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Reputation Management Starts at Home

Written by: Andy Marken

Article Overview: …One Day at a Time “It is not necessary to change. Survival is not mandatory!” “There is a penalty for ignorance. We are paying through the nose.” – W. Edwards Deming

Reputation Management Starts at Home

Even though we have never been interested in extensive research or statistics, we have been a long-time admirer of Dr. Deming and his writings. While Out of Crisis was written in 1986, his 14 Points of Management are still being widely practiced today.

We first met Dr. Deming at a telecommunications industry trade show in D.C. in 1990 where he was one of the keynote speakers on the changing face of the industry. We met him again in mid-1992 at what was to be one of his final management seminars before his death. It was difficult to believe that at 92 he was still taking every opportunity to tell managers how they could carry out changes that would affect their personal growth as well as their organization’s.

Inside the Man
At the reception following the 1990 keynote we asked one of his assistants why he continued to maintain such an active schedule and how he possibly juggled all of the information requests.

Her answer was “He is 100% committed to what he does. He never does anything halfway, doesn’t try to slide by. He immediately responds to every inquiry – postal and email – even if it to say he is going to have someone else in the organization handle the issue, to say he doesn’t know but will get back with the right answer (and he does) or to simply provide the answer/information.” She explained no one goes unanswered more than 24-hours and he generally responds immediately or at least in a couple of hours. She noted that he firmly believes that the best manager is the one who communicates quickly, honestly and accurately. “He never went to bed in the evening without clearing up his correspondence even if it assigning it to someone to handle. He practices what he preaches,” she concluded emphatically.

He wrote clearly and effectively.

He never initiated a project that couldn’t be done properly.

So what does this have to do with you?

Focus on Support, Cooperation
We started thinking about Dr. Deming and his reputation management philosophy and writings following an evening of email discussions with a writer.

He needed information for a deadline piece he was working on. He needed an in-depth product, application discussion. He needed facts, research and illustrations so he could file his piece and other PR people had been stringing him along waiting for someone to give them the information and approval.

His publication wasn’t a large major daily or broadly read shelter publication. His article probably wouldn’t make or break the client. He and his project were important to him. He had asked us for information and assistance and we had a professional obligation to assist him because … it’s the job and career path we had chosen.

Dr. Deming was in his 90s and still had a sense of urgency in responding to queries. He thought people deserved an immediate and complete information even if was to tell the individual who would provide the assistance if he couldn’t do it in a timely manner. In his mind the head of a $5 million firm deserved the same level of support as did the head of a Fortune 50 firm.

Should we as public relations professionals do anything less?

Dr. Deming didn’t view the inquiries as an interruption to his work but rather the reason for his work. The institute he established built its reputation on quality – quality of information, quality of work, quality of response.

That reputation was built on one response at a time, one project at a time. In our opinion this is how a corporate reputation is built, managed and protected.

Corporate Reputation Ownership
No public relations practitioner or department has the ownership of a corporation’s reputation management program. He or she can only manage his or her personal reputation with management and the media and how that reputation reflects back on the firm he or she represents.

Senior management control, guide and shape their organization’s reputation. If they emphasize the customer first and lead by example employees understand their guidelines, their responsibilities and their priorities. This should be especially true of public relations where we serve two masters – senior management and the media. This is especially true today where news and access are instant.

The Internet flattened the organization and tore down the walls and doors so people can have direct access to any individual. How employees handle, respond and serve these individuals determine the company’s reputation. While many members of the press begrudgingly work through the public relations department, if they find PR people less than responsive they can – and will – find alternative sources for the information.

Lost Opportunity
For example a columnist told us of an incident with one of the world’s largest software firms.

He was working on a story on animation teams at Fortune 500 firms and contacted the public relations department for assistance. In his own words he said they “lied to me flat out…or were just plain stupid. I asked for contact people at their own in-house animation groups and they said ‘we don’t have any’.”

After several failed attempts to work with the public relations department he went to a program manager he had met at one of the trade shows who gave him the internal contacts. The interviews were done and the story was completed without the PR team’s knowledge…or permission.

In fairness, the public relations department may have had one of those blanket “corporate policies” that says the company doesn’t talk about their use of another organization’s products or services. Such policies seem outmoded – if they were ever valid – in today’s global economy where firm’s simultaneously cooperate, compete and litigate.

If the firm’s public relations staff is less than responsive and uncooperative, the media will either migrate to other industry sources or simply go directly to their internal business level contacts.

Regardless of the path taken the results will be the same. The department and/or individual doesn’t necessarily destroy the company’s reputation by taking such a position but they do damage their own reputation with the media.

A reputation – from Dr. Deming’s perspective – is something that is built and reestablished every day. It is built with each phone call, each email, each release, each decision and each action. It requires constant attention to learning and changing because for most of us survival is mandatory…personally and professionally!

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  On-line Reputation Management For Your Small Business
  More Public Relations Advice from the PR Doctor

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Picking a corporate lawyer - Hi Everyone, I was just curious to know what's the most important criteria a small business owner should look at when choosing a corporate lawyer? -Cost/hr? -Location? -Reputation/Referral? -Experience? -Personality? How did you pick your lawyer? And what's a fair price to pay per hour? Thanks
Re: Trade Shows - Are They Worth It? - HI, I have used trade shows (not participated) to collect potential clients. For example, the Home & Garden Industry is extremely behind the time in regards to their websites. I attended an Home & Garden Expo in Denver and collected all the companies contact information. I plan on cold calling & mailing information to each business. It also gave me time to research the industry more, talk directly to the owners in many cases, and learn more about what they need. Jeff
Which kind of industries are you interested in? - Ecological or E-business or Investment or Finance or Management or Non-Profit or Retailer or others.


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