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Tribute to Jeff Bierig

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Were it not for social media and professional social networking, I would not have gotten the news that my long-time and dear Publicity Club of Chicago pal, Jeff Bierig, left this crazy world for new public relations endeavors, to be born anew in a different job other than the Illinois Institute of Technology or the Chicago Tribune.

When I first joined the PCC back in the late ‘80s, I was an upstart, and Jeff wasn’t that much more. He had a full head of black curls and a damn good radio voice especially when he dropped it to the normal baritone I loved so much. When he phoned me (before the days of caller I.D.) he never said his name; I always knew it was he.

Jeff and I shared laughs galore, flirts, stories about raising our children, his spouse out of work, and usually his own job search after departing a two-decade career as media relations director at the Chicago Tribune.

We bumped elbows and rubbed shoulders throughout my 15 years with PCC as president, as a two-term board member and committee chair of nearly every committee except for advertising (hah, I was not stupid). Jeff’s contribution to PCC was even longer than mine, probably because he never left!

When I moved from Chicago, Jeff and I remained in touch mostly via phone, but it was frequently periodic. He was a loving husband, adoring of his kids’ accomplishments, loved his EU holidays, concerts, music, and so much more.  I know he’s jammin’ on high right now.

Back in the day, PCC was a family; it was a professional community in which we grew and shared experiences that are now fond memories. Thanks, Jeff, for rollin’ the good times.  I miss you dearly.

Spanning the Divide: 10 Tips for Public Relations/Sales Synergy

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I’m still absolutely appalled at the lackluster effort by the two sales people at Toyota and Ford dealerships within the last two weeks. If you’ve been following me on occasion, you will know that I’ve been recording the steps by a consumer (me) to purchase a vehicle.

With all the chaos in the automotive industry in the last 18 months, I had assumed/expected better effort by the sales people (one female, one a senior citizen) to earn my business.

The last frontier for public relations must be SALES. I cannot speak for all industries. The TV salesman at H.H. Gregg over the weekend in Indianapolis convinced my aunt to purchase several luxury items; he did a great job. Is it just auto sales we’re talking about, then?

Here are a few tips for public relations practitioners to infiltrate some expertise into the sales mechanism of any company:

1. Messaging. Marketing typically provides product background to sales, but is there a message map developed for the sales team? Message maps are valuable for any spokesperson on the frontlines; sales teams are tier one spokespeople for a company.

2. Training. With a completed message map in hand, train the sales team to use it. Role play and you be the potential customer. Let the sales team get comfortable with the map so everyone uses the same powerful and approved messages.

3. Secret shopping. There’s no better way than to ask a “spy”  to launch the buying process for a product and see how the sales team is performing. Take what’s gleaned from that experience and return to the salespeople with more tips on how to interact with customers.

4. Respect. Everyone in the organization must respect the sales team for its position and role for the company. Ask marketing and sales what tools can be created to assist with this effort.

5. Attend sales meetings. Salespeople have the pulse of the industry and customers at their fingertips. What a treasure of information for public relations. When a PR person attends (you need to get invited), you can identify case study prospects, news hooks, regional news fodder and develop a variety of communications as a result.

6. Sales communications. Treat sales as a tier one target audience. They need to know what’s happening within the company and when public relations learns critical industry information, sales should be informed. Write a newsletter, e-blast, intranet site for sales, or other non-tech method of communication (some salespeople don’t have access to the Internet).

7. Blend with marketing. As the marketing team is oriented to sales quotas, ROI and lead generation, listen to their needs and complement the mix with on-point public relations strategy.

8. Ask the sales team. Communicate. Be a team. Be inclusive. Regard sales as a critical component of the marketing public relations mix.

9. Build trust. For years, sales and public relations has been miles apart with marketing smack in the middle. Until results happen, sales will not regard public relations in the right light. In fact, public relations is likely to be little understood in the sales organization.

10. Try, try again. Try for what works. Synergy does not happen over night, but shame on sales and public relations for not putting forth a consistent effort to make it so.

What other thoughts can you offer?

Car Buying, Word of Mouth & Sales

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Buying a car is a lot like eating a poison apple. That’s what I’ve been doing for the last eight weeks, and anyone who’s been following the blog has read of my research and self-study.  It all began when Toyota ticked off its loyal followers with a massive recall. So, I began to look around.

What’s below is the pathway to a near-final decision, and I offer this to you marketers and public relations peers to consider the immense number of touches possible in advance of a customer’s major purchase decision. At the end of the day, it all boils down to sales. Read what’s below, add yours, and then think about how you influence sales.

Car-Buying Touches, Word of Mouth & Sales Pathway

  • Toyota screws up with a massive recall that has America and drivers reeling.
  • Begin to search outside the brand reluctantly; use Twitter to query the Twitterverse, and the Ford Flex is recommended.
  • Poke around at manufacturer Web sites for articles and other options because I’m NOT a Ford girl.
  • Read Fast Company article about Ford’s in-vehicle technology that is heads and shoulders above other auto manufacturers; intrigued. The PR for Ford kicks! (Point for Ford.)
  • Toyota ticks me off by not sending my bill on time two months in a row; purposeful?  Could be, lease ending soon. (Point for Ford.)
  • Test drive Ford Flex; what a hummer of a vehicle. I like it; it comes in candy apple red; has more gizmos and gadgets than needed: refrigerator, 120 amp three-prong plug, five moon/sun roofs. The grampa car salesman (~ 74-years-old) snoozed through the two-hour touch. He didn’t sell me, didn’t review other models, didn’t push hard, but he did bring over the manager who did his best to get me to buy that day. (Not too impressed.)
  • Emailed preferred Toyota dealer and got a woman who was not interested in selling. She said the car I wanted only came with an auxiliary jack for iPod. As I wanted too many things she wasn’t sure she could find that car within a 200 mile radius. She sent me a general email response. I waited a day and emailed her back asking for more information; I never heard from her. (Point for Ford.)
  • Read story in Wall Street Journal with Ford CEO Alan Mullaly again about the hot technology that is selling many cars for Ford right now. (Point for Ford.)
  • Saw a Ford Flex being driven on the street, pulled alongside in adjacent lane and asked him how he liked the Flex. He said it was “the best road vehicle” he’s ever driven. After that word-of-mouth marketing touch, I had decided to buy a Ford.
  • A call from another Toyota dealer where I wrote my Highlander lease. I told him flat out I’m looking at Ford Flex. I did not want to give him my business due to the mechanic shop; it sucks! He agreed and begged for a chance to show me the features of the Highlander.  I could not deny him.
  • I saw the 2010 Highlander; was impressed with all the features (nearly the same as Ford Flex), and gave him the specs I wanted.
  • He began to work on the deal; emailed me within two days to say he was working with his manager and would have numbers shortly. (Point for Toyota)
  • It’s been 10 days since I saw the Ford salesman. Guess what? He NEVER followed up! (Major point for Toyota.)

As of today, Toyota is leading in spite of all the points for Ford. The salesman there is earning my business; he’s eager to make a sale, and he’s communicating with me frequently about where he’s at with pricing. Speaking of which, the Ford Flex is ~$8,000 more than the Toyota Highlander all tricked out.  Point for Toyota? You bet.

Map Your Mind and Message

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I’m seeing many blog posts on mind mapping of late. From what I gather, it’s a framework to track program strategy and subsquent tactics and execution.  The images here are boggling in their multiplicity; I had no idea there are nearly 1 million mind map options to click via search engine.

Who among you use these every day? I’m interested in knowing whether it promotes efficiency or becomes just another tool that adds dust to the hard drive.

Mind Map Images from search engine

After a series of posts featuring the “” theme, I’d like to put the horse in front of the cart with a bit on message mapping. Whatever the moniker you prefer, message mapping is NOT mind mapping nor is it a SWOT analysis.

For my clients I represent in a cross-section of industries, message mapping is one of the very first steps we endeavor when launching public relations services.When I speak about message mapping, it doesn’t compare to mind mapping in the least. 

The process for public relations is to dive into the executive mind, extrapolate leading thoughts and opinions, document them as approved messages, and then deliver them to external audiences using various channels.

Sometimes the process can take six weeks; it can be fast tracked to four, and what comes is a working document that provides the external-messaging framework for the C suite, teams, sales, customer service, public relations and marketing.

When I speak messaging with a client, here’s what I like to offer as a process:

  • Facilitation of a gathering of executives who lead a company, its business unit, or subsidiary.
  • Series of open-ended questions that address the 5Ws, the competition, the space, the audience, stakeholders, services, products, and the like.
  • A ~three-hour session with large sticky poster paper to adorn the walls and capture the essence of the discussion.
  • A multiple-page first draft of all the captured statements in themed buckets of messages with a descriptor.
  • Team edit of supporting content and descriptor statement along with subsequent drafts until all messages are approved
  • Placement of messages into a message map framework or schematic (as shown here) that allows for all the messages to be packaged in one document. This sample is an actual message map for a defunct dog treat maker.

Messaging in public relations takes a deeper dive than marketing. And, this public relations deliverable helps everyone develop content and copy; including marketers, storytellers, and copywriters.

I’ve had some interesting discussions with marketers who don’t understand the need for public relations messaging, and I’ve had marketers jump on board with the vision to understand just how valuable this exercise is. While there may be some overlap between PR messaging mapping and marketing’s branding platform, the jargon is omitted and the outcome is external.

When everyone agrees on the song sheet, we all sing in harmony. What’s your process? How do you capture messaging? Please share!

10 Tips for Social Media Moxie

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This is directed at you — the laggers who are likely NOT reading this blog among my colleagues (who shall remain nameless) who are creeping along outside the action like a voyeur.

I hit a wall this week with the umpteenth public relations and/or marketing peer not engaging in social media with the basics of basics – Twitter. Then there was a fabulous new company launch with a highly creative site from an old colleague with whom I was eager to tweet. Sadly, his last tweet was 20 days ago.

Are you engaging for real, people? C’mon, don’t kid yourself…we both know you’re not.

From a seriously real cross section of colleagues, peers, practitioners of all ages and experience ranges, who are experts in their own right with budding businesses, etc., the writing is on the wall. Marketing and public relations are NOT engaging in social media, and that’s a SAD state of affairs.

SOCIAL MEDIA IS NOT GOING AWAY! SOCIAL MEDIA IS NOT A TREND! (Yep, caps on purpose; felt better than boldface.)

I’m here to push you off your derrière and raise your bar. How can you ignore something so incredibly exciting for marketing public relations when clients and employers expect you to be the expert who leads them to social media opportunity?

I own a virtual public relations agency, Soulati Media, Inc.  I can’t find anyone yet (within the confines of my circular engagement) who knows more than me in social media. Why’s that? Because I’ve been busting my chops for the last three years to learn, engage, test, fail, test, and become knowledgeable. (See that “fail” word in there? Painfully, it has to happen to become learned, and then the doors swing open and shut more smoothly.)

This is not about blogging, either. It’s simply about carpe diem. There’s gold in them ‘thar hills, people, and if you don’t go mining, you’re never going to get your social media mojo.

Here are Jayme Soulati’s 10 Basic Social Media Engagement Tips:

1. Launch a Twitter account associated with business. Brand yourself as an expert, but first believe you are one.

2. Expect to fail (failure comes in many sizes) and embrace the pain as learning anything new. You will get through that episode (spoken from my own trial and error).

3. Re-launch the Facebook  account you closed down because you couldn’t handle connecting with high school alumni. Consider it a business venture and make it so with a fan page to fuel your business or expertise.

4. Adopt a mentor, but don’t suck them dry! Be respectful of their time and their own hard-earned pathway to knowledge.

5. Engage, people, really engage. That means post a comment on a blog with your perspective. Make yourself known to the blogger you’re reading who has no idea you exist. Communication is a two-way street.

6. Understand fear and get beyond it. Your fear may be lack of confidence in your own expertise. Get out of your own way, and just do it already.

7. Tackle one new thing every day. This is as easy as tweet five times. Follow five people. Post one comment on a new blog every day. RT someone’s blog post. Explore a new social media application everyone else is so you’re in the know, too.

8. Don’t get left behind! I’ve been tweeting for maybe 15 months now, and it’s the sole reason I’ve met the cool people who are now my new colleagues and friends. It saved me days of boredom through the dark winter because social media takes you to Bali, Singapore, Australia, and South America where peers there seek engagement, too.

9. Set a goal. While I’ve never written goals, they are in my head. Yesterday I had the same number of followers and following on Twitter, 1817. Because I compete, I want to get to 2000, but it’s getting tougher to create a Twitter stream that’s not littered with spammers, scammers, and salespeople.  So, I’ll go for quality over quantity. Don’t let the numbers fool you.

10. Ask for help. I don’t know what I don’t know, but I’m glad to help you get there, too. Post your little question down below, and we’ll journey.

Got social media? Please say “yes!”