Seth Godin…

Admission: I’ve not yet read Seth Godin’s books. This is very unfortunate because I love the daily feed I get from his blog.

This arrived in my email box this morning…it’s the last line that really touched me. So, I’m asking myself, where’s my courage in my business? Want to ask yourself that too? Whatever your answer, I’d love to hear of your response to Godin’s comment about market testing.

“Netflix tests everything. They’re very proud that they A/B test interactions, offerings, pricing, everything. It’s almost enough to get you to believe that rigorous testing is the key to success.

1. Except they didn’t test the model of renting DVDs by mail for a monthly fee.
2. And they didn’t test the model of having an innovative corporate culture.
3. And they didn’t test the idea of betting the company on a switch to online delivery.

The three biggest assets of the company weren’t tested, because they couldn’t be.

Sure, go ahead and test what’s testable. But the real victories come when you have the guts to launch the untestable.”

Till next time… ~Cyndie

LOWE’S KNOWS the Power of Public Relations!

I’ve written in recent months about the corporate stupidity of Sears selling porn on the company website. Since www.onemillionmoms.com alerted the public to the debacle around May, ’10, the company has battened down the hatches and, with an unmistakable, ”don’t-ask-us-if-we-care-’cuz-we-don’t” snotty attitude, has resolutely refused to protect children…let alone the rest of us…let alone it’s own reputation and brand. So, I am now a former customer. I won’t be returning. My dollars will be spent elsewhere.

As Sears’ insanity continues, however, here’s a true story about a store and its management who know EXACTLY what it means to support their customer base, EXACTLY how to bond customers to their brand FOR THE LONG TERM. My source is reputable. My source is my daughter.

EJ is an Army wife. She and Hubby are anticipating transfer to a new post in the next couple of weeks. She says, “95% of our belongings remain in the original moving boxes. We’ll unbox when we finally get to our next post.” 

On a recent weekend, EJ and Hubby were working on a home-improvement project when they discovered a need for the electric drill buried somewhere in the gazillion unopened moving boxes in the garage. Because of the pressing need of completing the project ASAP, it was really easier for them to buy a new drill than to spend a day or more searching through the boxes.

So, EJ made her way to the Lowe’s store near their home. In the tool department, she stood with a helpful clerk and explained that because she and Hubby are awaiting transition to a new post and that since the vast majority of their belongings are boxed, she needed to buy a drill. What EJ didn’t know at that point was that was that she overheard by a Lowe’s district manager on a tour of the store with several members of the store’s management team.  

The district manager approached EJ, introduced herself to EJ and asked her to repeat the story. EJ says the woman listened, then said, “My brother was killed in Iraq several years ago, and I want to thank you and your husband for your service to our country.”

Of course, EJ was saddened by the woman’s loss and her grief. Knowing in her heart that she was put there to be a sounding board for the woman, EJ listened carefully noting the woman’s pain, transparency and vulnerability. They talked for awhile and when the conversation wound down, the district manager beckoned the clerk over and, referring to EJ, said, “This young woman is the proud wife of a U.S. Army soldier. Get her a drill and any accessories she needs and send her home with the products on loan.”

EJ was stunned. Reaching for her wallet, she said, “Let me get my credit card number for you so you have something for use as collateral.”

The district manager replied, “That won’t be necessary. This is just one way Lowe’s can support military families.”

EJ was rather speechless as the clerk handed her the drill and a set of bits. Expressing her gratitude, she left the store a committed “forever” Lowe’s customer.  Two days later, the project was finished and the drill and bit set were back in the possession of the store.

The story of good will created by the shared moment, the trust and the store’s act of generosity will be told over and over again by EJ. The story is now spreading its way across the country by her friends and family.

More valuable than primetime advertising, THIS is the best PR a company could ever hope for. Congratulations, Lowe’s!

10 Ways to Drive Clients to Your Brand

1) Blog on business topics at least 3x a week;

2) Expand the boundaries of  your marketing demographic; 

3) Become the “Go2” expert: share ideas and resources freely with clients. 

4) Write news releases about your business.                                                               

• Email the release to company stakeholders, clients or customers.
• Post them on your website.

5) Offer “free, brownbag seminars” on topics in your brand’s area of expertise.

6) Use social media if only for the Google Juice-effect on your website.

7) Update the content your website – frequently.

8) On the “Contact” page of your website, invite visitors to link to you on Twitter, LinkedIn, Plaxo, FB. Make it an easy “to-do” by adding quick, click-link icons. 

9) Offer complimentary consultations for new clients.

10) Write a (____”White” is so blah…insert color of your choice___) Paper. Offer it as a promotional lead-generation tool.  

11) …oh, that’s right. I said “10″, didn’t I. . .

Stay tuned. Till next time ~Cyndie  

Customer Service Counts!

Customer service is observable, it’s tangible, it’s effective. It’s too bad that in this day and age, good customer service sometimes catches consumers off-guard. It should be the rule, not the exception.

For companies, small and large and every size in-between, customer service is more powerful than ANY  marketing/advertising/public campaign one might devise.  

Here’s a letter that tells of a real life example of FANTASTIC public relations as played out in FANTASTIC customer service. ~Cyndie

July 12, 2010

Ryan Cloward, District Manager

Albertson’s

5204 West Clearwater

Kennewick, WA 99336

Dear Mr. Cloward,

          I’m sure you’ll agree that customers typically bring complaints to retail management. But today, I am delighted to bring you, instead, a heart-warming, true story of your colleague, Mr. Dan Eichner, and members of his Woodinville, WA, Albertson’s team.

          On my way into the store Friday afternoon (July 9), I noticed two courtesy clerks carefully searching the shopping cart storage area. I heard one clerk say, “Nope! Not here!” She proceeded into the store just ahead of me.

          Inside, I saw the clerk and another quietly talking to a third. The concern on their faces was notable. Quickly they split up, each disappearing down different aisles. I cruised the store, picking up items on my shopping list and several times I noticed clerks searching different sections of the store.

          Something was up. . .and I began hoping I’d find out just what it was!

          My final stop was the produce section. It was there the mystery was solved. I found myself standing less than ten feet away from a very distraught customer, her young daughter and Mr. Eichner. The customer didn’t speak English, but the look in her eyes was that of sheer panic.  

          Whatever she’d lost was of paramount importance to her. Mr. Eichner calmly and supportively communicated with her when a clerk approached. Bi-lingual, the clerk began to translate for Mr. Eichner. Upon hearing Mr. Eichner’s statements in her native tongue, the woman looked a bit more hopeful and was calmer.

          Only seconds later, up ran dairy manager, Jesus Lopez. Aware of the search-in-progress, he suspected the missing item may have been part of litter he’d picked up in the parking lot moments before—litter he’d thrown away. He had gone to the trash can outside and retrieved the missing item—a check for a large amount of money made out to the distraught woman. Rushing into the store and to the group, he handed the check to the woman, who, in an instant, was overcome with great relief and began to cry tears of gratitude. The group sent up high-fives and rousing “hoo-rahs”. For the woman, tears and abject fear turned to bright eyes and a broad smile of relief to the strangers before her.

          I consider myself blessed to have observed this incident. The teamwork I witnessed, played out quietly, efficiently, effectively and with great sensitivity by Mr. Eichner and his team, was extraordinary. Their compassion, underscored by verbal and non-verbal means of communication, reflected well on the Woodinville Albertson’s, as well as the larger Albertson’s brand.

          I write to enthusiastically commend the leadership excellence of Mr. Eichner and the actions of members of his team:

• April Lopez, GM Manager

• Gerrald Logan, Grocery Manager

• Jesus Lopez, Dairy Manager

• Eric Booth, Produce Clerk

• Emily Millard, Front End Manager

          Their actions, selfless and authentic, indicate theirs is a store with which I shall gladly continue to do business.

          Authentic action in response to a customer’s plight is the very best PR in the world! I shall tell this story to friends and associates encouraging them to remember the Albertson’s brand for its trustworthy service and the best in shopping experiences.

          A copy of this letter shall be sent to the editor of our local newspaper, the Woodinville Weekly. In addition, I request that a copy of this letter be placed in the personnel files of the five team members named above.

With my best regards, I am,

Sincerely,

/s/Cyndie Ulrich

Cyndie Ulrich, CEO

Ulrich Consulting, Public Relations

Corporate Responsibility or Blood: Which Are They After?

A fact of life: accidents of monumental proportion happen.

It’s what we do, individually and as a society, after the accident that counts.

In the case of the explosion of BP’s Deepwater Horizon platform and the tragedy of the disastrous, ongoing oil spill, people demand the corporation to act responsibly. . .but in truth, the torrent of their demands, actions and personal attacks on company officials indicate nothing will satisfy them.  Nothing.

Anyone who has spent anytime in a “War Room” during a crisis situation knows that solutions come neither easily nor on schedule. But for outside observers, especially those from the political arena, there is great advantage in spinning solutions, demands and accusations, sometimes from thin air.

Diana Furchtgott-Roth, Senior Fellow at the Hudson Institute recently wrote:

When oil is spewing into the Gulf of Mexico and all the administration’s efforts appear only to be slowing down the clean-up, there’s nothing else to do than attack a convenient Republican. Rule 11 of Saul Alinsky’s Rules for Radicals: A Practical Primer for Realistic Radicals, states: “Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, polarize it. Don’t try to attack abstract corporations or bureaucracies. Identify a responsible individual. Ignore attempts to shift or spread the blame.”

That’s what Democrats are doing with Representative Joe Barton. No Democrat has addressed the issue that Barton raised, namely why has the administration expropriated without clear legal authority the distribution of compensation? Why is the administration, rather than BP, writing checks to hundreds of thousands of Americans harmed by the spill? Can the administration do a more efficient job than BP of rapidly processing the claims? Is the administration using the compensation process for political gain? If the oil spill isn’t solved by November, Americans will be angry at the administration, not at Joe Barton.

I agree. Furthermore, from a PR perspective, here is what I’ve seen:

• BP, yes, apparently unprepared to correct the specific way in which the pipe twisted when it blew;

• BP officials who, with their corporation, continue to work relentlessly to meet the technological demands of the repair – who are brainstorming, analyzing, testing and implementing solutions 24/7;

• The BP CEO who appears before the media on-demand and has since the first moments of the crisis; a CEO who is transparent, honest, straight-forward, willingly vulnerable at the jaws of a presidential administration, Congressional leaders and a public ready, it appears, to crucify him, for example, for trying to recuperate for a day on his yacht;

• A global corporation, BP, who is prepared to do the right thing by paying out a minimum $20 BILLION in reparation payments as soon as possible – this in addition to the cost of repair and clean-up.

What kills me are the sanctimonious actions and holier-than-thou rhetoric of members of the congressional committee who interrogated CEO Tony Hayworth last week.

Were Senator Joe Barton to be able to do it over again, he may choose to rephrase his statement regarding his suspicions that the presidential administration had railroaded (my term, intended) BP into the $20B reparation payment. In that phrasing, he created the vent from which the lava of hyperbole spews. Had he phrased differently from the outset and released the statement outside the halls of the congressional committee, the statement could have been productive – politically and otherwise.

So, let’s get a grip here….a firm grip on what teamwork on a national scale during crisis really means, what it looks like and how it’s done.

America needs proactive leadership….we don’t need the current administration continuing to instigate a 2010 version of the Salem Witch Hunt.

Till next time ~Cyndie

What WAS Sears Thinking???

Recently, in a marketing blitz of gifts available for dad’s on Father’s Day, retail icon, Sears, featured a number of pornographic posters for sale.

(Stop!…before you streak off to the Sears website to try to find the offerings. The company, apparently six weeks after initial posting of the items and the onslaught of complaints, FINALLY took them off the site late last week…and, then, only after a 48-hour barrage of phone calls to the corporate office of company CEO, Bruce Johnson by consumers disgusted by the posters and doubly disgusted at the company for its decision to post them in the first place!)

Were it not for blanket media coverage of the BP oil spill in the Gulf, Sears could quickly have found its charred remains featured as lead story on all manner of news outlets. Major, irreconcilable wound to a company whose previously golden history goes back some 77-years!

Mid-week, last, I received word of this issue from a friend who sent me an alert from the national nonprofit organization, OneMillionMoms.org. This organization is to be highly commended for leading the charge to demand Sears remove the pornographic material that was easily accessible by children.

I went to the website and saw for myself the offensive photographs. Then, I got on the phone and called CEO Johnson’s office.

Now, shame on Sears for posting the material in the first place. But compounding the injury to company and consumer alike, the receptionist I talked to was both rude and sarcastic. Here’s what happened. The call was so short, I can assure you this is an accurate retelling of the incident.

“Sears Corporation…how may I direct your call?” said the receptionist.

“Good Morning,” I said. “Please connect me with Bruce Johnson.”

She herrumphed. (You know, “hrrrrr-umphhhh”…that sound that we emit when we’re ticked off beyond belief and unable to hold back our irritation…)

Assuming too much – I mean, I could have been Johnson’s stock broker, doctor, mother – she continued in a terse manner, “Sears is aware of the issue you’re calling about and the company is doing what . . .” – CLICK! She cut the line.

There’s the old adage “Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.” Well, two’s my number…I don’t try a third time. Whether purposely or accidently discharged, I was left shaking my head in utter disbelief at the whole issue and decided that it would take time and an observable, major change in Sears before my dollars would get spent with the retailer.

Apparently, at one point, Sears spokespersons said the pornography was posted by a “third party” retailer and that made Sears only partially responsible for the material.

To this I say, “Baloney!” The only banner my eyes landed on above the selection of posters was a large “Sears” logo and  a sub-banner that said “Father’s Day Gifts”. Sears is a global retailer and that excuse doesn’t hold water.

No matter how large the company, the investment of time, effort and finances in the consistent review, editing and oversight of all company collateral pays off in multiple returns. Review is THE most important marketing and PR function of all.

Till next time, ~Cyndie

Do Businesses Know What They Look Like?

Human Resources, like every department within a company, is an integral part of the public relations team. Unfortunately, far too many businesses and nonprofits (NPO’s) ignore this fact. As a result, HR directors or hiring managers write “help wanted” ads that negatively impact the company or NPO they serve.

Lately, I’ve been on Craigslist (CL) researching the different ways job postings are written.  And I’m very surprised not only at what I’m finding but at what appears to be the growing number of ads like those I’m about to describe.

Example #1:  Recently, I found a CL ad placed by a state-run, educational agency searching for candidates for a federally-funded position recruiting and training a specific student demographic. Qualified candidates were people with college degrees plus several years of on-the-job experience.

Qualified candidates would have expertise in MS Office software, spreadsheets/databases and desktop publishing. Qualified candidates would plan and agree to participate in upwards of a half-dozen overnight training sessions (bearer of all associated costs of such sessions not identified).

Work would be full-time over 11-months at $1,000 per month (minus all applicable state and federal taxes) plus a very small stipend awarded at the end of the contracted time.

Example #2: Many businesses advertise for interns. The term “intern” used to mean a college student committing to a 3-month duration of  non-compensated service over summer vacation for the purpose of gaining a) a wealth of experience related to their major; and, b) a letter of recommendation useful for any number of worthwhile purposes as they finish their degree and enter the job market.

Evidently, that’s not true any more.

Today, job requirements for “interns”, in communications for instance, read like carbon copies of other ads where requirements and responsibilities are compensated at the $35K to $45K salary range.

Granted, we’re still in the midst of an economic recession. And granted, businesses and nonprofits need to operate “lean and mean” in such an economic environment. But really. . .do companies and NPO’s realize the damage these ads do to their brand in the minds of current and potential customers and donors?

The company’s message from such ads is some form of this: “We exist to squeeze the bloody life out of our employees.” And the public can do nothing but perceive the companies or NPO’s as demanding, cheap and disrespectful of their workforce.

There is no way any kind of concrete, positive message can be spun from these two advertising examples. Truly, its better to not advertise/not hire for a position than for a company or NPO to trash its own reputation using such insulting hiring tactics.

Till next time! ~Cyndie

Inner Relations: Get it right & your public relations follows.

Do you live and work with such gusto that the acquisition of regrets is, and will be, simply impossible? What’s keeping you from living and working your fullest and richest life?

In the 1989 hit movie, Field of Dreams, Burt Lancaster plays Dr. Archibald “Moonlight” Graham, a short-term, minor-league baseball player who left the game, in real his life, to become a medical doctor.

In the film, Graham saves the life of Ray Kinsella’s (Kevin Costner) daughter when she falls from the bleachers and chokes on a piece of the hot dog she was eating. The “young” incarnation of Graham, the ball player on the mystical ball field, makes the decision to leave the protective boundaries of the ball field and in so doing, transforms into his elderly incarnation and, as “Dr. Graham”, proceeds to save the little girl’s life.

After the rescue, Kinsella asks Graham what he wants, how he, Kinsella, can possibly repay him for saving his daughter. If ever there was a poignant soliloquy in movie history, this has got to be it…and Lancaster delivered it as only Lancaster could…in a rivetingly quiet, yet powerful, fashion. Says the Graham character:

“Well, you know I… I never got to bat in the major leagues. I would have liked to have had that chance. Just once. To stare down a big league pitcher. To stare him down, and just as he goes into his windup, wink. Make him think you know something he doesn’t. That’s what I wish for. Chance to squint at a sky so blue that it hurts your eyes just to look at it. To feel the tingling in your arm as you connect with the ball. To run the bases – stretch a double into a triple, and flop face-first into third, wrap your arms around the bag. That’s my wish, Ray Kinsella. That’s my wish. And is there enough magic out there in the moonlight to make this dream come true?”

Yes, Dr. Graham, the magic is there – it’s found within each one of us.

Work and live with neither fear nor intention of creating regrets……then watch EVERYTHNG IN AND AROUND YOU change.

Till next time!   ~Cyndie

“PR Fails When There is NO Integrity”

I’ve a favorite quote specific to public relations. It’s attributed to Viv Segal, MD of Sefin Communications Consultants in South Africa.

“PR means telling the truth and working ethically – even when what the media want is headlines and what the public wants is scapegoats.

Public relations fails when there is no integrity.

Cyndie Ulrich

Thank you x 10-to-the-23rd-power, Ms. Segal!

Only negative ramifications come from strategies built without firm, ethical foundation.

The majority of the public thinks public relations practitioners are soothsaying manipulators who deconstruct fact and from that deconstruction, piece together a “new & improved” story line that is then perpetrated on a target audience.

Messaging is an interesting process. Developing the right message is crucial.

What is even more rigorous is to present the message in such a way as to ensure acceptance of the campaign’s intended meaning of the message by the majority of the target audience. Grand success or abject failure rests upon the reception of the intended meaning by the target audience.

PR is the result of persuasion via the repetition of focused, effective, truthful messaging. Any other method is without a shred of benefit plus it’s filled with great risk of great damage to the brand.  Effective PR is never about brain-washing, bashing, spin-meistering, mocking or forcing the audience into a particular understanding. It is about leading the audience to a better understanding of an issue or entity using logic and truth in creative ways.

Polling research on target audience gives valuable base-line, demographic  information for PR practitioners’ use. OK. Fine. But, at the end of the day, researching necessary information is the easy part. The issue in need of solution is how to negotiate a method for that information to gently open minds and then persuade those minds to at least entertain a shift in their belief systems. And the goal is that, after pondering info’ provided by your campaign, your target audience experiences a major “AH! HA!” moment followed by a significant change of opinion or by the decision to buy.

No matter what the campaign nor how high the stakes, campaign leadership must show deep integrity and the highest of standards for playing ethically. Any need for success for its own sake or any of success’s outcomes such as status, position, power and money, must never interfere with presenting the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Period.

So, again, I say “THANK YOU” to Ms. Segal for saying what needs to be said.

Till next time, ~Cyndie

Effective PR is a Snap! (…really?)

With a basic understanding of your business, its brand, service or product, and target audience, PR campaigns can be a snap. Really!!

Summarized, PR campaigns are a 5-step process:

1. Objective: define the goals you want for your business; prioritize the pertinent facts about your business or the reason(s) for the campaign.
2. Positioning:  What position will you take? What perspective do you want your target audience to take away? What action do you hope they’ll take as a result of the campaign?
3. Messaging: what key message(s) will be used and what is the theme of the delivery?

From the results of this 3-step analysis comes the platform for the 2-steps of strategy and tactics.

1. Strategy: by what means will you achieve your objective? In what order will you accomplish the means by which you’ll achieve the objective?
2. Tactics: tools you’ll use – for example: News release or guest editorial? Direct mail or e-newsletter? Online ads or a pitch to local journalist? Host your own radio show or guest on someone else’s?

Defining and outlining the project saves you time and money. The outlined plan is never “struck in stone”; it allows for modification during the course of the campaign.

Till next time!  ~Cyndie