Insights for Leaders Navigating
Visibility, Credibility, and Growth.
From media strategy to reputation management, we explore the trends shaping public perception and share the approaches that drive measurable results for growing brands.
Who isn’t striving to get better in some area of his/her professional or personal life? If you or someone on your team has a development need or simply a desire for continuous improvement, I have a book recommendation for you. It is FYI For Your Improvement, a guide for development and coaching. In its fourth edition, the book was recommended to me by Robin Shapiro, president and COO of Allied Health Advocates and founder of Health Advocacy Strategies, and it is fantastic.
FYI For Your Improvement contains recommendations for people with specific needs. It lists key skills such as conflict management, informing, work-life balance, and listening, and provides definitions so you can determine what an unskilled, skilled or overused skill would look like for a particular competency.
For instance, if perhaps you want to be more action oriented, the authors of FYI spell out the behaviors that are associated with someone who is unskilled (e.g. the person maybe slow to act or overly methodical). Then they explain what skilled and overused skill would look like. They then provide ideas for practical remedies and suggested readings on the topic so one can come up with a general development plan.
I know this will be another book that I routinely pick up and rely on as I coach individuals at a variety of levels in our organization. and it will be a resource for me as I continue my professional growth. With a collective 167 competencies, performance dimensions, career stallers and more, this book gives readers a comprehensive body of material for development and coaching.
Many businesses question the value of quarterly review meetings, considering the cost and time required for preparation and execution that could have been spent elsewhere. But experts agree that businesses that invest in quarterly reviews have a greater chance of meeting their goals and succeeding in the marketplace.
According to a Harvard Business Review blog post on best practices, titled Four Fatal Flaws of Strategic Planning (Ed Barrows, March 13, 2009,) number four on the list is: “Dodging Strategy Review Meetings.” Enough said.
At Communiqué, we believe quarterly reviews are an essential piece of the strategic plan and value partnerships with clients who share this belief. One example is Tecplot Inc. They invest regularly in quarterly review meetings and have experienced first-hand the inherent benefits. Having just participated in another productive quarterly review with their marketing team, we are reminded of the value. Below are highlights from some of the best counsel we’ve heard and read from strategic planning experts, including M. Dana Baldwin of the Center for Simplified Strategic Planning:
Why invest in quarterly review meetings:
Think of a quarterly review as a quarter break or time-out in an NBA game. Why don’t the players just keep playing and trying to win? They watched the films and had a plan before the game started. The answer is simple: time-outs allow the coach and team a chance to pause, discuss how the game is going and adjust strategy to ensure the best possible outcome. They do this throughout the game so they can course-correct while there is still time.
The same strategy applies to business. If you only review your success once you execute against your annual strategic plan, you are only able to reflect on what worked and what didn’t. There is no time left to change what wasn’t working. Strategic plans should be living documents and companies should be flexible enough to change course when needed. Changing a plan is not necessarily a sign that the original plan was weak.
Why might you need to course-correct if you’ve developed a good strategic plan at the outset? Strategic decisions are based on the knowledge you have about your business at that time and the assumptions you make about the business environment. And the assumptions are many: the appeal of your product or service, opportunities that lie ahead, competitive threats and/or roadblocks. You can only plan based on what you assume will happen. What actually happens remains to be seen. A quarterly review allows you to take stock of which of your assumptions have played out as expected and to what extent.
Other factors may also affect your strategy that cannot be planned for in advance, such as big events or market changes that might impact your product (think 9/11 if you’re in the travel industry or the fast rise of the iPod if you’re in the business of CD players.) Also, new opportunities might pop up that you hadn’t anticipated. Are they more or less valuable than the opportunities you targeted in your plan? The quarterly review allows you to factor in these changes and adjust the plan accordingly.
Tips for a successful quarterly review:
Planning for quarterly reviews should not be an arduous task. Ideally, the data should already exist in weekly or monthly status reports. This data can be pulled, summarized and analyzed for the quarterly review. There should not be much new data shared at the quarterly review, but it’s a chance for deeper analysis of what is already known with corresponding strategic “regrouping”.
The quarterly review should be a broad look at the business addressing large functional areas together, rather than each piece individually (for example, the entire marketing team rather than a PR-specific review.) As such, the review allows you to hear what other cross-functional teams are doing and ensures a greater chance for integration and consistency.
Successful quarterly reviews should also be held in person where all participants are in the same room, if possible. In today’s perennially “connected” world, employees are often disconnected physically with many working remotely or simply working heads-down in their office and communicating mostly via email even with colleagues down the hall. Quarterly reviews allow the team to pull back from the day-to-day work, and have a chance to think more strategically and collaboratively. And the chance to come together in-person also results in more cohesive teams and a higher functioning organization.
The way people receive news is changing and so is the way that we, as communications professionals, distribute news. At Communiqué PR we are often asked by our clients to develop a press release for product announcements, awards and openings. However, this is not always the most effective way – in terms of time, money or objectives – to garner coverage and help the organization achieve their business objectives.
We have written about the impact of social media on tools such as press releases in the past, but even with changes in media, a press release still serves a purpose. A press release is still helpful to create a permanent record of news and can live on an organization’s website, or may even be required for publicly traded companies when the information being announced is potentially price sensitive, but more and more reporters are ignoring press releases as their inboxes are inundated.
We have found that personalizing pitches (or as we call it, drafting “buddy emails”) can often be more effective in both building relationships with reporters and securing coverage. A buddy email helps to bundle up the elements we can offer a reporter: from visuals to a spokesperson, or even a third-party reference. The more effectively you can develop the story in an email, the more successful you will be in securing coverage.
As a former reporter, I rarely opened press release emails that did not contain a personalized note teeing up the press release. For one, journalists have very limited time and it is helpful to have a short introduction to the news. Additionally, it feels much more personal to have a note for the reporter than a copied and pasted press release.
For example, in January, Communiqué PR worked with the Omni Group to secure 17 briefings at Macworld. Instead of doing a press release announcing the Omni Group’s participation at the event, we developed personalized emails to reporters, outlining the topics CEO Ken Case was able to discuss.
Additionally, we recently developed a pitch for one of our clients that offered them as a third-party resource to tee off of an upcoming Microsoft announcement.
Ultimately, we evaluate what is best for our client on a case-by-case basis, but some news does not warrant a press release. In the past, the press release was a go-to platform for all announcements, but as the media landscape changes, it’s important to evaluate the objectives of the announcement and think through the most effective vehicle for disseminating information.
What other ways have you been able to successfully secure coverage?
A LinkedIn Company Page is important for multiple reasons. It is a place for a business to share its story and present the company image to potential customers. It gives the company an opportunity to advertise its products or services externally while also helping to showcase internal connections. Therefore, it is important that this page represent the business to its fullest potential as it’s often the first impression a potential customer will have of the company.
As I am continuing to learn more about LinkedIn, I decided to educate myself more on Company Pages. I ran across the Inc.com article, “How to Launch a LinkedIn Company Page.” While I thought this article offered great advice on starting a Company Page, I’ve realized that there are some less common, but more strategic, ways in which a company can use LinkedIn to help its business grow. Here are three tools that a company can apply to help maximize its LinkedIn presence:
Collect Customer Recommendations: Similar to the recommendations application on a personal LinkedIn profile, a business can have its customers recommend services on LinkedIn. These references are visible to the public, so when potential customers are reviewing the company’s page, they are able to read these recommendations. This service can provide a huge advantage for the company because it is a free way to build the brand name and gain customer confidence in the services. What’s the best way of getting these recommendations? A good place to start is by asking your close friends who have used your service in the past. Also, help others out by writing recommendations on pages of companies with which you have worked. A recommendation doesn’t have to be long, and the more you write for others, the more you are likely to receive.
Company Advertising: Company advertising on LinkedIn can be a very effective mechanism. Companies are able to direct its advertisement(s) to a very concentrated group which can be selected based on the job position or a particular set of demographics that the company wishes to reach. The downside, however, is that there is a cost. There are two ways you can pay for ads on LinkedIn: pay-per-click and pay-per-1000 impressions. With pay-per-click, there is a set charge each time someone clicks on your ad, but in order to avoid extensive costs, you can decide on a maximum number of clicks per day to stay within a reasonable budget. With the pay-per-1000 impressions method, the company will pay a set price per 1000 times the ad is shown, regardless of the number of times the ad is clicked. Which method makes the most sense? Unfortunately, there is no right answer. Much of the decision depends on what you are trying to accomplish and what you can afford. Establish an objective and budget and run the math for both options to help determine which type will be most effective.
Incorporation of Links: Include links on your LinkedIn Company Page that connect viewers to other company information on the Internet. This facilitates and encourages potential new customers to continue reading about your company and it is essentially a free form of advertising. First and foremost, be sure to include links to your company’s Twitter, Facebook, blog and other social media sites related to the company that give off a positive impression and help educate potential customers.
LinkedIn Company Pages have a lot to offer businesses, but the trick is to understand how to utilize them properly. Although the basic components of a Company Page are a great place to start, in order to step out of the crowd and get more attention, it is important to go above and beyond the standards. Try experimenting with the tips listed above and see how your Company Page can grow.
For more information on LinkedIn Company Pages, visit http://learn.linkedin.com/company-pages/
As communications professionals, we at Communiqué PR don’t always like surprises. But no matter how much planning and preparation we do for a client, we’re bound to encounter a surprise or two. A product announcement just leaked before launch? A competitor publically dinged a client’s solution? A story got bumped, or our client’s quote wasn’t used in the final article? These unwelcome and unexpected surprises happen from time to time.
PR can sometimes be more of an art than a science, so outcomes can be hard to predict. That said, it’s important to provide our clients with strong, well-thought out estimates around expected results for each activity. It’s also just as important to communicate any potential changes to the results we’re all anticipating. As you may have read in our previous blog post about Communiqué PR’s Client Service Ethic, one of our key values is establishing shared expectations with our clients regarding PR activities.
Establishing shared expectations means:
- Providing estimated results before an activity. By sharing the results we expect to achieve based on each activity, it allows our clients to determine if the activity should be scaled up or down to best meet their business and communications objectives. It also educates our clients on the value of certain activities and subsequent results compared to others, such as the depth of coverage versus the quantity of coverage.
- Shifting the expected results as the plan changes. When it comes to announcements or launches, plans sometimes change. Whether we identify a new third-party reference, a customer decides they can no longer participate in a press release, or a product launch date slips, we can work around any changes and challenges that arise. However, as the strategy changes, the results will change, too. We strive to communicate the potential impact of these changes as soon as possible so our clients understand the implications of how each shift can affect the end results.
- Sharing results as soon as we can. If an article posts, we flag that for our clients as soon as we can. On the other hand, if a story gets bumped or the coverage schedule changes, we flag that for our clients quickly as well. We value transparency around coverage and don’t want to keep our clients in the dark when it comes to generating results.
While unwelcome surprises can sometimes be unavoidable, by establishing these expectations with clients, we help ensure there are no surprises when it comes to the actual results of PR activities. We strive to keep the lines of communication open and ensure our clients feel informed and prepared every step of the way.
As a new intern at Communiqué PR, I showed up on my first day having no idea what it would be like to work for a small PR firm. I knew very little about what my responsibilities would include, and even less about the people who worked here. But I am happy to say that right from the beginning, any fears or anxiety I held about the position were quickly washed away.
I was immediately greeted by a handful of friendly faces, and much to my relief, because of its boutique size, I could even remember everyone’s name from the get-go.
The more time I spend here, the more I learn about what it means to work in PR. Additionally, I have learned what a positive working atmosphere can look like, and that is perhaps even more valuable to my growth.
Although the team here at Communiqué PR encompasses many great traits, I have narrowed it down to three that I feel are most representative of the Communiqué working environment.
- Camaraderie: After just my first day, it was obvious to me that all of the employees here work exceptionally well together. Collaboration in small groups can be a challenge, even for many business professionals, but here at Communiqué, the staff excels at this. Taking on client projects in pairs or small teams demonstrates the trust and mutual respect they share for one another. I have been extremely impressed with each individual’s ability to be honest, understanding, and dedicated to help the other woman in whatever way they can.
- Passion: Even from an outsider’s perspective, I think it is clear that the women who work at Communiqué PR truly value their relationships with one another, not just on a professional level, but on a personal level as well. In the few weeks I have been on board, I have already seen new friendships forming, and old friendships continuing to grow. In addition to genuinely caring for each other, it is also clear that every member of the team has passion for the work that they do. I can hear the excitement in their voices when talking about different projects, and it is easily evident that they truly want the best for their clients. Each morning when I walk in at 9 a.m., the office already holds an atmosphere of lively energy, and when I leave each evening at 5 p.m., the office is still buzzing.
- Fun: It goes without saying that this team is comprised of extremely dedicated and hard workers. But what I think is more unique about the group is their ability to enjoy themselves and have fun throughout their workday. With this being my first PR Internship, I had my doubts about whether or not enjoyment was truly possible in an office setting, but now I can say I’ve seen and felt it for myself. Whether they all go to lunch together, enjoy an ice cream on a warm afternoon, or share a good laugh during the day together, there is no limit on the amount of fun and enjoyment these women have when they are together.
I feel lucky to have the opportunity to work at Communiqué PR, and I know that I am going to come away with not just a deeper understanding of public relations, but also a greater understanding of what it is like to enjoy your career and the people with whom you share it.