Your Public Relations Team

Yvonne Battle-Felton

July 28, 2010

Does your business have a team of professionals poised to inform the public about your initiatives, beliefs; mission, climate and opportunities?

If you have customer service representatives, receptionists, telephone operators, greeters, agents, salespeople, tellers, or other employees, you have a public relations team.

And, it’s almost impossible to manage what they are saying—or is it?

Late Thanksgiving night—just minutes before Black Friday—a friend and I walked in to Ecko for the first time. The crowd at the mall was steady with the promise of getting out of control as dawn approached. The store had opened early because as the cashier said, “the people are here.” It was close to midnight and the staff at Ecko was helpful, attentive and happy.

I’m now an Ecko shopper.

I don’t have to be fawned over when I walk into a store (though that helps), but, when the staff is professional and personable while appearing to be genuinely happy to be there, whether online, on the phone, or in person, that says a lot about the company.

And, I like what it says.

When I go to the grocery store, I see off-duty cashiers buying their groceries at the same market they work at.

That tells me the prices, quality and service are good.

While waiting for price checks, helping customers find items, walking around the track, your employees most likely live or play in the community they work in. When people have nice things to say about the company they work for, and they say them—it’s like free money.

I rarely take the advice of someone on commission: but, I will take the advice of someone who gets paid whether or not I purchase from them. Sure, I know the person represents the company and that they don’t get paid unless the company profits—but, I also know commission can cloud judgment in a way that building relationships with the public may not.

As a company it may seem you have little control over what your employees say behind your back. That’s not entirely true. Investing in your employees: paying competitive salaries; offering benefits; offering training and opportunities; and respecting them: providing them the tools to succeed and trusting them to use them, can go a long way in taking your public relations initiatives to the public.

• Permalink
• Comments (0)