If it's worth a response, think it through

Kim Morrison

It was a day like any other day in the late 80s/early 90s, and since it was a day that ended in the letter ‘Y’, my little brother and I were fighting. While growing up, we were constantly fighting. Someone did this, someone took that, someone looked at the other crazy… You get the general idea.

This fight was no different. At some point in the argument, I yelled, “I’M GONNA GO TELL DAD,” who was outside talking with one of the neighbors. This started a back-and- forth of uh-huhs and nuh-uhs, and at some point, I took off running full speed out the front door to tell my dad the horrible, awful, stupid, annoying, etc. thing my brother had done. 

As I reached my dad and the neighbor, they were in the middle of a conversation, and while I can’t remember how old I was when this happened, I was old enough to know you didn’t interrupt adults when they were talking. So, I stood there, and anxiously waited to be acknowledged so I could do the sisterly thing and snitch on my brother. I never got that chance.

Before my dad and the neighbor were done talking, my little brother came flying out the front door, flailing, screaming and hollering at the top of his lungs, “SHE’S LYING DAD! DON’T LISTEN TO HER! I DIDN’T DO ANYTHING!” As soon as he got to where we were, Dad simply looked at him and said, “What did you do?”
 
Cute story, but what the heck does it have to do with PR? Don’t be my little brother. Yes, something bad happened, and yes, you should respond, but don’t just wing it and hope for the best. Don’t freak out and just blurt out the first thing that crosses your mind. Stop, calm down and think it over for a minute. Is this worth responding to? If so, then respond in a way that addresses the situation, contributes to the conversation and hopefully places you in a better light than you were in before you started speaking. If it’s worth responding to, then it’s worth responding to properly.

Breaking bad... News, that is.

Crissy Lintner

The other day, an interesting email came across my inbox. For privacy purposes, I’ve removed names:
 
Subject: [Name of Person] Resignation

To Whom It May Concern: [Name], our COO, has resigned.  Please erase her contact information. We will let you know when we have found a replacement COO.          
                           
                                  Sincerely,
                                  [Name], Executive Assistant

When I read this, I cringed a bit, and one of my initial thoughts was, “Well, that didn’t end on a good note, did it? Ouch!” As it turns out, I already knew about the resignation, as the former COO was a contact of mine. I was likely on this list simply because my contact information was included in her contacts list in Outlook. However, given this insight, I knew there was more than a month to plan how to communicate her resignation to key stakeholders and the public – and in what order.

Whether intended or not, the communication that I received came across as a cold afterthought that didn’t give any insight into next steps, who to contact in the meantime should we have a need to communicate with the organization or to use as an opportunity to pull in positive information about the organization.

Whether the relationship between this person and the organization ended on a good or bad note, the image conveyed should always be positive. So, here’s my 2 cents on breaking “bad” news: 

• Take time to plan a response to the situation and develop a well-thought-out letter or email for key stakeholders. 
• Remember the correct order in which you should make this announcement: internal publics (employees, board members/advisors, donors and volunteers, etc.), then external publics (media, vendors, general audiences)
• Remember that emails get forwarded and every email is an opportunity to communicate an important message about your business/organization – your mission, a new program – bright, new plans on the horizon
• Rarely is it advisable to send an announcement that gives an inkling of thought that the resignation ended on bad terms. Even if there was a negative end to a relationship, it’s good to stay above board in all communication. Again, focus on positive language. Announcements should be from an upper-level executive, such as the CEO, rather than an assistant or office manager.

It is never desirable to lose a key team member like a COO or to have to share bad news with your stakeholders. But when it does happen, use it as an opportunity to share other great things, not just close a chapter in your HR history book.
 

Stuck on the ‘Nay’ Train?

Kerri Guyton

Recently, I was talking to a good friend of mine who started an independent product sales business about six months ago. She was explaining about the rut she had hit in her business development, and she thought she might have made a mistake in choosing to do this. She had run out of contacts, made all the connections she possibly could and was honestly tired of hearing “no” (or some form of the word). Maybe it wasn’t meant to be, she said with a heavy sigh.

Everyone feels this way at one point in their career, especially in the beginning of a new venture. She had a good business plan. She was excited about the possibilities and opportunities that this business was going to bring. She just hit her first dry spell, which can be a valuable time in a professional's career if handled properly. A down time is a good time to revisit your business goals, re-evaluate your strategies and tactics and recharge your batteries, so to speak.

I advised my dear friend to take a vacation from the pressure to sell, and take this time to soak up knowledge and inspiration from others in her business. I suggested that she attend her monthly meetings with the goal of listening to the success stories of others and take time to dig into the company's online training resources to learn more tips and tricks of the trade. This is also a good time for her to evaluate her communication tactics and messages - what parts of her sales pitch are working and what can she do to strengthen her call to action. I told her that for certain, the first step she needs to take is to remove quitting from the list of options and to remember that she can absolutely do this.

Occasionally, it’s just time to step off of the “nay” train and into the motivation station!

How much is too much?

Thomas Whitehead

As seen in The Memphis Daily News...

Show of hands – how many of us have those friends on Facebook who are over-sharers? Whether they are talking about that last taco they regret eating, their string of continuous bad dates, that very last beer they indulged in or other information that maaaybe we don’t really know them well enough to absorb. I think we all have those people in our newsfeed.

This might surprise you but I have begun to see examples of organizations that are becoming over-sharers as well, and this could be at the cost of their main reason to interact with their customers: sales.

A few years ago, there were so many blog posts written to encourage business leaders to blog, share more information and discuss business interactions to some degree. As a consumer, I personally loved to see this. I could now have more understanding as to what decisions were made about the brands and products that I liked.

However, recently, I have noticed two different trends that I hope are not going to continue in terms of sharing company information. I will preface this by saying that these two trends have been exclusively with private and small companies, not large or public corporations.

The first trend is sharing with customers on social media that your sales figures are down. I have noticed this with several retail stores and restaurants. Although I can appreciate hearing the perils of a small business owner, I feel that the bigger issue is the risk of customers perceiving that your business is in financial trouble.

The second trend is similar, but I have begun to see retail outlets and restaurants/bars practically beg people to come to their places. And, I don’t mean a simple, “Come to our store today!” requests. Rather, I have seen some comments similar to “we really need your business” or “we have had a slow month, please help us out” pleas.

Just like no relationship is perfect, we also know no company is perfect and each comes with their own struggles. However, just because I like to eat your burritos does not mean I am entitled to see your profit margins or quarterly forecasts. And, you shouldn’t want me to know that information.

Instead, your interaction with me should be focused on how my experience with your company will be one-of-a-kind and special through customer service, incredible products and attention to detail. If your messages are positive, then I will be more inclined to consider supporting your business.

There is a huge difference between shareholder and stockholder. As a customer, I have an interest in your success, but it won’t impact me financially if your business fails. As a stockholder, it definitely impacts my financial viability.

However, it is very important to identify which audiences you are speaking with through different channels. But, I can explore that topic later. Until then, I am going to go grab another burrito.

How may I help you? My pleasure! Thanks for stopping by.

Lauren Hannaford

There are about a million different things one could “preach” in regard to customer service. There have been books written, lectures given and training customized for all different types of customer service scenarios. From an account manager perspective, our PR efforts don’t usually pan out well for clients who consistently provide poor customer service on their end. Thankfully, we haven’t encountered very many of those client situations, and for that we are glad!

For some reason, I’ve been running into more bad customer service experiences than usual. Two of these took place at a drugstore near my house. It wasn’t that the employees were being purposefully rude; they just weren’t providing good customer service. They were doing the bare minimum, leaving me to figure out my requests on my own. This is point No. 1. If you are doing the bare minimum, you aren’t providing good customer service. I hate when people say, “I don’t know.” You should be saying, “I don’t know, but let me find out for you.”

What happened next gave me this very idea for a blog post. Let me preface this next paragraph with a little honesty -- I am not a patient person. My blood probably starts to boil at least three minutes before someone else with at least a smidgeon of patience. So, at my most recent experience, I was standing there witnessing bad customer service firsthand. Blood starting to boil, attitude shifting, dirty look starting to form, I decided to give the employee “good customer service” from my end instead. 

This is point No. 2. Practicing good customer service in your everyday life is the best practice for providing great customer service at your job and vice versa. Even if you are supposed to be the one receiving good customer service, practicing patient and polite communication will go far in your own workplace. After all, being rude sucks!

Navigating the waters of PR isn’t as difficult as it may look

Erinn Figg

A friend of mine called me the other day seeking PR advice. (Yep – if you’re my friend and you need PR counsel, I can be bought with a white chocolate mocha. Or even better, a glass of pinot noir.)

I agreed to meet this friend over a couple of adult beverages. When I got there, he was drowning – not in vodka, but in industry terminology.

He had just gotten out of a meeting with a PR consultant and was floundering around in acronyms such as SEO, SMT, MCM and ROI. He was treading through buzzwords like crowdsourcing, digital ecosystem, tablet marketing, vertical media and – my personal all-time favorite (not really) – “low-hanging fruit.”

This friend, a doctor who specializes in cosmetic procedures, had been loading up on so much information from so many PR “how-to” articles and consultants that his brain finally blared “DOES NOT COMPUTE!” and refused to process any of it anymore.

He told me he was trying to think outside the box. I told him to forget the box. Stash it away somewhere. That box is probably exhausted anyway from being in a phrase that’s used about 90 million times a day. In fact, I’m sure that box is longing for a vacation. Maybe we could pack some low-hanging fruit in it and ship it to Cancun.

I asked my friend the same thing I ask anyone who tells me they feel adrift in a sea of PR and marketing decisions: When was the last time you took a break from thinking like a business owner and tried thinking like your customer?

So I gave my friend a checklist of questions to help him think like a patient who’s trying to choose a doctor. Here are a few of them. Although some of these questions apply to his business, they all have a universal theme: What is your target customer looking for, and does your public persona reflect your unparalleled ability to meet that need?

1.    WEBSITE: Take a good hard look at your website. I’m sure it’s packed with confident and enthusiastic language. That’s fine – copywriters need love, too. But what’s the ratio of marketing dialogue to useful information? Do visitors leave your website feeling educated? Do you have a gazillion – YES, a gazillion! – quality photos that showcase your work, particularly before and after shots? Do you have detailed descriptions of your procedures? (If so, you’re providing authoritative information to counter the misinformation, horror stories and scary photos your potential client will most likely find in a Google search.) Do you have a Frequently Asked Questions page? Does your website offer several ways for visitors to contact you with questions? Are you frequently sharing your knowledge and industry news with your website visitors? Actually, that question leads to the next topic.

2.    EXPERTISE: You’re the next best thing to the Fountain of Youth, and you’ve got a wealth of information to help people look and feel more attractive. Are you giving away that info on a regular basis? Oh yes! I said, “giving it away”! Sharing valuable tips and advice demonstrates your expertise as well as your genuine desire to help others. Does your website have a blog that addresses relative topics? Is its tone informative or does it read like a sales pitch? (If it’s the latter, please hold out your hand so I can smack it with a ruler.) Are you also sharing useful information through Facebook, Twitter and other social media outlets? There are some great forums out there for consumers seeking advice and answers about products and services. Are you occasionally chiming in on those forums with advice and answers to their questions? DON’T FORGET: Getting your brain out there is just as important as getting your name out there. (Somebody put that phrase on a T-shirt!)

3.    CUSTOMERS: You’ve got consultation patients that are a little jittery in your waiting room. They’re wondering if they’re making the right decision. They’re dealing with the reality that they’re about to let someone alter their faces and bodies. So what are you doing to nurture these people? Is your office a comforting environment? Is your receptionist warm and welcoming? Are you offering them a beverage while they wait or using small, meaningful gestures to give them the royal treatment? Do you have a binder of your media coverage accessible so patients can flip through it and recognize you as an expert in your field? From the moment your customers/clients/patients walk through your door, your place of business should speak to them: “You are welcome here. You are safe here. We care about you. We want you to be happy – even if you ultimately choose to go somewhere else.” Word of mouth is one of the most powerful PR tools we can use. Make a fabulous impression on your customers and they’ll tell people about it.

For small business owners who don’t have an agency to navigate them through a sea of PR strategies and initiatives, the process can get a little overwhelming. If it happens to you, just shift your perspective. Think about your own buying habits and the factors that influenced those decisions. Think about the brands you love and the reasons you love them. Then think about why you love your own business and how you can convey that passion to others. Sometimes, we have to get back to our roots in order to keep growing. I think Yoda said that. Or Mr. Rogers. Either way, I like it.

The Cost of Being Nice - $11.50

Thomas Whitehead

You may have seen some of the morning news segments back in December about how several bars and restaurants across the country have used negative describers to identify their patrons. The ridiculous part is that once closing their tabs, the customers have the opportunity to see the negative words used to describe them.

So, imagine the breath of fresh air I felt when I read about what Red Robin did for a customer in North Carolina recently. A pregnant woman came to the restaurant with her family, and the manager not only comped her meal, but used a promo code wishing her well, “MOM 2 BEE Good LUC.”
 
This story could have just been another feel-good tale. In reading the interview with the manager, his response about being attentive to a customer caught my eye. He said that the key to having a happy customer is to "listen to them, and make sure they leave feeling appreciated and valued. If our guests know we welcome their feedback, I think they'll talk with us and speak up … to say they had a positive and satisfying experience with us, and hopefully also to say they'll be back again soon."
 
Simple enough, right? Yet so many of us forget this too often. With all the strategies, tactics and action plans we develop for our businesses and organizations, it is the day-to-day activities that we can do that can have the most impact on a customer relationship.
 
And it all begins with what the manager said: listen to them. And listening is not always something done with just the ears. Sometimes, we can listen with our eyes and see things that we can adjust or enhance.
 
That feeling of being valued and appreciated is not something that will most likely encourage a customer to use your services in the first place. But that feeling of being valued and appreciated is something that will have a customer coming back for your services time and again.

Hissssssssssssssssssssssss. Are you paying attention to body language?

Courtney Liebenrood Ellett

From top: Friday Cat and Sid

Meet Sid (also known as Work Cat) and Friday Cat (who likes to show his cute little face mostly on Fridays, thus his namesake).

These two furry guys are our adoptive kitty cats at Obsidian. In an effort to make them more comfortable being around people, our colleagues have been taking shifts to work on our laptops on our office back patio when the cats are around.

A team member and I were meeting out there recently, and Sid came out first. He nervously paced and made attempts to come near us, where the food was sitting. And he finally did eat. A few minutes later, we heard a deep meow that didn’t come from Sid.

Enter Friday Cat. He was perched on the ledge above and made his way down to us. Friday Cat is friendlier and kept meowing deeply to say hello as he approached us. We encouraged him to take part in the food as Sid did. As Friday Cat came closer to us, Sid starting hissing wildly from the corner of the patio, where he was ducking behind a plant.

Translation: Don’t come any closer, man, or you’re going to find a heap of trouble.

We tried to avert a bitter clash by continuing to coax Friday Cat toward us instead of Sid. Well, Friday Cat wasn’t paying attention to body language and what Sid was “saying.” He just waltzed right over to Sid behind that plant. A quick confrontation passed, and it was done.

The signs were all there. Sid was hiding himself to feel more comfortable. He then hissed to verbalize his warning. And finally, he pounced on Friday Cat. But it should never have gone so far. If Friday Cat would have paid attention the signs, trouble would have been averted and he wouldn’t have felt the sting of Sid’s paws.

This lesson can be easily applied to our role in PR and even in our daily lives. There are a million tiny clues in human interaction that help us better understand mood, relationships, expectations, what people care about, what they don’t care about, what they need, etc. Mostly importantly, these clues help us know how to respond appropriately. If we don’t pay attention to positioning, body language, tone and the actual message, communication breaks down. And a cat fight might be the result.

Pinterest: It's about inspiration.

Lauren Hannaford

2012 was the year of Pinterest. Many are wondering if the social media platform will stand the test of time or turn into another Foursquare. One thing is certain. Businesses have already jumped on board. 

I came across some interesting facts from the CEO and founder of PinLeague on this PR Newswire story:

• Less than 1 percent negative sentiment on the platform
• Contributing 20 percent of social commerce
• The half-life of a pin is one week or more, compared to 80 minutes for a Facebook post and five to 25 minutes for a tweet.
• It’s not about conversation. It’s about quality content. The ratio of “repins” to comments is 175 to one.
• The average order value on Twitter is $69, Facebook $80 and Pinterest $179. PinLeague estimates that 90 percent of the top 1,500 brands will have Pinterest accounts within 12 months.
  

Wow! Those are strong figures. With that said, it is important for businesses to be aware of the proper use of Pinterest. I already get ridiculously annoyed when I see pins from companies’ boards that shout, “Buy our awesome product!” No, thanks. I want tips, recipes, health information, photos, ideas, hilarious sayings and products presented to me in a fun, useful manner. Then I will buy your product.

A great example of a Pinterest account that I think is well-managed is Southern Living. One look through their boards, and I was following almost all of them. Then I thought, “Why do I not get this magazine in the mail?” I immediately went to the website to sign up for a subscription. Cha-ching! Southern Living, you just made money from your Pinterest account.

Consumers on Pinterest are doers! Not to copy The University of Memphis’ tagline, but Pinterest is full of dreamers, thinkers and doers! If you can plan and execute your business’s Pinterest account with that in mind, it is sure to be worth the time even if you can’t quantify revenue just yet.

The Interview - What You Need to Know

Katie Pemberton

So, you got a reporter to agree to write a story about you? That’s great! Media coverage in respected publications and programs can make a huge impact on awareness of your company. But just because you’ve gotten the story, that doesn’t mean the work is over…the interview is the most important part! Yes, you will be talking about your company and/or yourself, a topic you are extremely familiar with. But just because you know your subject matter doesn’t necessarily mean you know the best way to present it.

At Obsidian, a major part of what we do is preparing clients and their representatives for interviews, whether it’s a live in-studio TV or radio interview, a taped TV interview or a phone interview. Several of our clients have very media-savvy CEOs who have a lot of interview experience; in those cases, our media prep may be limited to sending a list of potential questions the interviewer might ask. In many cases, though, especially with representatives who have less media experience, we go much more in-depth. For the kinds of interviewing advice we dispense to our clients, read on. 

• Prepare. Have any statistics, testimonials and other data handy so you can refer to it and give the reporter meaningful information to support your argument(s). Consider what kinds of questions the reporter might ask and practice your responses to those. Have someone you trust give you a mock interview to give you feedback on your answers and delivery. 
• If you don’t know the answer, do NOT guess. It’s OK if you are doing an interview about a local hunger initiative and you don’t know how many people worldwide go hungry. But be honest about that and don’t guess the number—you never know who might repeat that number and use it again. In a case like this one, respond this way, “I’m actually not sure about the global hunger statistics, but what I can tell you is that one in four people in our community are uncertain where their next meal is coming from.” Remember that “what I can tell you” phrase. It will become a powerful tool in your interviewing arsenal.
• Keep the interview on track. Especially in a live interview, the line of questioning can go off the rails quickly. Yes, it is the interviewer’s job to stay on topic, but you must share that burden if you want your message to be heard. You have secured precious and valuable time with a reporter—do NOT let it be squandered by going off topic. The first step in this piece of advice is to make sure that you pitch the reporter or producer accurately and honestly (don’t sell the reporter on one thing and expect to bait-and-switch her into writing about something else).  If the interviewer at some point goes off topic, that’s when you pull out your “what I can tell you” trick! Respond to an off-topic question with this phrase, “I don’t know about that, but what I can tell you is that…”
• Speak only for yourself and your organization. There are very few scenarios in which you should talk about any other organization, and certainly you should never bad-mouth another organization. Don’t fall into the “what do you think” trap. “What do you think about Competitor X’s announcement that they’re cutting jobs in Tennessee?” or “What do you think about Competitor X’s new product?” Don’t feel that you HAVE to answer questions that make you uncomfortable, but know that “no comment” is not the right way to handle these types of questions. I would counsel my client to respond with something like, “I can’t speak for Competitor X, but what I can tell you (there it is again!) is that we have created 24 new jobs in the Memphis area in the past year.” Bring the attention away from other organizations and back to your company.
• Use positive language, and in your response, avoid repeating any negative language that may be in a reporter’s question. 
• Don’t use jargon unless you are interviewing with a reporter who works only in your industry. For example, if you’re in logistics, a writer for Logistics Business, a trade magazine. Otherwise, speak in layman’s terms.
• Channel your mother’s voice in your head, and sit up straight, use positive body language and be aware of your facial expressions. For TV interviews, I tell clients, “Sit up so straight you feel stupid, and smile almost to the point of feeling stupid.” For most of us who are not on TV all the time, having perfect posture and smiling constantly do not feel natural. But when you watch your interview back later, you’ll be glad if you sat up straight and smiled, and probably not like the way you looked if you slouched and frowned or had a neutral face. The exception to this rule would be any controversial or serious topic. Your facial expressions should be appropriate to the content.

Remember, every interview or scenario is different. The first piece of advice I gave is the most important one: prepare. Whether you do that with a colleague, friend or a trusted PR partner, you will never regret investing an hour into your company’s reputation.

Happy New Year! Now what?

Crissy Lintner

Happy New Year! It’s 2013, and I’m sure we all have our New Year’s resolutions in hand and are making great progress. But does your business have its New Year’s resolutions nailed down? If not, I have a few to get you started – PR resolutions for 2013.

Be active in social media!
So, you had a couple of months last year during which you were active on Facebook and built up a significant following. Then, crickets were chirping… Things got busy and you weren’t able to keep up with it. Resolve for 2013 to get active again, because if you’re not in the conversation, you’re not relevant. Assign someone internally (or hire a PR firm) to manage your social media interactions and monitor them daily. There’s nothing worse than non-response and inactivity on a business’s social media page.

Build relationships with the news media.
It’s important to remember that behind every newspaper is a person. And building relationships with the individual reporters who write about your industry is a key to getting media coverage in the future. Be sure that you’re reaching out to introduce yourself, your expertise and your business before you have news. And when you do have news, ensure that it’s timely and newsworthy. 

No more last-minute PR campaigns!
Remember: timely and newsworthy. Haphazard PR is never effective. Take time to think through any important news items for the year and lay out on a timeline. Then, incorporate at least four to six weeks for PR efforts related to an event and up to three months for major announcements, such as expansions, acquisitions or leadership changes. This is where a great PR partner can be an advantage.

Communicate with your front-line employees to ensure message alignment.
Your customer service and point-of-sales employees do need to be “in the know” when it comes to major business decisions affecting their job focus. Is the marketing department planning a Groupon campaign? Are you running a special for social media only? What about a major acquisition of a competitor? It’s important that the people who interact with your customers daily know about these before being caught off guard by a question or comment. Or media phone call. Regular internal communication is important, and an annual ambassador training to reinforce customer service tactics and discuss overall goals for the year is always a good idea to add to the mix.

These will help get you on the road to PR success for 2013! 

We interrupt this revolution…with the smell of steaks!

Thomas Whitehead

Okay, we get it. Social and digital media are here to stay and will continue to dominate the communication and marketing forum for companies and organizations. But, it is absolutely vital for PR professionals, companies and organizations to not put all their communication “eggs” into one social media basket. Rather, it is necessary to view it as just another part of your arsenal along with news features, television, radio, print ads, events, speaking engagements and other promotional materials.

With that in mind, I would like to speak out for one of my favorite and most entertaining forms of communicating a company’s message: the old fashioned billboard. Yes, that is right. Even after all of these years and new means of communication, there is still a need for companies to share their message and stories on a billboard.

I am fascinated by the challenges this gives companies. Mainly, I am curious how a billboard is created in a way that will be on-message in a clear, concise way for people traveling by it at 75 MPH. It is definitely an issue.
 
And, quite honestly, I am still baffled that organizations still spend very good money for billboards that have a large amount of copy on it. Yet, this still happens very frequently.
Instead, the best strategy for making a billboard work for your company is to have a compelling, creative visual image that will earn the average, slightly distracted driver’s attention for 2.6 seconds enough to retain the information offered.
 
In addition to the image, a two- to four-word phrase can also help shape what message you are looking to share with your broad audience of motorists.
 

Photo: Huffington Post

Probably my favorite billboard ever is one from Bloom, a grocery store chain in North Carolina. They actually created a scented billboard with the image of steak on a fork. The really creative part is they were pumping the smell of black pepper and charcoal as drivers were on their way home, pondering what to fix for dinner that evening. This is a great example of how people will remember your brand.
 
So, when deciding what should be your next major social media or advertising campaign, don’t completely forget or ignore the power that billboards can have in shaping and reinforcing your message to your broad, general audiences.
 
And, if all else fails, there is always steak. 

Ever wanted to tell 'em off?

Kim Morrison

How many of us have half jokingly declared, “On my last day at work, I’m going to…” and proceeded to describe how we would give our managers a piece of our minds, tell off those rude customers, do nothing all day or do any number of devious deeds, without the fear of retribution?

I actually was given that chance, on a silver platter, during my last day at a local salon/spa chain in a hotel in Downtown Memphis.
 
A customer became irate because we were unable to validate her parking ticket. I explained to her where we can and can’t validate, and instructed her to speak with the hotel’s concierge desk concerning the parking ticket, because we did not have any way of validating it. At this point, she let me know that yes, she would be speaking with the hotel, to put in a complaint and recommend they get another salon/spa in there because, in her words, “You people are incompetent!”
 
At this moment, I had a choice to make. A big choice. One of those choices that has real potential to impact your life in a big way, maybe not immediately, but definitely down the road.
 
The opportunity was right there, right in front of me, just waiting for me to grab it! It was my last day, and for the umpteenth time, I was getting yelled at for a situation that wasn’t my fault. Why not take advantage of this situation and tell this lady what’s up, right?!
 
Wrong. I couldn’t. As soon as I thought it, I knew I couldn’t do that. I was leaving this job to finish my degree in PR; are you kidding me?! Doing that could be career suicide and not to mention unprofessional. I didn’t know who that lady was. She could work for a client of ours, volunteer for one of our clients, be a friend or family member of one of our clients or a member of the local news media. Yes, telling her off may have made me feel better, but the long-term implications would have been huge! Not to mention, on my last day there, did I really want to create negative PR for the salon/spa and hotel? What if I ended up working with either of them again? “Oh yeah, that’s the woman who went off on a customer on her last day at work.” Yeah, that’s a great way to be remembered while trying to network professionally.
 
In that chaotic moment of clarity, I chose to not be that employee who flew off the handle. I chose to be a brand ambassador, not just for the salon/spa, not just for the hotel, but also for myself. So regardless of what you do or where you work, remember that you don’t just represent your employer; you also represent yourself. You may not be able to control the branding of your job, but you can and should carefully shape your own personal brand.

Take time to quiet the mind

Courtney Liebenrood Ellett

After years in the consistently stressful discipline of PR, I’ve learned that downtime helps maintain sanity, pure and simple. That’s certainly not a profound or new thought, but one that’s especially important to me in my life.

I’m sure the same could be said for other professions or other life scenarios. But taking time to unwind does more than maintain sanity. In a career that demands fresh ideas every single day, I’m convinced that taking time to quiet the mind brings out the best in our mental capabilities.

Have you ever had trouble remembering something – like a name? And it’s right there on the tip of your tongue. You could almost reach out and touch it. But the more you think about the answer, the more it eludes you and hides into the deep crevices of your memory. And then it happens; when you’re doing something else and not thinking about the name at all, it comes to you.

This reminds me of one of my favorite episodes of The Big Bang Theory – The Einstein Approximation. Sheldon is hitting a mental roadblock on a physics problem he’s working on. Inspired by the fact that Einstein did a great deal of his best thinking during his stint as a patent office clerk, Sheldon seeks to find a menial job to get his brain in gear.

During a volunteer (and self-described mundane) shift at The Cheesecake Factory as a busboy and waiter, Sheldon says, “Just a moment ago, I had a minor epiphany regarding polymer degradation phenomenon while scraping congealed nachos off a plate.” 

Sure, Sheldon uncluttered his mind by working in a restaurant. I quiet my mind other ways. I walk on the greenbelt in my neighborhood. I get a much-needed massage every now and then. I have a cup of coffee before anyone else in my family gets out of bed. Every single time I do something like this, clarity follows. Sometimes, it’s an epiphany. Sometimes, it’s just the whisper of a good idea. 

What do you do to quiet your mind? 

One is the loneliest number...or is it?

Crissy Lintner

In public relations, there are many approaches to building a client base. Some firms choose to focus their efforts on one niche – hospitality, city branding, retail, technology, etc. And they are very good at what they do. Others, like Obsidian, take a different approach by only working with one client from a certain industry or sector of business in a geographic region. We call that category exclusivity.

This may have you thinking, “Doesn’t that limit your ability to do business?” Well, yes and no. At times, we do find ourselves turning away business because we already represent a law firm in Memphis or an animal welfare organization in Dallas. But, the benefit far outweighs this downside (and PR business is abundant across hundreds of industries).

Our main reason for adhering to this philosophy is that as PR professionals, we never want our clients – or account representatives for that matter – to compete against one another for opportunities. If I had to choose between two architects for a Wall Street Journal article that can only feature one source, how would I determine whom to feature? It becomes an ethical dilemma and frankly, hard to keep track of who got the last interview opportunity. 

By only representing one client in an industry at each of our locations, we can maximize our efforts more efficiently and provide the best counsel possible without our clients worrying that they’re missing out because we also represent their competitors.

One can be a lonely number, but when it comes to PR, we think it’s the only way to go!

“Hey client, are you there?”

Lauren Hannaford

Like many industries, PR pros occasionally run into clients who understand the importance and value of PR, but for various reasons, have a hard time carving out ample time to communicate with their communication team and provide what’s needed to execute strategy in a timely manner.

Over the years, we have personally seen strong satisfaction and success correlations among clients who are communicative, set a certain time during the week to talk to us or assign another staff member to be our point person. We stay on track, we get things done and we are successful. Now, many of our clients who simply cannot keep up with us each week are still very successful accounts. There are many paths we take to ensure that we continue to garner news coverage and carry out other projects. We just have to have “information transfer” meetings. And that works, too.

Similarly, we see correlations among clients who aren’t the most communicative in the bunch. While we love all clients nevertheless, this lack of communication can create staleness or a stall in action for the account, and we just don’t like that. We like to stay busy for all clients all of the time. That’s what we get paid to do!

The simple truth is that if you are considering retaining a public relations firm like Obsidian, expect for us to “need” you on a regular basis. The key to a successful relationship is regular communication.

Here are a few helpful tips on how to keep things on track despite your busy schedule:

1. Set a certain time during the week to review projects and communication, and provide feedback on those. 
2. Assign a point person that has time within their role to be a liaison. 
3. If weekly call is not possible, plan to have a longer meeting once a month. 
4. Vocalize your preferences on how we communicate with you (phone, email, text, etc.)

The no 'no comment' rule

Katie Pemberton

At Obsidian, one way that we really bring value to clients is through crisis management. In a time of crisis – large or small, internal or external – we work with the client to determine what should be said to key stakeholders (including media), how it should be said, who should say it, when it should be said, in what medium should it be said…you get the idea.

One common instinct that we see with many new clients is the impulse to respond to a tricky question with, “no comment.” If this is something you can envision yourself saying to a reporter asking about a crisis, you must fight the urge to duck and run because that’s exactly what a “no comment” response is: the verbal equivalent of running and hiding under a rock, hoping your bad situation will just go away on its own. Wouldn’t it be great if it were that easy? Trust me, it’s not.

There are many words that you would probably want your target audience to associate with your organization: strong, innovative, trustworthy, responsive, caring and so on. But when you say “no comment,” here are some words that come to a reader’s mind: Evasive. Secretive. Shady. It makes the reader wonder what you are hiding and why.

Certainly, there are circumstances during which you are legally very limited in what you can say, such as lawsuits or ongoing investigations. The trick is to always be prepared to say SOMETHING, even if you can’t address the actual item the reporter has asked about. Here’s our philosophy: There is ALWAYS something good to say. To give you a better idea, take a look at these two sample exchanges between a CEO and a reporter.

    Reporter: “Can you tell me where you stand with your employee who was arrested for                        fraud?”
    CEO:        “No comment.”

    Reporter: “Can you tell me where you stand with your employee who was arrested 
                     for fraud?”
    CEO:        “I’m sure you understand that I’m not able to speak on the details of an                      ongoing investigation, but what I can tell you is that we are evaluating our                      procedures and tightening our controls to prevent anything like this in the                      future. Our customers, employees and shareholders are extremely                      important to us, and it is our No. 1 goal to protect their investment of 
                     money and time.”

The Speed of the Crisis Communication Game

Thomas Whitehead

On Oct. 28 during the Tennessee-South Carolina football game, South Carolina’s All-SEC running back Marcus Lattimore suffered only what can be identified as a gruesome leg injury in the second quarter. For the sake of the squeamish, I have not included a link to this clip. You can find it very easily if you haven’t already seen it.

Just a little background: Marcus suffered a season-ending injury last year, but still returned this year to pursue his dream of playing in the NFL. His performance this year so far reinforced the suggestion that he was still capable of playing professionally. In addition, by all accounts, he was a model student-athlete and was very popular among college football fans, even if their team was on the opposing side of his touchdown runs. Despite all the upsets and close games this day, Marcus Lattimore’s injury was the top story of the college football world. His career pretty much ended, and many are praying that he will even be able to walk again.

Once this injury happened, which was around noon CST, the social media world blew up, as we have become accustomed to in this day and age. His name was trending, and the video of the injury was already posted on YouTube. Again, none of this is surprising in 2012 and is generally expected. People comment and share instantaneously. We get it.

But, there was one more movement to this story that really surprised me. I noticed at 12:45 p.m. CST, some South Carolina fans had already created a Pray for Marcus Facebook page. I clicked on it, and it already had 20,000 likes. My mind was blown away by this. An hour earlier, this man was still dodging tackles, and now, there was a page offering up prayer requests for him with the online population of a small town. AND THE GAME WAS STILL BEING PLAYED!

The game ended around 2:30 p.m., and I decided to check the Pray for Marcus page. It had ballooned to 40,000 likes. As of this writing, the page is just over 73,000 followers.
I am sure there are other examples of pages being created almost instantaneously, but this was my introduction to it. And this should be a huge eye-opener for companies, brands and organizations especially during crisis communication situations.

I can see other examples of this occurring, especially in situations that might be more controversial than that of the career-ending injury of a beloved football player. This might be seen as a threat to companies in times of crisis, but rather, perhaps it should just be seen as another layer of opportunity to monitor your message and communicate with your audiences.

In any valid crisis communication plan, you have delegated responsibilities to monitor media, address frontline calls from the public affected and provide communication to all shareholders involved. These plans generally will encompass all lines of communication, electronic and otherwise. 

HOWEVER, this serves a good reminder to not only monitor your own social media platforms, but be mindful that others might create them on their own. Yes, many people will use a company’s official page to share their comments, but nothing limits individuals from sharing only on a company’s preferred platform.

I predict that the immediate creation of Facebook pages in reaction to specific events and moments will continue to be a trend for the next year at the very least. It will be a quick way for people to express how they feel at that exact moment.

Again, this should not be treated as another element in which your company has no control over because you didn’t really have control to begin with regarding the situation. Rather, see this as a chance to be more aware and proactive that the existence of publicly created pages regarding your brand can exist and this should be added to your crisis communication plan.

It's been a little spooky around here!

Greetings and Happy Halloween!

If you’ve been following us via Facebook or Twitter lately, you’ve seen that some serious specter shenanigans have been brewing over here the last few weeks. Our Obsidian ghosts have been busy providing some afterlife advice. Here’s a recap of the messages they’ve left on our front door, in addition to some more late-night whisperings we’ve heard.

Enjoy!

1.    That ghostly silent treatment? The “no comment” position you’re holding. Yeah, that doesn’t work. Speak up if you want to be heard. If not, people will just make up spooky stories about you.

2.    Remember, appearance matters -- even when you’re dead. Trade in those bed sheets for something more fashionable the next time you make a public appearance.  

3.    Choose your medium very carefully. You don’t want just ANYONE talking to your family and friends on your behalf. 

4.    Feeling a little invisible? PR can help!

5.    Tired of hanging around in the same old graveyard night after night? Don’t let yourself be a creature of habit. Mix it up a little and try something new. 

6.    You’re rattling those chains to get people to listen to you, but are YOU listening to them?  
7.    Tired of being such a loner? Teamwork can produce some wicked results. Find a ghostly agency to give you some hauntingly good ideas.
 
8.    Think before you moan – you don’t want people getting the wrong idea.

9.    Fess up when it’s your fault. Don’t blame the family cat for knocking down that candle. 
10.    Timing is everything. No one’s going to attend a 7 a.m. séance.
11.    Results matter. What’s the use if you can’t scare anyone properly?

12.    Don’t be a spectating specter. Get involved and make a difference.

13.    Practice your spooky speak. Remember your role as a from-the-grave rep.

14.    Proofread. How embarrassing is it that you misspelled “boo” on the foggy window? Come on!

15.    Hanging around graveyards is SO 200 years ago. Find a new gig.

16.    Don't be a pesky poltergeist. Scare strategically to make sure you’re reaching your intended victims.

17.    Even ghosts need to get social. Follow us… @ObsidianPR

18.    Don’t mask your true feelings. Be honest with your audience.

19.    Are victims not taking you seriously anymore? Are young girls hounding you rather than running from you? Stop blaming Hollywood and take control of YOUR image!

20.    Has your ghost story gotten old? Shake things up! Change haunts, glow a different color, or try a different scare tactic!

21.    Be consistent but not boo-ring. Your audience isn’t dead…YET!

22.    Don’t be left mourning a missed media opportunity! Stay on top of the trends and ahead of the news! You don’t want your only media coverage to come from the obituaries.

23.    Even the CDC has a crisis plan…for our undead friends’ Zombie Apocalypse! Do you?