Working as a counselor for a public relations agency gives a practitioner a sense of satisfaction when a job is done right. Know why?
It has something to do with being outside the "immediate family" of a business, corporation or organization. A corporate public relations practitioner is part of the family. A community relations or public affairs director at a government agency or public utility is part of the family. Officers, secretaries, janitors, accountants -- everyone who has a job in the organization -- is part of the family. Agency people, on the other hand, are not. We're -- well, we're more like adopted children.
That's not necessarily bad. As outsiders, we have a different point of view. We're not so caught up in the day-to-day routine that we can't spot subtle communications problems hiding right under our noses. In fact, being an outsider is one of the things that makes us valuable.
Agency satisfaction has something to do with personal achievement, or a sense of worth. Perhaps, even a little bit of egotism. But in the public relations profession, achievement, worth and egotism are not unique to agency practitioners.
The overriding reason why it's satisfying to work for an agency is the fact that as outsiders, we are entrusted by clients with their time and money. Our clients commit their good reputation to our hands, and give us access to business secrets, their hard-earned money, and personnel hours. And, as responsible professionals, we take that trust and use it to accomplish something good.
They trust us. It's not just an ordinary trust, it's an intense, unusual sort of trust.
A good analogy is the trust the American people had (and still have) in our nuclear defense system. Despite criticism and protest, the fact remains that a great many Americans see a need for nuclear defense -- particularly the ominous Minutemen missiles that sat in silos throughout North America.
Whether or not we as individuals agree that they should have been there, or that fellow Americans should have been asked to send them skyward when appropriate signals are received, we had to trust that those responsible for their operation knew what they were doing. Even the detractors had to trust them.
We have to trust that they will do the right thing at the right time. We have to trust that the system on supports correct decisions and will not allow a mistake. We have to trust that the buttons will not be pushed by a madman.
Similarly, our clients trust us. And let's face it -- client trust has to be earned, and justified, every single day. So it is our professional responsibility not to betray that trust. As agency public relations counselors, we often hold the success or failure of a project, campaign -- or maybe even the business itsellf -- in our hands. Unless we become "The Good Hands People," we'll lose that precious client trust. Once it's lost, it will never be recovered. Reputations can tumble with amazing alacrity -- bad news indeed does travel fast.
Remember: Good work stays with us a long time. Bad work stays with us forever.
Our clients trust us. So, we have to justify -- we have to earn -- that trust. How? What are the professional responsibilities we need to fulfill?
I believe that at the very least, a public relations counselor should be four things: A counselor should be honest and candid, a counselor should pay attention to details, a counselor should be creative, and a counselor should be a team member.
If we are nothing else, we must be honest and open with clients. Nothing will destroy a counselor-client relationship faster than a lie or a hidden truth. Just as we have a right to expect forthright information from our clients, so your clients have a right to our frank and honest counsel.
As counselors, we must resist every temptation to talk our way out of our clients' tough, probing questions. If we don't know the answer to a question, we should say so. We should promise to have the answer at the earliest possible moment, and we should follow through diligently on that promise.
We cannot lie to the publics with whom we're trying to communicate. We cannot lie to the media. We cannot lie to ourselves. And most of all, we cannot lie to our clients.
Public relations counselors must be ethical, and must uphold the highest business standards. After all, we represent our clients in public, and serve as a bridge between them and the news media, between them and the general public.
That's why the ethics codes are so important. The Public Relations Society of America's Code of Professional Standards for the Practice of Public Relations -- its Code of Ethics -- for example, is like the Constitution of the United States of America -- it's the guiding light of the organization, it defines the rights and ground rules for its members, it lays a foundation for honest and frank dialogue, and it's a living document that changes with the times.
Honesty and candor in public relations counseling also means that you will not accept a client whose goals and objectives are not consistent with your own ethical and moral standards. We cannot be expected to do our best work for a client we don't respect.
Agencies often take on clients and campaigns knowing full well that only a partial success can be expected. And this is okay, if the challenge is there, and if the campaign's goals and objectives address the possibility of failure. What is not okay is when we do so solely for the fees the job will bring.
We should turn down clients and jobs that require us to compromise our standards. And when we turn down a client, we should tell them why. That's the hardest part, of course. It's easy to say yes, it's hard to say no. And for most of us, it's even harder to explain why we have to say no. But we have to do it. It's part of being responsible.
Being a responsible professional means taking care of details -- even the seemingly insignificant ones.
Every fact should be double-checked. Every piece of communication should be verified by the client. Every news release, every paragraph, every word should be checked for spelling and grammatical errors. We are word merchants. The words we send out reflect on our professionalism, and they reflect even more so on the clients for whom we've submitted them.
As counselors, we must create a checklist for every project and event. We must make sure we've seen to every little detail, and prepared for every contingency.
We all hold brainstorming sessions in the course of our creative work. Why not set aside a portion of every brainstorming session for some "negative brainstorming"? It works this way: Think up every reason why the campaign will fail. What if it rains? What if the CEO becomes ill the day he's supposed to conduct a press conference? What if there's an accident? What if the announcements come back for additional postage on the day of the event? What if a key logistics person is stalled in traffic? Then, work up a contingency solution to each problem.
It's only possible to think up logical solutions to problems that are identified. If they crop up at crucial points along the way, problems will wreak havoc on any well-intentioned communications plan. Like Boy Scouts, we have to be prepared.
We have to pay attention to details. If we don't do it, who will? The client? I thought that's what the client was hiring us for! Our clients trust us to handle the details, advise them of potential problems and recommended solutions, and guide their course of action.
Every detail overlooked is a potential source of trouble.
Assuming that all public relations counselors are equally competent and professionally responsible, what makes one stand out in the crowd? It's creativity.
Our clients trust us and allow us creativity in communication. Thank God.
It's the ideas that keep our profession growing. It's establishing new and creative channels of communication that makes our work exciting. Any public relations counselor worth his salt can rattle off at least a dozen ways to communicate with any given public -- newsletters, press releases, brochures, e-mail, advertising, plant tours, exhibits, special mailings, educational videos, speakers bureaus, radio public service announcements, press conferences, the Worldwide Web, scholarships, and community relations projects are some of the tools we use.
(That's 15, by the way. I told you a dozen was easy.)
But aside from the tried and true, the memorable events are the ones that emerge from brainstorming sessions. Creative brainstorming is the way great communication is created. Brainstorming works on the theory that 1 + 1 = 3. In other words, the sum of the parts is greater than the whole. Two people working together can do more than two people working on their own. It's called"synergy."
We owe it to our clients to be as creative as we can be. Every effort should be made to channel our mental energies toward our clients' benefit.
And that brings us to the next point.
If 1 + 1 = 3, then it stands to reason that a team (1 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 1, ad infinitum) can change the world. A team made up of the client, the counselor, other agency personnel, graphic designers and other creative people can do more than a counselor working alone can do.
Counselors have to love public relations work enough to let some of it go, in the best interest of the client. Keeping a project close to the vest simply because we want total control does our clients a disservice. We in fact deprive the client of the one valuable commodity that sets us apart from our competitors -- our creativity.
A one-person show can be effective, and it does have advantages, not the least of which is total control. Unfortunately, some practitioners have a need, or a desire, to be indispensable. That's too bad, for ultimately, no one is indispensable.
Try this. Take a bucket of water and plunge your hand into it. Pull your hand out quickly. If the water closes around where your hand was, you're not indispensable.
To be sure, being a one-person show has its disadvantages as well -- lack of team back-up, for one. If a counselor is ill, or out of town, or simply tied up on another project, and if you have no one to call on for back-up, the client will suffer. Not good. The client pays our bills. We cannot operate alone, or in secrecy.
Secrecy stifles creativity. Secrecy stifles teamwork. And that's irresponsible. Counselors working alone in secrecy are not fulfilling their responsibilty to the client.
Being a responsible professional also means we all do our share (and more) of the work assigned to us as a team member. The team is only as strong -- as creative, as effective -- as its so-called "weakest" member. Fulfill the minimum requirements, the job will get done. Exceed the minimum requirements, and it shows in superior results -- the project is successful beyond expectations, and the communications impact is consumate.
What it all boils down to is this. If we accept professional responsibility, if we are honest and forthright, and if we possess all the aforementioned qualities of a responsible public relations professional, then we will be successful counselors. More importantly, we will be friends and valuable business assets to our clients.
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