Indianapolis communications

Stop the communications illusion

Rae Hostetler · Oct 20, 2019 ·

A survey of consumers and business leaders by Twilio is startling, at least to me.

Nearly 7 out of 10 businesses think they’re communicating with their
customers effectively.
Only 2 out of 10 consumers agree.

Here’s the reality. Often what feels like over communication is really, truly just—communication. People need to hear your message up to seven times to really hear it. And when it comes to communication with companies, us consumers just want it to be simple.

We work with business owners and leaders throughout Indianapolis. During the course of the day they’re juggling every facet of business from human resources issues to supply chain snafus to daily sales to keep cash coming. If cash doesn’t flow, the staff isn’t paid. That’s a hard truth. Yet too many times communications (internal or external) fall to the bottom of the list. And there’s an illusion it’s ok, because maybe it already happened, someone else said it or it’s in the works.

These are self-limiting beliefs for a business owner. If a company’s external communications are not strategically aligned and managed your business’ reputation will suffer. From an employee standpoint, C-Suite executives know when internal communications are suffering because it’s hard to put key initiatives into place and subsequently keep top talent.

Companies that are highly effective at change management, engagement and communications reap the rewards:

5x more likely to outperform industry peers
20% more likely to report lower turnover rates
5x more likely to have managers who actively support the vision

(Study Towers Watson)

So why aren’t more leaders communicating and what should they do about it?

They don’t know how (and that’s ok).

We have a current client who’s a master of operations and business growth. He’s the first person to say, “I don’t have a clue what to do to communicate my business.” And that’s why we work well together. I don’t know how to do so many things. I cannot fix a car, do my own taxes and am not handy around the house. There are smart and highly trained professionals who are experts in these areas. That’s why I call them to help. The key here is to be open to advice and ideas from professionals. Not all CEOs and leaders are, and it makes it hard to do the PR job when expertise and experience are disregarded.

Business of the day always seems to outdo communications.

At 8 a.m., we all have the best intentions to accomplish a lot. We have a list of things we and a well-structured calendar of meetings. Then we look at email. Then the phone rings. People need ideas, input and feedback. Now it’s a couple hours later and nothing on that list has been scratched off. Those high priority things to do are on fire. My guess is communications and public relations isn’t among them. It should be weighted equally to other initiatives.

It’s not a priority.

You cannot deny it. Just try! When we don’t know how to do something, it falls low in the priority list. Owning a company means wearing a lot of hats. Setting up communications goals isn’t a priority. A Forbes article from 2012 outlined what CEOs see as their #1 priority. They said, Getting and keeping top talent. Refer back to that Towers Watson survey above. It says companies that communicate well have lower turnover rates. Perhaps reprioritizing communications should become a priority for some leaders.

Leadership is out of touch.

POPin collected responses from 163 business leaders, including C-level executives, across a variety of industries. Only 21% of executives solicit feedback from employees in person, and often that feedback is not candid. Employees fear negative career consequences for being honest. When leaders try to meet, 41% said they do townhall meetings. These typically are one-sided, favoring execs. Our team worked for a global corporation that did townhall meetings once, if not twice a year. The leaders came from Europe to talk. And talk they did! They were out of touch with the issues the employees faced in the United States. Executives talked about products that didn’t affect the people in Indianapolis, and their global business speach went over employees’ heads. And yes, we tried to coach these execs with prepared and well-presented information to no avail.

Get out from behind your desk. Talk with your staff, vendors, contractors and others who work with or for your business. Take a walk through the office and work areas. During my tenure at RCI here in Indianapolis, the CEO decided to have a contest with the call center staff. The winner got to train the CEO and have him take calls from customers. Not only did the staff love it and feel valued, but the CEO learned a lot too.

Leadership doesn’t see the value.

Let’s go back to that opening piece of information. Seven out of 10 businesses think they’re communicating with customers effectively. Just two out of 10 consumers agree. When someone has a bad experience, they tell a friend or two or three or more. Even worse, they stop doing business with the company. Employees unhappy? They leave!

Make communications matter. It’s an easy tool that impacts so many aspects of operations.

If you’re thinking maybe it’s time to stop the communications illusion, email or call me o set a time. We’d love to hear how you want to be communicating your image.

It’s my business to know your business

Rae Hostetler · Dec 14, 2012 ·

When I meet with clients many of them think I will quickly have all of the answers—after all, I’ve worked in public relations for nearly 20 years. Ask me a question I’ll have the right answer. Right? I wish my brain processed that fast!

Instead of a quick answer, the clients usually get a lot of questions. Why? Because it’s my business to know your business. I want to understand the reason behind the question.

Why are you thinking about doing something?
Why are you asking me this question?
How does it translate back to business goals?
Will it help the bottom line or the company image?

I’ll be the first to admit I ask a lot of questions. Maybe it’s the journalist in me? Maybe it’s curiosity? Or maybe it’s because the better I understand where a client is coming from, the better we can make the final decision together to advance their business.

Recently I was invited to collaborate with two creative services firms on behalf of a client. I was asked to to the meeting with little to no information about what we were going to discuss for our mutual client as a campaign for the New Year. The creative team presented the big idea and I started to ask questions. I felt a bit negative not hopping on board out of the gate. I asked questions…

Would the concept create too narrow of a niche for our client?
Have they asked the client for sales data related to the idea?
What does trend data in sales show?
How will this move the bottom line in a positive direction?
Can we use the concept through all communications (it takes 4-7 impressions to get someone to act!).

The creative team didn’t have any answers and I wasn’t getting the concept. It seemed narrow based on my conversations with the business owner, his position in the Indianapolis community and vision for the company. The team decided to ask questions and reconvene the next week.

On the way to the meeting the following week I was hunting a parking spot in downtown Indianapolis when my cell phone rang. It was the owner of the company. We’d been trying to connect on an unrelated topic. During the phone call he provided key trend data related to the future sales position of the company. I said, “Well that’s interesting. I’m walking into the meeting about 2013 marketing and public relations for your company. The team is going to love the information.”

Be open to questions and be honest. If you have concerns about sharing too much information, ask for your agreement to have a confidentiality statement. I’ve had business owners look puzzled when I ask questions about the direction of their company. The more your public relations and marketing team knows, the better the ideas, advice and recommendations that will benefit your business in the long run.

Feed the beast… Google that is.

Rae Hostetler · Jul 19, 2011 ·

I’ve recently found my practice focused on several client projects that involve website development. As I work with clients to design their communications plan, company story and budgets for these projects I get the opportunity to partner with talented Indianapolis graphic designers. These designers all have some great web folks.

Together we all continue living and learning about social media, SEO and Google. And yes we’re talking a lot about Google the ever changing breathing search engine. And as we work to educate clients, I keep using the phrase… “Feed the beast.”

The reality of website work today is that it is never done. Long gone are the days when a company, non-profit or business owner would put up a website, post it and share an atta boy. Website content (words, pictures, phrases, video) needs to consistently be analyzed and updated to remain fresh in the eyes of Google. Here are some ways to “Feed the Beast”….

1) Research your keywords and update. Google has a keyword finder tool. Put in your website address and it recommends words and phrases. Include those phrases in your copy.

2) Add a blog to your site. Trick here is to post regularly. Even the well intentioned professional (me!) gets busy and sidetracked. Adding keywords about your industry gives Google something to bite on.

3) Consider video. If you’re in a visual industry it really helps to show people what you do. It also helps Google, which is the proud owner operator of You Tube. Video editing today is so easy even a kid can do it (mine does! And he’s only 12.). Then post it to You Tube adding your keywords and voila—something yummy for Google.

4) Tag photos, tabs and behind the scenes. Find a good web partner to help here. Tech folks know what they’re doing and do it well. It’s worth the investment when a prospect calls and you can turn them into a client.

5) Consider farming. Link farming that is. In real life business is all who you know. It’s the same on line. Link to business partners and ask them to link to you.

Who are you marketing to–yourself or your prospects?

Rae Hostetler · May 24, 2011 ·

A client wants a new brand/image/facelift. They hire professionals (either employees or consultants) to give them an honest opinion and guide them so they look great with a solid message—the foundation of their marketing program. Once they see and read the brand graphics and message, respectively, they want to go back to where they were. They resist the advice they’re paying to hear. The reason: they say people recognize their colors, fonts, logos and more. But do they?

Change is hard, but the fact is company owners that want to build a brand might be missing their target market. They might be marketing to themselves, not their target audience. Here are tips to avoid influencing yourself … and instead influencing your audience to buy:

1. Get other’s opinions.

Sometimes you get so close to the brand, you forget what’s important and have a hard time deciding on logos, graphics and language. Stop and ask people you trust for their opinion. Most of the time, there’s consensus. That certainly makes the decision a lot easier and helps to discover if the current brand/logo still resonates with your buyers.

2. Watch your language.

We all have our own industry language. Do the people you’re trying to influence to buy from you understand what you’re saying or are you talking a different language? Are you talking to yourself? You’d be surprised.

3. Trust that the people around you want you to win, too.

Wringing your hands and thinking it over for weeks on end as professional colleagues and consultants work to move marketing forward and create ROI simply delays the process to increase sales—the net effect of marketing. TRUST. Everyone is on the same team. They all want to win. They all want to see ROI.

4. Clean out the clutter.

Resist the urge to tell every detail of your story to make the sale. It can become overwhelming for the reader/listener. Clean out the clutter. Get to the emotion and tell your story—simply. Hit the high points for the prospective buyer and tell more details as you go.

5. Listen to the professionals.

Marketing communications employees and consultants are being paid to give sound advice. Listen to their opinions and recommendations.

Airplane Communications; Reach me on the beach

Rae Hostetler · Apr 4, 2011 ·

Just back from a week on the beach. Sun, sand and old fashion advertising via airplanes.

There’s so much hype these days about social media and the Internet. I thought it was great to see bi-planes with slogans and ads trailing behind for restaurants and attractions throughout the day. It was a great reminder as I sat in my beach chair, toes in the sand, soaking up some much needed sun—don’t forget traditional marketing methods!

There are great companies specializing in website design and management, social media gurus (An associate here in Indianapolis chuckles at that phrase since social media is so new: “Who can be a guru?” he asks.), and web-specific experts. Here’s the question, are these company consultants thinking about traditional communications in tandem with these tactics?

If they are not, find someone who is. Here’s why!

We’re currently working with a client on a rebranding that includes a major website overhaul. During a planning meeting, prior to aforementioned beach vacation, we were discussing their website, photography, messaging and more. I intentionally asked the question: How do you plan to communicate these changes to your internal staff. The client hadn’t even considered the idea. As an owner the first concern was asking for ideas/approval. No… not approval, but these employees should know there’s a new brand, website and marketing initiative. They should get to ask questions and buy-in. After all they represent the company. How will we do it. The old fashioned way… These employees will be pulled into the company rebranding using traditional communications—a meeting with donuts.

Further the plan we’re developing doesn’t just use web communications. It also uses traditional public relations: media relations, client communications and more.

Don’t get me wrong. I love the web and social media. But when it comes to promoting business—traditional tools should NOT be excluded from your strategy. Keeping employees, clients, partners, prospects involved and updated means communicating through a variety of means and methods.

That bi-plane flying by was a great reminder. I don’t carry my phone or my laptop to the beach. How would I have found some of those great restaurants and attractions without that airplane advertising!? I’m sure the businesses advertising would appreciate hearing it worked, too!