LT Public Relations

A tsunami is about to hit the banking industry…and it’s coming from an unlikely source.  Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos, appears to be ready to take his impeccable customer service model into the banking industry, according to the recent Inc. Magazine cover story, “The Zappos Way of Managing.”

Zappos has quickly become the gold standard in industries where customer service is critical.  In the Inc. story, Hsieh said Zappos will eventually move beyond retail to businesses such as hotels and banking, saying, “I wouldn’t rule out a Zappos airline that’s just about the best customer service.”

Why should banks, credit unions, financial advisors be concerned? Well, most of these financial institutions hang their hats on the loose fact they have “the best customer service” and it’s what differentiates them from their competitors.

Good customer service, huh?  Ya ain’t seen nothing until you’ve experienced Zappos. Read the Inc. story which is loaded with remarkable examples of great customer service.  Zappos seems to be a customer service company first and a shoe provider second.  Check out this Nightline profile on Zappos, its culture and focus on customer service:

The philosophy is simple: customers first…and the business will naturally be successful.  Can financial institutions that supposedly cater to customers make that claim?  Soon, they’ll have to…or be out of business because customers will demand this Zappo-like attention.

If a financial institution is Zappo-like in its customer service, well, LT Public Relations, would be honored to represent them and assist with its communications efforts.  But truthfully, it will be the customers who will ultimately be the best PR.

If you’re not Zappo-like in your customer service, it’s time to “step-up” your game (pun intended) or Zappos might take your customers.

We were encouraged by the interview in Monday’s (6/15/09) USA Today from Avon’s CEO Andrea Jung.  Although the interview primarily addressed the need for CEOs to “reinvent themselves,” the message was clear throughout that communication is critical during these extraordinary times–and being assertive or playing offense is what will get a company back in the game…Amen, Andrea!

For those of you who regularly visit the LT Public Relations blog, you’ve likely read many times that NOW is the most important time for public relations to truly differentiate a company from its competitors who choose to stay on the sidelines.

Andrea Jung is speaking our language. Here are a few excerpts . . .

Q: Hard decisions are being made daily by companies to stay afloat. How do you order layoffs, save every possible dime and maintain morale?

A: Communicate, communicate, communicate frequently and face to face, not in an e-mail. Communicate the purpose of the vision and the reason for tough decisions. Whether it’s a layoff or pay freeze, they must understand the rationale and why it will make the company healthier. It’s more than morale, it’s trust and respect. In 2005, we announced a delayering of our organization, and a third of our managers left. We started fixing the roof when the sun was shining.

Q: Wouldn’t this be the time to take some risks when others are playing it safe?

A: Leaders on the offense, not the defense, will come through this recessionary period. In terms of acquisitions, strategic rationale has to trump all. Obviously, there are some great financial opportunities now. But acquisitions are for medium- or long-term value creation, and you have to have extraordinary strategic rationale.

So, will others heed the advise of Andrea Jung?   Let’s hope so.

One of the world’s most overused clichés is “It’s a Marathon…Not a Sprint”

This means different things to different people, but LT Public Relations defines this popular saying (in terms of public relations efforts) as follows . . .

• TIME. A successful public relations effort takes time.  Time to gain traction (keeping with the running theme) with the target audience (e.g. the public). Also, it’s important to know your pace before starting this ambitious run.  A steady pace of communications with a few spurts of adrenaline (e.g. larger PR campaigns) will get you to where you need to go.
• COMMITTMENT. Like any good relationship (e.g. spouse, children, family, friends), the “relationship” with the “public” is a commitment. It takes nurturing, constant communications, understanding and some hard work.  This is not easy, but to be valuable to the public (i.e. your audience), a commitment by the entire company is required.
• EQUIPMENT. Like a marathon, a successful public relations program requires the right equipment. Using the wrong equipment (e.g. an inexperienced PR professional or PR firm that doesn’t know the course) will inevitably end up unsuccessful and won’t cross the desired finish line.  A diverse set of equipment (e.g. strong journalism, media relations, new media expertise, crisis management, etc.) is essential while running this marathon–because you never know what PR tools you’ll need along the way.
• OBSTACLES. The marathon runner is challenged with various obstacles during the run and they often “hit a wall” along the way. But what keeps them going is knowing that quitting isn’t an option and they must achieve their goals.  Companies will likely experience many obstacles during the course of conducting PR (e.g. crisis, slow months, no interest from their audience, etc.), but the key is to keep running and overcome “the wall” to reach the goals outlined ahead of time.
• IT’S CROWDED. Marathoners are tasked with trying to reach their goals while thousands of others are doing the same.  It’s crowded on the course!  Public relations is no different–and perhaps more competitive.  Similar companies are trying to grab the attention, trust and business of your target audience.  It’s challenging to rise above the noise to truly differentiate yourself.  Competing businesses might even use the same equipment you’re using…but they’re finding more success. Like beating the traffic on the road,  it’s important to choose a route that is more effective (and different) to help you reach your destination.
• CHALLENGING CONDITIONS. Marathons aren’t always conducted on sunny days or take place with the best conditions–but marathoners run anyway to reach their goals.  During these extraordinary challenging economic times, there are those who keep running and those who sit it out.  The good ones march-on and use public relations as a driver to communicate to its target audience during these tough times. It’s not easy, but who said it was going to be easy?  The most rewarding things in life and business don’t come easy–and are often achieved during the most adverse conditions.
• FINISH LINE. Unlike the 26.2 miles to the marathon finish line, there is usually no finish line for quality public relations.  However, there should be mile markers along the way to determine if you’re meeting the goals outlined before the run begins.  The key is to be flexible during the PR run to change course, if needed.
• ACCOMPLISHMENT. Most marathon finishers say completing a marathon ranks high on their life’s accomplishments.  We can’t say public relations will match that level of accomplishment, but when a business thrives because of the efforts executed by a well-strategized and cost-effective public relations program, the business and target audience all win.

We’re exhausted by just writing this marathon blog post…but it was worth it because hopefully visitors to our blog and site will appreciate the importance of an ongoing communications effort…because truly it is a marathon, and not a sprint. 

“Running” into problems with your public relations?  Contact us . . . 503-477-9215 or pr@ltpublicrelations.com

Almost all professional and financial “service” institutions (like banks, credit unions, law firms, financial advisors) say that what sets them apart is their customer service. Unfortunately, this mantra of great customer service has become tiresome and becoming increasingly harder to believe by the customer.

Perhaps banks and other financial institutions can learn a little something from Home Depot about what it takes to truly have superb customer service–and ensure all employees are involved. The nation’s largest home-improvement chain has taken customer service to a whole new level. All 300,000 employees recently took a mandatory crash course in helping customers. According to this Bloomberg story, the company also is on a two-year push to improve merchandising and modernize distribution–all to cultivate happier shoppers who buy more paint and power tools.

Home Depot also instituted a program called “Power Hours,” which freed workers from restocking shelves and other duties for four hours mid-day to focus on customers. And it’s apparently working!  Early signs show that customers are happier and sales are up.

Anyone can say they have great customer service and therefore be content with what’s currently working–but today’s customer is the ultimate decider on what is great and what is so-so customer service…and they’re not shy about posting their complaints to the world about bad customer service. 

For purposes of establishing good public relations, we recommend taking a closer look at an institution’s current customer service model to ensure it’s updated, respected and indeed GREAT.

Public relations and customer service run parallel lives.  At LT Public Relations, we’re often tasked with working with the financial institution’s relationship managers or customer service representatives to ensure the “relations” with the “public” or customer are on par with what is said in the institution’s marketing. 

If it’s not, there’s a big PR problem.

A quick blog post from LT Public Relations to endorse a must-attend conference if you’re anywhere near the Pacific Northwest next week–Forward ‘09: Brandologie…The American Marketing Association Oregon’s Annual Conference. 

When: Wednesday, June 3rd…8:00 AM-5:30 PM

Where: The Governor Hotel–Portland, OR

What: Four breakout presentations on Social Media, Research 2.0, the Rebranding of Hush Puppies and Mobile Couponing; Three keynotes–Ken Smith of Wieden+Kennedy on the branding of Coraline, James Keller of Small Society on Branding in the Mobile Age, and Jody Turner of Culture of Future on Brand Anthropology

PLUS - A “Cage Fight” debate amongst all the speakers.  There’s also a joint networking event at the end of the day with The Placement Project, featuring live music from Travis Williams & The Love and some sweet drawing prizes.

More Info: Forward ‘09 www.forwardama.com 

Check it out!!

A quick blog to say thanks to Entrepreneur magazine’s cover story, “Get Thee To A PR Firm.”

As the headline says, LT Public Relations couldn’t agree more that it’s “Time to Hire A PR Firm.”  Chock full of compelling stories, stats and business anecdotes, it’s worth a read . . .

http://www.entrepreneur.com/magazine/entrepreneur/2009/june/201746.html

After you read it, give us a call (503-477-9215)…It’s time!

OK, the title of this blog doesn’t make sense, really (”An MBA in Public Relations”), but hopefully it will after you take a moment to understand the importance of having a business background when entering the public relations profession, appropriately practicing PR or selecting public relations representation.

For a true public relations effort to be effective, it must be directly linked back to the business objectives outlined by the client/company.  Public relations is useless if it is not matched with the business’s critical success factors–i.e. the things the PR professional understands the company must accomplish in order to be successful.

Like no other business effort, a solid public relations infrastructure encompasses a diverse mix of disciplines including communications, sales, marketing…and most importantly, business.  As previously blogged here at LT Public Relations, PR is an invaluable (if not critical) business tool for companies.  It shouldn’t be considered a ”nice to have” or filed as ”part of marketing.” NO…this is a must-have business tool to effectively meet business objectives.

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So if PR is a critical element for a business, then those who practice and provide PR services must have a business background…right?  Unfortunately, this isn’t always the case.  There are many PR professionals and PR firms that know their PR craft exceptionally well (e.g. media relations, copywriting, blogging, strategy, etc.), but very few have the business acumen to fully understand what makes a business succeed.  

When choosing a PR firm/professional, it’s very important to select one that truly knows business.

There are uncanny parallels between the legal and public relations professions (perhaps fodder for another blog post), but none more than the (legal or PR) professional’s grasp of the business while performing these legal/PR services.

The recent Wall Street Journal story, “Law Firms Embrace Business School 101,” uncovered the trend of attorneys adopting the idea that to be better at their profession–and provide their clients with an extra layer of service–having an MBA (or taking relevant business classes) is a good move…if not imperative to their success.

In this WSJstory, there’s a brilliant quote from Jim Hever, head of the Client Development Centre at Addleshaw Goddard LLP, “Lawyers are business solutions and to be able to be that, you must have an understanding of business dynamics.”

Amen!  Very true for PR professionals, too.

So there are two “must haves” when seeking public relations support . . . 1) The business MUST HAVE PR support 2) the PR support MUST HAVE a business background. 

Otherwise the business is a “risky business.”

We’re honored and thrilled to announce that LT Public Relations and Spaeth Communications have forged a strategic partnership to benefit banks and other financial institutions with their communications efforts–especially during these extraordinary times.

Click links for recent coverage and news release.  Merrie Spaeth’s quote below summarizes the relationship well . . .

“Now more than ever, executives at financial institutions, bank marketing professionals and the like have an increasingly overwhelming task of providing around-the-clock updates and answers to issues affecting their staff and customers,” Says Merrie Spaeth, founder of Spaeth Communications.  “Our training and strategy methods–coupled with LT Public Relations’ industry acumen–provide our clients with another layer of complementary support to help financial institutions continue the flow of communications to their target audiences.”

The banks we represent (and other financial institutions who contact us) at LT Public Relations continue to ask us, “should banks Twitter?” or “should we pursue social networking?”  The answer varies depending on how they respond to the following questions:

• Is the bank committed to the time, effort and resources (not necessarily money, but staff) necessary to appropriately conduct these initiatives?
• Is the bank comfortable being transparent and allowing dialogue to flow back and forth between the bank and customer (regardless of boldness of the outside posted statements)?
• Does the bank have enough content to frequently post information that makes it worth the visitor’s time to periodically visit the site?
• Does the bank have a good system of monitoring the data that’s posted, as well as review comments that are received?

Entering into this relatively new world of social networking (e.g. Facebook, Twitter, blogging) shouldn’t be taken likely.  However, banks shouldn’t necessarily be frightened to enter into this world, either.  This is the future of communicating. 

So, is there value in pursuing this new world of communications?  Absolutely. 

There is . . .

• Value in communicating more to the bank’s customers about the bank’s offerings and news.
• Value in being transparent.  There’s no hiding any more.  A bank with integrity must prove its moral standing through ongoing communications.
• Value in raising positive awareness about the bank.  The more a bank communicates, the more trusted the bank becomes (and easier to find online and through mobile devices).
• Value in knowing what a bank’s customer and prospective customer (and general public) are saying about the bank.  It’s ok if there’s some negative feedback–this helps a bank grow, learn and understand the public perceptions about the bank.  The key is addressing the issues head-on…and not dodge them.

According to Pamela Blase, a spokeswoman for UMB Finacial of Kansas City (from an article in this week’s USA Today ), “Social media is a whole new world, and you cannot afford to not be a part of it.” Their bank tweets about everything from the bank’s financial stability to the industry’s prospects.

Yes, it’s a huge and daunting undertaking, but the time has come to take social networking seriously. We know, we’ve finally deployed the practice ourselves. Need help?  Contact us . . .      503-477-9215     

Big banks across the nation (you know who you are) have been stressing the stress test and the imminent results which will determine if the tested banks can hold up if the recession worsened.  More specifically, the test examines whether the bank has enough capital on hand to withstand a sustained economic downturn.

Right now, 19 of the largest banks in America are awaiting results–but the banks that should be preparing RIGHT NOW are the smaller banks.  The Federal Reserve will soon examine “smaller banks” to determine their standing. Prior to the smaller banks undergoing this rigorous test, it’s important for them to develop a well-crafted communications plan that prepares the bank to discuss the results and what it means for their shareholders and customers.

Granted, exact details of the test results will not be unveiled until later, but the bank must prepare and execute communications efforts now to educate to its audience what exactly a stress test is, and why their bank is being tested.  The majority of the country is currently hearing the words “bank stress test” and has really no idea what is happening.  Furthermore, the words together doesn’t exactly connote good images (c’mon bank, stress, and test!).

It’s important to communicate before, during and after the stress test–especially for those smaller banks that are indeed safe, sound and well capitalized.  When bank customers don’t know what something means, they’re more than likely going to stress-out themselves and draw their own negative conclusions. Why not take a leadership role and educate the customers along the way about what the stress test is and the possible ramifications?  Better yet, if the bank passes the test with flying colors, boast about the financial stability of the bank.

It’s not enough to put out some internal newsletter or talk to shareholders that the bank is “safe and sound.”  It’s critical to be the educator, communicator and the leader for the bank’s target audience and community about the details of the stress test.

Need help? Contact LT Public Relations-510-477-9215.  We’ll help you pass the communications test.