3 simple tips for improving PR quality
Idea 1: Constantly increase the level of understanding of the client’s business
"Requires experience in the N market." This phrase is found in almost all tender requests and vacancies, regardless of what is hiding behind variable N. If you are an employee of an agency, an independent consultant, or managed to work as a PR manager in different markets, you have already met that that their market is specific, unique and different from all other possible markets. They are, in general, right: every market and every company is unique. At the same time, we are limited in the tools that we use for the benefit of our client / employer. Therefore, the first task is to constantly increase the level of understanding of the market and the specifics of the client's business. First of all, in order to choose the right tools, as well as:
- apply selected tools correctly;
- prove to the client their professionalism;
- Feel more professional.
But before you take on a client project, in most cases, you have to prove your competence. How to do this if the client did not see you in action? Show your understanding of the specifics of the client's market and its business. And it is better if this understanding is not based on intuition, but on:
- read news and analytical publications;
- customer market analytics;
- reports published in full or in part, or at least some public information that you were able to get;
- all the things that I have not mentioned.
')
Unfortunately, due to the fact that many consultants neglect the opportunity to study the business of their clients more deeply, we have the opinion that the methods developed in the West do not work in the CIS countries. The problem is in the wrong application of the technique. Therefore - study, study, study the market of the client. Subscribe to thematic RSS feeds, and you will be aware in a month, which means you are armed.
Idea 2: Improve the quality of service
What is it actually about? What is the quality of service? Honestly, this is a topic for voluminous scientific work and hundreds of business books. Talking about the quality of services in a few paragraphs of the text is too superficial. (The quality management system of PR services is the theme of my last master's work). However, there are several basic approaches that rely on more complex models.
The purpose of the services is to satisfy customers. In this case, it is not always necessary to satisfy exactly the needs of the clients, the main thing is that the clients be simply satisfied. According to this principle, most PR agencies work. Where is a word about the quality of services?
One of the classical definitions of quality says: "Quality is a set of characteristics of an object that relate to its ability to satisfy existing or perceived needs." More simply, quality is the level of satisfaction of expectations. Here we are already talking about customer needs, what kind of help they expect from professional agencies. And not only from agencies, but also from their PR departments and PR specialists.
Thus, the quality of service delivery is a certain set of methods for shaping the satisfaction of the needs of clients and the clients themselves.
David Meister, a recognized professional services guru, writes:
Satisfaction = Perception - Waiting
And Harry Beckwitt (“Four Keys to Marketing Services,” “Selling the Invisible”) advises:
“If a service company can create an impression of high quality of services and a high level of expertise in a client, this will significantly enhance their satisfaction. Perceived quality of service is just as important to customer satisfaction as real quality.
Your task is not so much to provide the client with a service, but to make it so that he is satisfied. ”
The quality of the provision of services is precisely aimed at shaping the client’s perception of the high quality of the services themselves. That is, there is a technical side of services - their effectiveness and usefulness, and part of the “delivery” of these services. As an example: the client is important not so much the number of publications that you have initiated, as long as he is satisfied with them.
Therefore, improve the quality of your reports, improve the quality of your presentations, and increase the efficiency of budget allocation. Improve the quality of service in all the smallest details of customer interaction.
Idea 3: Improve Your Technical Capabilities
Have you seen the poster of the "NATO soldiers"? Be sure to look if you have not yet seen. It seems that a NATO soldier is ready for anything. What is your PR manager ready for? PR department? PR agency?
In the wonderful book by Caroline Black, “Concrete and Competitive PR” (this is how the Exmo publishing house translated its name), there is a separate section on the use of new technologies in PR practice. Mrs. Black provides a four-page list of technologies and examples of how they help in everyday work.
24-hour Internet access, e-mail and fax - without this, it is simply impossible to work. At one time, the fax produced a mini-revolution in PR, when press releases stopped being sent to publications by mail. However, if you work with regional media, especially in small towns, you will have practically no other opportunity to deliver your materials to journalists.
Answering machine, voice mail and telephone with speakerphone, not to mention the mobile phone - gentleman's set any "manager". You should always be in touch.
I did not forget about the computer, just focus on this attention is just silly. A PR manager does not necessarily need a laptop - this is true (although I can hardly imagine my dynamic life without him). A laptop is really necessary only in the case of frequent travel and mobile press office. In other cases, the laptop is a whim.
And the last indispensable devices: a scanner, digital projector, digital camera and digital voice recorder. Mrs. Black recommends: Invest in the latest technology! Do not waste - just invest.
Of course, "technological capabilities" are not limited to all kinds of gadgets. It is also the technology of production of your product and service.
Create a convenient comprehensive checklist for each type of work. This is the advice of business consultants and time management professionals. Patrick Forsyth (the author of the book Start from the Main) recommends generating checklists for all kinds of standard tasks. Benefit: saving time, eliminating pauses for making decisions, reducing costs and inconvenience due to unfinished tasks and poorly performed work.
Over time, you memorize many checklists, especially if there are not many items in them. For example, when you write a press release, you remember that in the first paragraph you need to answer 6 questions: When? Where? Who! What? What for? How? A year ago, in order to quickly organize a press conference, I compiled a checklist “Holding a press conference” by 32 points. Using this checklist, I can organize a press conference for a week, a day, or two hours without help, depending on the task at hand. The check list for the press conference is attached to the check list for the press conference, in which I have 8 standard points and 7 optional points.
And finally, improve technological capabilities by acquiring new competencies.
"Requires experience in the N market." This phrase is found in almost all tender requests and vacancies, regardless of what is hiding behind variable N. If you are an employee of an agency, an independent consultant, or managed to work as a PR manager in different markets, you have already met that that their market is specific, unique and different from all other possible markets. They are, in general, right: every market and every company is unique. At the same time, we are limited in the tools that we use for the benefit of our client / employer. Therefore, the first task is to constantly increase the level of understanding of the market and the specifics of the client's business. First of all, in order to choose the right tools, as well as:
- apply selected tools correctly;
- prove to the client their professionalism;
- Feel more professional.
But before you take on a client project, in most cases, you have to prove your competence. How to do this if the client did not see you in action? Show your understanding of the specifics of the client's market and its business. And it is better if this understanding is not based on intuition, but on:
- read news and analytical publications;
- customer market analytics;
- reports published in full or in part, or at least some public information that you were able to get;
- all the things that I have not mentioned.
')
Unfortunately, due to the fact that many consultants neglect the opportunity to study the business of their clients more deeply, we have the opinion that the methods developed in the West do not work in the CIS countries. The problem is in the wrong application of the technique. Therefore - study, study, study the market of the client. Subscribe to thematic RSS feeds, and you will be aware in a month, which means you are armed.
Idea 2: Improve the quality of service
What is it actually about? What is the quality of service? Honestly, this is a topic for voluminous scientific work and hundreds of business books. Talking about the quality of services in a few paragraphs of the text is too superficial. (The quality management system of PR services is the theme of my last master's work). However, there are several basic approaches that rely on more complex models.
The purpose of the services is to satisfy customers. In this case, it is not always necessary to satisfy exactly the needs of the clients, the main thing is that the clients be simply satisfied. According to this principle, most PR agencies work. Where is a word about the quality of services?
One of the classical definitions of quality says: "Quality is a set of characteristics of an object that relate to its ability to satisfy existing or perceived needs." More simply, quality is the level of satisfaction of expectations. Here we are already talking about customer needs, what kind of help they expect from professional agencies. And not only from agencies, but also from their PR departments and PR specialists.
Thus, the quality of service delivery is a certain set of methods for shaping the satisfaction of the needs of clients and the clients themselves.
David Meister, a recognized professional services guru, writes:
Satisfaction = Perception - Waiting
And Harry Beckwitt (“Four Keys to Marketing Services,” “Selling the Invisible”) advises:
“If a service company can create an impression of high quality of services and a high level of expertise in a client, this will significantly enhance their satisfaction. Perceived quality of service is just as important to customer satisfaction as real quality.
Your task is not so much to provide the client with a service, but to make it so that he is satisfied. ”
The quality of the provision of services is precisely aimed at shaping the client’s perception of the high quality of the services themselves. That is, there is a technical side of services - their effectiveness and usefulness, and part of the “delivery” of these services. As an example: the client is important not so much the number of publications that you have initiated, as long as he is satisfied with them.
Therefore, improve the quality of your reports, improve the quality of your presentations, and increase the efficiency of budget allocation. Improve the quality of service in all the smallest details of customer interaction.
Idea 3: Improve Your Technical Capabilities
Have you seen the poster of the "NATO soldiers"? Be sure to look if you have not yet seen. It seems that a NATO soldier is ready for anything. What is your PR manager ready for? PR department? PR agency?
In the wonderful book by Caroline Black, “Concrete and Competitive PR” (this is how the Exmo publishing house translated its name), there is a separate section on the use of new technologies in PR practice. Mrs. Black provides a four-page list of technologies and examples of how they help in everyday work.
24-hour Internet access, e-mail and fax - without this, it is simply impossible to work. At one time, the fax produced a mini-revolution in PR, when press releases stopped being sent to publications by mail. However, if you work with regional media, especially in small towns, you will have practically no other opportunity to deliver your materials to journalists.
Answering machine, voice mail and telephone with speakerphone, not to mention the mobile phone - gentleman's set any "manager". You should always be in touch.
I did not forget about the computer, just focus on this attention is just silly. A PR manager does not necessarily need a laptop - this is true (although I can hardly imagine my dynamic life without him). A laptop is really necessary only in the case of frequent travel and mobile press office. In other cases, the laptop is a whim.
And the last indispensable devices: a scanner, digital projector, digital camera and digital voice recorder. Mrs. Black recommends: Invest in the latest technology! Do not waste - just invest.
Of course, "technological capabilities" are not limited to all kinds of gadgets. It is also the technology of production of your product and service.
Create a convenient comprehensive checklist for each type of work. This is the advice of business consultants and time management professionals. Patrick Forsyth (the author of the book Start from the Main) recommends generating checklists for all kinds of standard tasks. Benefit: saving time, eliminating pauses for making decisions, reducing costs and inconvenience due to unfinished tasks and poorly performed work.
Over time, you memorize many checklists, especially if there are not many items in them. For example, when you write a press release, you remember that in the first paragraph you need to answer 6 questions: When? Where? Who! What? What for? How? A year ago, in order to quickly organize a press conference, I compiled a checklist “Holding a press conference” by 32 points. Using this checklist, I can organize a press conference for a week, a day, or two hours without help, depending on the task at hand. The check list for the press conference is attached to the check list for the press conference, in which I have 8 standard points and 7 optional points.
And finally, improve technological capabilities by acquiring new competencies.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/5080/
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