True Story
A friend of mine is a successful Realtor–but more than that she’s a fantastic person. She recently told me that a prospective client was interested in hiring her to help sell his home–but it was in an area outside her geographic expertise. Certainly she could sell the house there and would do her usual great job–but she was very clear that she didn’t know the area as well as other Realtors who usually work that area. She didn’t want the prospect to feel that she was taking advantage of them for her own short-term gain.
Get this: the prospective client was impressed with her candor and is still considering hiring her.
I take her example to heart–in fact, I actually have done the same thing. Sometimes a prospective client will contact me–fully prepared to hire me–and I will often have to be candid and explain that while I can do what they need, I may not be their best option. I then offer to refer them to a colleague who can do the job more quickly, efficiently and cost-effectively. (But I will sometimes take the job if everyone is clear about what I think I can do–expectations must be realistic and understood.)
True, I may be missing out on some paydays. But in the long run I believe that by telling the truth and being invested in helping the prospective client succeed, they’ll remember me when they need something I can do best (or they will refer me to someone else who needs my services).
Besides, what if my Realtor friend or I did take jobs that we aren’t best-suited to do and ended up disappointing the client? Dissatisfied customers can be pretty vocal about it.
Maybe it’s karma, maybe it’s just doing what your Mom always told you to do. Telling the truth–up front–is the best policy.
If Apple wants to be a major player …
In light of our recent analysis of Apple’s PR problems, we thought this post from The Observer might be of interest:
The event was an instructive shambles. In summary, the message was: Apple is good and makes great products; all smartphones have reception problems; Apple loves its customers, which is why it built all those cool retail stores for them; the iPhone problem can be fixed by fitting a rubberised “bumper” over the bezel; and Apple will give everyone a free bumper, so what’s the problem?
The press conference was instructive because it provided such a vivid demonstration of how inexperienced Apple is in its new role as just another company – and how inept Jobs is when faced with the hostile skepticism that is the routine experience of other CEOs.
“When it comes to responding to hostile or sceptical media coverage,” wrote one experienced commentator, “Jobs & co seem to be like a presidential contender who’s been able to skip the primaries and go straight to the general election – missing all the vetting and the hundreds of debates that help to surface any weakness or issues of concern, providing time to develop the skills necessary to respond to any situation. Jobs demonstrated what I've never seen him do in front of an audience: he not only lost his cool, he lost his charm. He was a like an arena rock star who can’t perform acoustic.”
Read the entire post: If Apple wants to be a major player it needs to start behaving like one | Technology | The Observer.
Not in Front of Company
I always thought it bad form for a wife and husband to argue in front of dinner guests. It’s just not cool. All it does is make the guests wish they could crawl under the rug. (Well, okay, sometimes it’s pretty entertaining–as in Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor entertaining, but usually not).
I feel the same way about business. If you have to bawl out an employee–excuse me, I mean if you have to clarify or correct behavior–do it in the backroom, your office or virtually anywhere except in full view of your customers. The same applies to staff arguing openly amongst themselves. Check out this review of a restaurant in Maryland:
“atmosphere unpleasant” by ****
November 07, 2009 – The food is good but some of the staff needs customer service courses. We showed up at 2:00 pm thinking we got there in time before they closed which is 3:00 pm. We waited 40 minutes to be seated only to hear time again that the grill was closing. Some of the staff were arguing, in front of me and several other customers, about seating us because it was too close to closing time. It was a very embarrassing experience because, “hello, I’m can hear you.” I actually thought they were going to turn us away because we were too far down on the seating list. When we did get seated we were rushed and got second rate service. No food is worth indigestion.
Wanna bet they never went back? And what effect has that review had on the restaurant’s new customers?
Being polite. What a concept.
This sounds like obvious advice, but I have–more than once–been exposed to bickering couples and business managers yelling openly at their staff. Both times it made me uncomfortable and reluctant to spend any time with the offending couple/business in the future.
So, if you have a staff member who needs “correction,” take it outside–and make sure staff know you expect them to keep their cool in front of customers when you’re not around.
If you find yourself arguing with your spouse in front of company, then perhaps you should serve less (or more?) alcohol. Whichever works best.
On Desperation and Ways to Fight It
Today’s economy is creating a glut of misery and uncertainty. It’s also rife with desperation.
Desperation–when you’re at the end of your rope–is bad for a lot of reasons. Perhaps the most insidious is that it often robs you of the ability to know you are reeking of desperation, which makes things worse. Check out this excerpt from an excellent post by Mitch Joel:
When you’re desperate it’s hard to win business, get that job, market a product or do anything (like find a mate).
The trouble is that most people who are desperate, can’t even muster up the levity to see, feel and hear it in themselves. When you’re desperate, your confidence drops, so whether you’re looking to meet someone, get a job or close a piece of business, nobody wants to connect with someone who reeks of desperation – and therefore lacks confidence in whatever it is that they’re doing.
If you can’t find a job, there are plenty of things that you can do.
What most people fail to realize is that while they are looking for work, their full-time job is actually making themselves as knowable as possible (Hugh McGuire over at the The Book Oven and one of the co-hosts of Media Hacks once brilliantly stated, “don’t Blog to be know. Blog to be knowable”). Our work/world has changed. If you are looking for work, pay attention to this…
Read more for “Four Ways Not to Reek of Desperation” on the Six Pixels of Separation blog.
iPhone Deaf: Apple Needs to Answer PR Call
Lemon or Not, the PR Stinks
It’s painful to watch. As a devotee of many of Apple’s products–I’m writing this on a MacBook, various iterations of the iPod have been my constant companion for years–it’s just painful.
Beyond being excellent tools, these Apple products are a statement that I value style and substance, simplicity and elegance, reliability and value. Heck, I’ve crowed from this very blog about the excellent customer service in the Apple store.
That’s why it’s painful to watch the iPhone 4 debacle unfold. Apple, the standard bearer for the best in product development and marketing, has apparently plugged their “PR ears.”
Apple–can you hear the phone ringing?
Let’s review (from the New York Times):
The iPhone 4 has been Apple’s most successful product introduction to date. Yet problems with the antenna surfaced after the phone went on sale and have plagued Apple for weeks.
Apple sought to address those concerns nearly two weeks ago, saying that a software bug caused the iPhone 4 and its predecessors to display signal strength incorrectly.
But Consumer Reports on Monday called into question Apple’s explanation. The magazine said that it had tested the iPhone 4 along with other devices in a lab and determined that the iPhone 4 had a hardware design flaw. It said that it could not recommend the device to its readers until Apple fixed the problem.
Overall Verdict: Tone Deaf PR. (Or is that Dial Tone Deaf PR? Or just iTone Deaf? Punsters, you choose.)
The problem(s):
- They may have known about the problem before the launch–devastating in itself if true–it will rip the band-aid right off any efforts to stanch the bleeding to date.
- They have reacted to this situation almost as poorly as BP (though not on the same scale of disaster, it’s a relatively similar PR crisis for the company in terms of credibility).
- CEO Steve Jobs, known for his mercurial temperament and occasional forays into direct “customer service,” has not made the situation any better–in fact, he’s making Apple seem arrogant, petulant and blithe about the entire matter.
- Customer confidence in Apple is shaken–many are already concerned about Apple’s deal with shaky network purveyor AT&T (full disclosure: I have a family member who works for Sprint and I like their service)–and this makes it worse.
- Apple, so used to great press for many years, may simply be unprepared and ill-equipped to handle a crisis such as this (also demonstrated by the poor handling of the prototype mess a few months ago) ala Southwest Airlines and the “large” blowup with director Kevin Smith.
PR solutions for now involve mitigating the damage and putting procedures into place to handle the next crisis (and yep, sorry Apple, there will inevitably be more PR troubles in your future. Like death and taxes, Steve).
- Mitigating damage usually involves being readily transparent from the get-go. Your pride be damned. If you’re wrong, admit it, apologize, fix it, then drive on– or face the consequences. Half-assed fixes and vain hopes that it will “all go away” are stupid and just make things worse.
- Have a crisis communications plan in place. Now. If you don’t have one, you better get one. Consider it insurance–cheers if you never file a claim, but aren’t you glad you had it when the basement flooded? Click here for more on that.
- Do you have public relations professionals in place who have handled a serious media meltdown before (see Southwest Airlines link, above)? But more importantly, are they empowered to do their jobs? Having a PR pro on staff with crisis com experience is great–but if you don’t let them manage the situation (I’m talking to you Mr./Ms. CEO) then it’s like the house is on fire and you order the firefighters to sit in the fire engine while you throw gas on the blaze.
- Fix the problem. Apple customers are fiercely loyal–but there’s a limit. The grudging rebate on the initial iPhone release was the first sign that Apple’s core (sorry for the pun) customers could be taken for granted. Not smart. GM did that. Have a look at their stock price now. Oh wait, they don’t have a stock price.
After the iPhone rebate mess a few years ago, Steve Jobs said:
We want to do the right thing for our valued iPhone customers. We apologize for disappointing some of you, and we are doing our best to live up to your high expectations of Apple.
If only he had done this right off the bat with the iPhone 4. Perhaps at today’s press conference we will see something like that; a solid, satisfying fix for those who have purchased the iPhone 4.
Apple, your iPhone is ringing. Pick up the phone.
“Next” Big Thing: KC-Produced Web Series WINS National Competition
NEXT!, the creative brainchild of Kansas City-based casting director Heather Laird took top honors in the Comedic Webisode category at the National Association of Television Program Executives (NATPE) LATV Fest in Los Angeles.
NEXT! was one of only three finalists selected. The web-based comedy was announced as the winning entry during the LATV Fest July 14.
Laird created the comedy web series in an effort to showcase her work as an emerging director, choosing the internet as her medium.
“Getting a foot in the Hollywood door is an enormous challenge,” she said. “The internet has become a way for some to slip in through the back.”
Laird partnered with T2 + Back Alley Films owner Teri Rogers as Executive Producer to create six, six-minute web episodes.
“It’s a faux reality series,” said Laird. “It’s a fictional realty show that tracks the trials and tribulations of real-life casting director John Jackson.”
Jackson, who is the primary casting director for the award winning director Alexander Payne (Sideways, Election, About Schmidt), also has a long acting resume under the stage name of “John Durbin”.
Other Kansas City companies who lent production support to the project include Liquid 9 and Wheeler Audio.
A Hollywood mainstay, NATPE is dedicated to the “creation, development and distribution of televised programming”. The annual NATPE Market & Conference is considered to be the largest trade show event worldwide for buying and selling television and new media content.
NEXT! is at www.nexttheseries.com. For more information about NATPE and the LATV Fest go to www.latvfest.net.
