Everything. Networking, business partnering, team building and management, have one common denominator. Relationships. People. For a strong brand, you need to invest in communications and relationship management with your internal and external stakeholders.
I chose to study three variations of relationship management: public relations, communications, and media management. All three disciplines have the purpose to reach and influence audiences in some shape or form. The most fulfilling part communications lead process is to bring people together through understanding, transparency, and clarity. To create partnership and cohesion.
This begins with your employees who represent your brand. They have the power to influence the relationship and experience customers have with your brand and company. If employees can appreciate the connection between the business strategy and roadmap, the more informed and empowered they are to drive your vision and deliver your product or services to customers.
An easy way for a PR practitioner to recognize that you have a leadership or management relationship issue, is to observe how the staff on the ground interact with the end clients/ customers. If they are aggressive, tapped out or tardy, it is likely that there is a bubbling staff issue under the surface. Ranging from salary and basic expectations or health and wellness, to the need for autonomy or healthier and methodical team dynamics. “If you take care of your employees, they will take care of the clients”, states Richard Branson. They are an outward reflection of internal dynamics.
Another PR/ communication red flag would be a lack of engagement or presence of a customer. You invited them to an event, but they did not show up. It is likely that you have not made a personal or meaningful bond with your customer. What value could you bring to their lives, work or experience that was not there before? And have you given them a call? Ironically, the archaic phone call still has greater impact of building engaged and trusted relationships with your customers/ clients than a cold meeting invitation over email or zoom.
Relationships are at the heart of business strategy and therefore integral to it, not optional.
To end, “In a partnership one considers the other partner as a customer. And the first question is not “what do we want to do,” it is, “what are the partners’ goals, the partners’ objectives, what is value for the partner, how does the partner work and operate?” Once this is understood and accepted, the alliance will work”, Peter Drucker.
