How does it happen? Hits to your reputation can come from a pattern of unsatisfactory service, an unhappy customer who takes to the Internet to share his or her frustration, a disgruntled employee who calls the local paper to complain about you, a product recall, and more. And, when news coverage ensues from any or all of the above, you could have a damaging media crisis on your hands.

What steps can you take to protect your business reputation?

1. Contracts
Contracts with customers and employees create clarity and set expectations, preventing miscommunication, conflict, and frustration in the future.

2. Internal and External Public Relations
Internal and external public relations initiatives are critical to building and maintaining your brand and reputation. Internally, media policies, employee handbooks, and other written and documented communication are essential for stating company regulations and expectations. Utilizing these tools now will positively support your business reputation and prevent conflict and potential legal problems down the road.

3. Public Relations Support and Coaching
An on-going relationship with a seasoned and reputable public relations firm can be an asset to managing your reputation. Proactive and positive PR will position you as a leader in your industry and extenuate your assets. So, if an unforeseen crisis happens, you’re given the benefit of the doubt. Most importantly, they will be there to jump into action and support you in protecting your business, your employees, and your reputation.

Take these three steps to lay the groundwork for protecting your business reputation, and continue to review and improve your systems on a quarterly basis.

As you continue to serve your clients and customers well, keep your eyes open for opportunities to exceed the daily requirement. Here are some things to think about:

Are you making a good first impression?

When customers call, a friendly human voice on the phone is more magnetic than a recording, even in our high-tech society. A warm welcome and the question, “How may I help you?” tells the caller they are important.

Do you follow up with your customers to assure satisfaction?

Burton A/C, Heating, Plumbing and Electrical of Omaha, Neb. makes a point to make daily “happy calls” in follow up to their home service calls. They make sure the customer was satisfied and if for some reason they’re not, they dispatch their “love bug” to the scene, a bright yellow Volkswagen Beetle, driven by their customer service director. The vehicle and the personal attention leave a lasting, positive impression.

Are you a problem solver?

Tuning in to your customer’s pain points and easing that pain is invaluable. Always be thinking of creative solutions and ask yourself what you can do to make their work and life easier.

Judd Frost Clothiers of Wayzata, Minnesota went over and above the call of duty to make sure a groom had his pants on at the altar. After finding his “wedding pants” left behind in their dressing room, the owner put the pants on a plane to get them to the church on time. This exceptional customer service story grabbed the attention of the  Minneapolis Star Tribune and The Washington Post. That is national media coverage for a small, Minnesota-based business.

What’s a customer service story you could share? Is it a story that you could tell to educate and inspire others, while putting your business and good employees in the media spotlight?

We’ve placed our clients in local and national media from the Star Tribune to the Washington Post, and KARE 11 to CNN.

Here are 5 important things to know about securing media coverage:

1. Fine-tune your media angle – it’s not always obvious.

You may have a new and exciting service to offer, but your story most likely lies in the reason you started offering it or the clients who are benefiting from it. Uncover the passion and compassion behind your service.

2. Know the reporter

Take time to research reporters and get acquainted with what they’ve been writing about, so you target the one most likely to cover your story. Reporters appreciate people who do homework.

3. Identify Your 3 Key Messages

Write them down and practice saying them, using simple declarative sentences. You only have 30 seconds to make your case when talking to a reporter, so make sure you’re stating the most enticing and factual information possible.

4. Know Your Facts

Expect reporters to probe for background information, so be prepared and know more than you plan to talk about.

5. Be Prompt in Meeting Media Deadlines

The media moves fast and often have tight deadlines, so if you snooze, you lose. Plus, if you’re responsive and make their job easier, they’re more likely to come back to you for future stories.

From our humble beginnings in a home office with a Mac Plus II computer and no Internet access to a staff of six, laptops, iPads and wireless, we’ve enjoyed the journey. We continue to be proud to help our clients bring their message to the marketplace in a Creative, Effective and Lasting way.

Author Sherokee Isle was our first client in 1988 and together, we increased awareness of the impact of pregnancy and infant loss on mothers, fathers and families. Sherokee has now written 17 books and continues to support families on a national level.

We have branded and rebranded businesses, helped non-profits raise millions, designed websites and marketing materials, secured local and national media coverage and produced a national television special called Faded Photographs – The Faces of Alzheimer’s.

Our passion for making a difference fueled our success with taking Alzheimer’s disease out of the closet and helping the public and the media realize that it strikes young and old and has a devastating impact on families.

We have also helped educate and influence military leaders and politicians to protect service men and women from sexual assault in the military.

As social media opened the door to new marketing opportunities, we greeted it by launching The Social Media Incubator (SMI). SMI gives small to midsize businesses affordable access to communities of prospective buyers and helps them manage the execution of their social media in a way that is relevant, measurable and effective.

CEL continues to help businesses and organizations get their message to markets across the country with strategic public relations, marketing, branding, graphic and web design, media relations and social media.

We look towards the next 25 years with gratitude to each one of you for the role you have played in bringing us to this milestone and we look forward to continuing to serve and celebrate success together!

For our clients, the most immediate way to measure the success of a marketing or public relations tactic is through visible public and media response. Let’s use the 2013 Saint Louis Art Fair as an example.

CEL and Cultural Festivals Executive Director Cindy Lerick worked together to build and implement a marketing and public relations strategy for their event, based on clearly defined goals of reaching two target markets: art enthusiasts and the media.

The theme, You’re a Piece of the Puzzle, sparked a lot of creativity and strategic tasks to implement to reach the target market and accomplish the following goals:

Goal No. 1 – Draw media coverage to help attract qualified buyers

Accomplished! We took the 2013 Commemorative Print, a collectable Art Fair highlight, made a puzzle out of it, and sent one to every contact on our media list with the message: You’re a Piece of the Puzzle. We invited newspapers, television and radio stations to promote and cover the Puzzle Hunt across Saint Louis. We also asked them to feature artists in the news, prior to and during the event and highlight their work and passion for creating it.

Results:

Seven radio interviews

21 newspaper and magazine articles

54 television segments

84 online placements

Goal No. 2 – Draw target market, i.e. qualified art buyers to the event

Accomplished! Numbered puzzle pieces were hidden inside and out across Saint Louis and clues to their whereabouts were given on Facebook. Residents were invited to find the pieces, log on to Facebook and share their Art Fair story along with the number of the puzzle piece. As the pieces were found, the puzzle visually came together. This activity showed residents that they were an important piece of the puzzle, so they should attend the event!

More than 130,000 art enthusiasts attended the event!

The results of marketing to the target market of the Saint Louis Art Fair were award-winning! The international Festival & Events Association awarded Cultural Festivals five Gold Awards, six Silver Awards, two Bronze Award and one Silver Grand Pinnacle Award for marketing, public relations, sponsorship and operations!

Have you measured your success with your target market?

A crisis media plan is designed to prepare yourself and your employees to respond to the media in time of crisis. A clear plan will protect your company and help things move more smoothly internally during a stressful situation, while sending an external message of preparedness.

Your plan should include a media policy that clearly documents who is authorized to speak with the press, in order of point of contact. Include business and cell phone numbers for all contacts within the policy, so a prompt connection can be made (within 30 minutes). Distribute your plan and review it with your staff. Assure them that it is not a “gag order,” but rather a policy designed for everyone’s protection.

Our CEL team has experience on the other side, working as news editors and television producers assigned to dispatching news crews to cover breaking news stories. We know that if your company/organization does not provide answers, it often frustrates the media and they become more determined to get them from someone else, like a disgruntled employee or customer.

If you have a public relations partner, it is important to call them as soon as the crisis hits, so they can help you through it. When you have a little time to prepare, it’s always best to write a media statement or press release with your key messages and share it with your attorney for review. Once approved, distribute the statement to your spokesperson/s and if you choose to do so, email it to the media.

If the media calls and catches you off guard, it’s okay to catch your breath and say, “Give me a moment to collect my thoughts and I’ll call you back in 15 minutes.” Now, if they show up at your door and stick a camera in your face, that’s not possible, so it’s best to say, “We don’t have anything to report at this time, but we’re looking into it.” And then, state your company’s overall commitment to good business practices. We NEVER recommend saying, “No comment,” because it implies guilt, whether guilty or not.

When interviewing with the media, it is essential that you deliver a quick, accurate and complete response, while still maintaining concern for individual privacy and legal responsibility.

Follow these 5 tips for meeting the press:

1. Let your concerns show

2. Be responsive, but don’t give more information than necessary

3. Do not argue or become critical

4. Listen and choose your words wisely before you speak

5. Stick you your key messages to avoid saying the wrong thing

Whether you decide to talk to the press or not, if you think your clients/customers are hearing negative things about your business, it’s important to communicate with them, give assurance and protect your brand. Acknowledge that they may be hearing things in the press and that they are unconfirmed. Send customers an email or e-blast that reiterates your key business messages pertaining to your ethics, values and commitment to customer service.

The best way to avoid a media crisis is to remain true to your business values and practices, but be prepared for the unexpected with a crisis media plan.

Ranked one of the top art fairs in the country, The Saint Louis Art Fair celebrated with a bang! A big fireworks show called, “Art that Sparks” lit up the night after days filled with art from 181 artists from across the country and parts of the world. And, Zombies hit the streets of Clayton on Saturday in the form of a flash mob that danced to Michael Jackson’s Thriller.

CEL was pleased to put the Saint Louis Art Fair in the media spotlight with a focus on this year’s theme: You’re a Piece of the Puzzle. With press kits containing a customized puzzle made from the image of the commemorative print, we intrigued and lured the media in to report our stories of art and the passionate artists behind it. We secured more than 100 television, radio, newspaper, magazine and online stories on the event.

We help our clients create news-making events. What kind of an event would you place within your marketing and public relations strategy? How could you utilize that event to attract new business and bring your message to the marketplace in a creative, effective and lasting way?

1. Assess what has and hasn’t worked in the past and why and why not. 

There’s no need to re-invent the wheel, if the wheel is working, so do more of your winning tactics and less of the bombs.

2. Get input from your management team and if appropriate, your entire staff.

People in the trenches of your business are on the pulse of what works and what doesn’t AND, people who are part of the process will be more likely to take ownership of implementation and driving success.

3. Build campaigns for multiple uses.

When you create a good marketing and public relations campaign, it can be implemented throughout your marketing efforts from print materials to advertising, web, social media and email signatures.

4. Consider cross promotions.

When you partner with another business or charitable organization, you gain access to a larger pool of prospects through their database and other connections. And, co-op advertising dollars are sometimes available to off-set your costs.

5. Follow your heart with cause marketing.

Charitable involvement can be good marketing, but it works best when you follow your heart. Select a cause with which you or a staff member are personally connected to because a sincere commitment will enhance the benefit and enhance your internal PR.

6.Include contacts, emails and phone numbers within the plan.

When writing your strategy, make implementation easier by including contact information for the people you will need to call to make it happen. You’ll save time by having everything you need in one place.

Follow these tips and build a strategy that will drive your business and revenue!