal a million things … drug overdose, undiagnosed disease, even a moonwalking accident.  Maybe instead of competing in the speculation game, Time should report on what the autopsy actually does reveal.

TMZ is a fun read, and should be commended for its amazing wealth of sources and ability to move quickly.  But it also makes statements like this, which I hope to never see in Time: “And this is interesting … Katherine Jackson apparently doesn’t know Prince Michael’s date of birth. Yesterday, in the guardianship papers, she listed his DOB as 1/21/02. The birth certificate says he was born on 2/21/02, one month later.”

Time and the Times both got scooped on that one, but perhaps they chalked up the typo to a simple mistake by a woman grieving the tragic loss of her son.  Being first isn’t the same as being right.

Flexibility

by Roger Pynn

Partner Kim Taylor, our resident social media guide, shared a great post from Chris Brogan’s Community and Social Media blog chock full of tips for anyone contributing to the online conversation … but as someone to whom strategy is everything what stood out applies to the essence of business success. Said Brogan:

“Strategies are flexible. People don’t realize this. If your goal is to land more sales, then making one decision and sticking to it is not likely going to be the best way to plan your blogging methods. For instance, if you decide to write about product features every post, and that doesn’t convert to sales, would you still do it? No. You’d adjust your strategy and try new content approaches.”

Isn’t that true of everything you do in business? If you’re stuck on a single approach – just like a blogger stuck on a single topic – you’re not likely to get a lot of traction.

A set of complementary strategies with a tactical “coat of many colors” support system will be far more interesting than a black and white, set-in-stone method. That’s why, for instance, even though we are primarily known as a public relations firm we emphasize to clients that advertising has to be part of their mix. And public relations doesn’t mean publicity … it means a cornucopia of communications techniques from traditional to cutting-edge that let you create lines of communication with a cross-section of stakeholders.

Most importantly, as Brogan suggests, you have to constantly ask yourself “is this working?” You can’t be afraid to shift to a new approach if the winds have changed and left your sails airless.

A Huge Loss

by Roger Pynn

Learning of the death of George M. Prince made me reflect on a man known by too few. His 1970 book The Practice of Creativity has stayed on my bookshelf for more than 25 years since I took the first of several workshops from Synectics Inc., the think tank he founded in Cambridge, Mass.

Prince taught creativity like a science. He pioneered the observation of creativity in the invention process, videotaping inventors at work. A wealth of his work lives on, including writings and his prolific “doodles,” as he called them. You see, George sat through so many meetings as perhaps one of the greatest meeting facilitators of all time that he learned to harness the creative energy that could otherwise have escaped that great mind by doodling non-stop from a pocket full of colored markers that became as much his trademark as his blue shirts (I don’t think I ever saw him in anything else).

He taught people the power of structured meetings that nurtured every participant’s ability to build creatively on the other’s thinking. If there’s a meeting going on in heaven, I’m sure George is in charge and it is no doubt producing some incredible results.

What You Know

by Roger Pynn

I’ve been thinking about how the economy has changed business. Like almost everyone, our business has changed dramatically. Budgets have been drastically reduced as clients have seen their business negatively impacted by the recession. Fear has caused many to keep their powder dry on new projects.

But everyone still needs help. Organizations need visibility. They need to protect their reputations. They need to communicate with stakeholders.

The challenge is to help people who may want to see the light at the end of the tunnel, but for whom the next bend in a tunnel that still seems very dark is likely far more important.

Just as Rome wasn’t built in a day, rebuilding markets is going to take time and smart investment of communication resources. And that starts with carefully identifying those most important to you, most likely to buy from you and most likely to endorse you.

In fact, it may not be what you know but who you know.

Expectations

by Kim Taylor

When you’re going about your daily routine solving problems for customers or clients, taking on tasks given to you by your superiors or even handling your personal to-do list, do you ever think about the difference between those expectations which are met vs. those that are exceeded?

An expectation is: the degree of probability that something will occur.

So let’s take this example. If you make an appointment to see a doctor, it’s fair to say that you ‘expect’ to be seen at your appointment time. Perhaps, with no explanation, you’re not seen until 45 minutes later … but you are, in fact, seen. Does the fact that the service they offered was rendered outweigh that perhaps they were running a few minutes behind?

Were your expectations met? Exceeded? Could you have changed the outcome somehow? Been clearer about your expectations from the outset?

Approaching every task with the intent to exceed expectations will create satisfied customers and bosses every time.