online public relations professionals

Happy New Year!

Rae Hostetler · Jan 12, 2016 ·

Back in the office I’ve read with great interest the story about a disgruntled customer at Indianapolis’ Kilroy’s on New Year’s Eve. While our team manages social media, it can sometimes be a conundrum how to manage customer comments on social media pages. In this case, neither the customer nor the manager held back in the Facebook dialogue.

I saw and read the post Jan. 1 while skimming my Facebook feed. I thought, “WOW, this gal actually feels ok to go to the Facebook page and rant.” She said they’d spent $700. She claimed the bill was wrong and the waitress was rude when they tried to talk to her about it. The poster claimed someone OD’ed onsite and the people who work at Kilroy’s were more worried about that than making their bill right—especially after spending so much money.

In truth, a woman was having a heart attack and the staff was doing their best to get her emergency assistance. The manager of Kilroy’s posted back a scathing message with some curse words and derogatory phrases about the gal posting the message. The gal pulled her post and Kilroy’s opened a Go Fund Me account to help the woman who had the heart attack with her medical bills. It’s raised $14,000 plus dollars as I write this.

I’m now thinking double WOW. So who’s right? Maybe they both are… a little bit.

A study from professors at the University of Maryland, Carnagie Mellon University and Cheung Kong Grad School of Business in China was published in Marketing Science recently. The study determined that addressing complaints on social media is worthwhile because it can improve the customer relationship outweighing the potential side effect of possible future grievances. OK, so the manager should have responded.

One of the study’s researching professionals says companies should not overreact to negative comments remembering that past responses to complaints can affect how consumers respond in the future. My thought to this statement is… the manager overreacted in his comments going as low as the gal who posted. I’m not thinking I’d like to head to Kilroy’s this weekend. Professional advice… keep it professional but direct.

Perhaps it’s my age or attempt to maintain a professional decorum, I still believe social media is not the place to blast a company, a person and so on. Make a phone call, talk to a manager or write a letter. Not only are you held in a higher regard by the company, often you’ll receive a better response to resolve the problem to ensure it doesn’t occur again.

For years I’ve said, social media is like a large crowded room of people at a party. If you wouldn’t say something on stage in front of them, don’t write it and post it. It’s definitely going to be interesting to watch and see how this impacts other companies’ responses on social media going forward.

Ya never know where a media hit will lead you

Rae Hostetler · May 1, 2011 ·

It’s true as much as I hate to admit it–sometimes clients don’t truly understand public relations and why professionals recommend taking action as part of a larger strategy. Some clients end up bumping heads with the PR professional while others (some of my best and most loved clients) jump on and hang on for the ride wondering where we’re going–but trusting it’ll be a great place.

Here’s a recent example.

A couple of months ago I read a reporter’s request on HARO (Help a Reporter Online). The reporter needed sources for a Mashable.com story about companies that use iPads for work. She wanted to know about the business, how iPads are being used and how the tool has helped business efficiency. Mashable is an online publication dedicated to social media, technology and tech world. It gets about 2.9 million page views a day!

I sent the query to one of my clients who specializes in high-end home remodeling. In my mind it was a great fit. The company has been using iPads for better communications and prospect work (they show before and after pix). The remodeling team inputs notes into the iPad and forwards the action items to each other. Less paper and automatic tracking. Great for customer service. The company owner has a basic philosophy. Us PR Pros call it thought leadership. The client just wants to educate homeowners about remodeling not just locally, but nationwide, to improve the reputation of the business. There are professional remodeling companies. So with 2.9 million readers at Mashable, what a better place to possibly be featured as a professional using a cutting-edge business tool.

That said, the client has later told me he thought I was a bit crazy asking him to hit a fast deadline for information via HARO. We have a great relationship of trust, so he jumped on and went for the ride. Here’s where it led him.

The reporter loved the story about how the company uses the iPads and asked for an on the job picture. The company was one of four nationwide featured when the article was posted. When the piece first appeared, remodeling company owners from several states contacted him. The owners wanted to know more. They too had considered using iPads, but weren’t sure if the investment for their company would be worthwhile. Now my client has access to talk to these owners in non-competing market places for their best practices. He’s keeping in touch with these owners, and he’s meeting his philosophy of being one of the top professionals in his business.

Next the icing on the cake. An emailed arrived from none other than Apple corporate headquarters. At first we were skeptical if the email was for real. The marketing office wanted to know more. They wanted a conference call. What? That’s crazy stuff, but it was for real. The client was over the moon. He talked about his iPad use, apps and more for 45 minutes with two Apple marketing professionals. Within 5 minutes of hanging up, his office phone rang. It was Apple calling again to say they want to feature my client in their business-to-business marketing work as a case study. How cool is that?

Honesty in public relations

Rae Hostetler · Sep 10, 2010 ·

I was intrigued to find a story a few weeks ago saying that a new study shows how to figure out if bosses are lying. Two guys from Stanford reviewed transcripts of nearly 30,000 conference calls by American chief executives and chief financial officers. They reviewed their “tells” to figure out what words and phrases indicate deception. What peeved me as a public relations professional is that at the end of the online article at The Economist the writer says: “This study should help investors glean valuable new insights from conference calls. Alas, this benefit may diminish over time. The real winners will be public-relations firms, which now know to coach the boss to hesitate more, swear less and avoid excessive expressions of positive emotion. Expect “fantastic” results to become a thing of the past.”

Wow! Does he overestimate public relations professionals? Honestly, we aren’t that calculating to coach our clients and bosses in this way. The best and most respected public relations firms are ethical and honest PR professionals that subscribe to the Public Relations Society of America Code of Ethics. It’s posted online. Check it out. Among the guidelines: Be honest and accurate in all communications; disclose financial interests in a client organization and decline representing clients/employers requiring actions to the contrary of the code.

We live in a time when businesses and professionals are reinventing themselves to keep businesses afloat and stay ahead of the ever changing communications curve resulting from online public relations. That said, maybe some are cutting corners. Many of my Indy PR colleagues are not. Honest public relations professionals, like myself and my friends, are plentiful in Indianapolis. Ask if your communications team adheres to the PRSA Code of Ethics. Those pr agencies that do provide the most effective and above board public relations counsel and services. I promise you’ll be in good hands and never regret doing the right thing each and every time you communicate to employees, your clients and anyone else you need to talk to about your organization!