Qualify leads so you don't have to make good as often

Clients rarely tell others they’re satisfied, but they tell the world they’re not.

That’s why making good is essential if a client is dissatisfied.

Whenever we’ve had to make good, it hurts.

Especially if we did what we said we’d do.

We’ve discovered that, generally, if we had qualified the client better, we usually wouldn’t have had to make good.

We know the profile of the company that fits best with us.

With very few exceptions, when we take a client who doesn’t fit that profile, especially one who can’t really afford a public relations firm, we’re more likely to run into problems.

We’re firm believers in giving back to the community by doing pro bono PR.

When it comes to profit, stick to your parameters. That way, you won’t have to make good as often when you’ve done excellent work.

For more information, please call us at 916. 455.4790 or visit our website at www.dellrichards.com.

How to listen as a sales tool

In the 1950’s, they used to say to catch a man, you had to be a good listener. “Ask questions and he’ll think you’re a wonderful conversationalist.”

That advice has fallen by the wayside in the marriage market, but it’s still good advice in sales.

So much so, a business coach of ours used to say “…the art of sales is the same as courtship.”

In order to find out if you have enough in common to create a working relationship, you have to ask relevant questions, listen to the answers and ask careful follow-up questions.

In sales, the questions relate to the need and elicit information targeted to service or product you’re offering. Ask about past experiences, present use, immediate plans and future goals.

Find out what they expect and what the budget is.

In other words, see if you can deliver what they need, want and expect at a cost they’re able to pay.

Today, when the art of dialogue is all but dead in any situation, creating a useful conversation is an important sales tool.

For more information, please call us at 916. 455.4790 or visit our website at www.dellrichards.com.

Always follow the market

We always tell clients “follow the market,” but we recently had a prime example of it.

We are doing the public relations campaign for a hand-washing monitoring company, a company whose service could be used in a number of industries.

The service was invented because 125,000 people die annually from heathcare-associated infections (HAIs), more than 50 percent of which are cause by lack of hand-washing before and after touching patients.

Other markets—such as restaurants and hospitality, grocery and education, even day-care—were included.

In researching the grocery industry, it became apparent that few items in the store actually were touched by anyone. Most items were processed and packaged elsewhere.

For the website and brochure, we used statistics on food recalls that were pertinent to both industries.

Even though it hadn’t been part of our initial plan, once we saw the statistics, we updated our contact list for food processing and packaging trade journals, revised the release to target that industry and sent it to those editors.

Voila! Calls started coming in. As many, at least, as the client was getting from the initial market—even though only 5,000 people die annually from food poisoning.

Thanks to barcodes, though, food-borne illness from grocery items is easy to track while HAIs are much more complex.

Whether this will become a major market for the client remains to be seen, but it is one we will continue to target.

For more information, call us at (916) 455-4790 or visit our website at www.dellrichards.com.

Comments tell you about the person

Despite years of zip code, demographic and in-depth research on predicting behavior, a person’s reaction tells you as much about them as you.

I am often amused by facebook comments, especially recently.

I posted an item about sleeping on the porch because of out-gassing from an old paint—a perfect match for a touch-up—but alkyd-based.

There were five responses, four facebook comments and one phone call.

• One said it sounded lovely to sleep in the open on the porch.

• Three told me I should use water-based paint.

• One called to offer the guest room.

Family dynamics would tell us:

• A few romantic, child-like ones are going to sail through life, seeing the bright side and enjoying your product or services with few problems.

• Others are going to be “parents”, no matter what their age, quick to point out flaws and make suggestions.

• A few will be activists, offering a solution to the problem and often leading others.

How people respond to you is often as much based on a role they learned as your product or service.

It’s still valid, but it’s only one viewpoint.

For more information, call us at (916) 455-4790 or visit our website at www.dellrichards.com.

The little things make a big difference in customer service

In the past, when someone was unhappy with a business, they told 10 people.

Not anymore. When someone is unhappy now, they post it on facebook, twitter tons of followers, rail about it in a blog and visit a website specially designed for complaints that hundreds, if not thousands, of people see.

If you think that service has to be really bad for someone to get riled up, think again.

A series of little snafus can cause as much anger as a big one--the work order that doesn't go through, so the system crashes almost as soon as it goes up. Or the tech guy who doesn't know there will be downtime during the transition.

Or take doctors. At most offices, you sign your name and wait until called 10-15 minutes later.

The receptionist who doesn't look up, smile or even acknowledge your presence is taken for granted in healthcare.

Nevertheless, I left a dentist who ran late for one who doesn't. Quite frankly, the new dentist may not be as good as the old, but I don't care.

My time is as important as my teeth. When they say it will take 30 minutes, I can plan on spending 30 minutes there--and no more.

In the end, it's the little things that make all the difference.

For more information, please call Dell Richards Publicity at 916-455-4790 or visit our website at http://www.dellrichards.com/.

Press releases need to be targeted

Prospective clients sometimes ask if we do press releases. We do, but we always ask how they want the release used.

Depending on the caller, this sometimes gets a response of “We want it sent everywhere”, the scatter-shot approach.

These days, press releases have to be targeted. Just like any other marketing, the angle has to match the recipient’s demographic and interest.

For example, the business section of daily newspapers is directed to the consumer.

Business weeklies use information business owners and executives want. They want local statistics and local sources.

Trade journals are divided into subcategories. In the restaurant industry, magazines are dedicated to fine dining or quick serve. In healthcare, magazines target executives, nurses or infection control specialists. Trade mags also are specific to geographic regions.

And that’s just the print media and radio. TV is completely different, needing visuals or “action”.

Like all other media, the Internet needs useful information, but, depending on the target audience, it also may serve as a platform for an interactive community.

Which is why there is little point in sending a press release everywhere. It doesn’t work that way anymore—if it ever did.

For more information, please contact Dell Richards Publicity at 916. 455.4790 or visit our website at www.dellrichards.com.

Why you don't need press kits

We often have new clients say they need a press kit.

And I often read columns by public relations professionals saying that one way to get publicity is by having a press kit.

When I read that, I wonder if they are living in the same world I am.

Perhaps we’re missing the boat here. Obviously, we could make more money—lots more money—by insisting our clients have folders with lots of written collateral such as brochures, bios of top people, recent press releases, even photographs.

We certainly wouldn’t spend as many billable hours coming up with newsworthy stories and pitching reporters—the challenging part of the process.

Don’t get me wrong. We write fact sheets and backgrounders.

We insist clients have a website Newsroom page. We also suggest having reprints of currently published articles and video clips, if it helps their marketing to potential clients.

But sending anything through the mail? Especially a glossy folder with a cover letter, a description of the company’s mission or goals and a list of tired, old questions the executives could answer?

Please, no journalist has time for that. The press kit is a major expense that would end up in the trash. Don’t bother unless someone actually asks for it.

For more information, contact Dell Richards Publicity at 916. 455.4790 or visit our website at www.dellrichards.com

How do you get your clients?

You know what works if you track your marketing by asking new clients where they heard of you.

Because we’ve worked hard at satisfying clients in different sectors over the years, we’ve created a network of past clients who send us referrals.

Clients also come from vendor lists and websites that have our information.

Some come from this blog or articles published years ago.

Some find us on the Google, like the look of our website and call us.

A few come from people we actively cultivate and people we have asked for referrals. When business slows, we turn to friends and colleagues.

Enough business usually comes in after making a few calls, there’s rarely time to complete this ongoing list.

Does this mean we should spend more time on growing the business?

Maybe, but not necessarily.

As long as we’re satisfying our clients and doing enough marketing to keep busy, we believe enough work will come to will keep us happy—and sane.

For more information, call us at 916. 455.4790 or contact us through our website at http://www.dellrichards.com/

Why does journalism have to be so negative?

I often hear the comment “Why does journalism have to be so negative? Journalists never write about the good stuff.”

This can be taken to unbelievable extremes, even given the best publicity.

At one point, we placed a huge, front-page article with two photographs in the business section of the local daily newspaper. Yet, instead of understanding how valuable the publicity was, the client became incensed with one word he didn’t like.

Editors and reporters don’t expect the downside in pitches or press releases, but the public expects it in articles because it shows both sides.

The editorial submission guidelines of Health Management Technologies, written by the publisher Ken Anderberg, puts it this way:

Articles that include ‘warts’—or negatives about the subject—become more believable because the warts provide a dose of realism and truth that says to the reader, "We are presenting the problems associated with this solution, as well as the benefits." The article immediately becomes more believable, as a result.

Clients often are reluctant to do this or to include competitors in articles. Without these, credibility goes by the wayside.

For more information, call us at 916. 455.4790 or check out our website at www.dellrichards.com.

Swamped in information, how do you get your message across

People used to see 10,000 pieces of information daily.

That number has risen exponentially. Now we “consume” 100,000 words outside work daily, according to a recent report by the University of California, San Diego. *

That’s like reading 2/3 of a hardback novel every single day.

In 1960, we spent 7.4 hours of our free time daily on media. Today, we spend nearly 11.8 hours.**

Most of our time, 45 percent, is spent watching television.

Contrary to stereotypes, teens spend less hours a day (4) watching TV than people age 60-65 (7).

Although we talk about the decline of reading (books, newspapers and magazines), that is not the case. When reading on a computer (Internet browsing, reading online papers, texts from friends, etc.) is counted, reading has actually increased.

But, the medium has changed. Who does business with first-class mail or fax now? Very few people.

What does this mean? It means the competition is fierce. Your message must be informative and interesting—or it’ll get lost in the deluge.

For more information, please call Dell Richards Publicity at 916. 455.4790 or visit us at www.dellrichards.com


* "How Much Information? 2009 Report on American Consumers" by Roger E. Bohn and James E. Short.

** By including weekends, work is calculated at only 3 hours a day. When multi-tasking, each medium is counted, doubling the amount of data and hours consumed.