PR can mean many things to a business. For some, PR serves a very low-level role and is only expected to perform traditional media relations duties. For others, the PR Director has direct access to the C-suite and is expected to fulfill a very high-level, strategic role within the business.
At BU, my professors would often lament the fact that PR seemed to be more of an after thought and was rarely given space within the actual business plan. They lectured that it should be a primary goal of any PR professional to gain access to the highest level of managers as possible. They argued this for many reasons. Obviously, earning the respect of the c-suite will prevent you PR department from being the first to go in the event of budget cuts. But, there are additional benefits beyond that for all parties involved.
I believe that good and bad PR can come from any element of a business…. customer relations, payroll, sales, etc., etc. and therefore, PR should be able to play a role in all of those areas. Otherwise, the PR department may find itself in a position where it must manage a crisis that it could have helped prevent.
My friend, Ari, is currently living a great PR case study. His Klipsch amp shorted out about eight weeks ago. It was still under warranty, so he sent it back to Klipsch and was told it would take 3-5 weeks for repairs. So, after the 5th week he started calling in search of his amp and every time he has talked to anyone at repairs all they’ve said is “oh it’ll just be another week (or two).” Well, the needed parts are still not expected in for yet another 2 weeks, and he’s lost all confidence that they will actually arrive at that time, having heard such predictions many times before.
My suggestion for Ari was to get in touch with their PR manager, Sarah, thinking if it were me, I would want to resolve this problem as soon as possible. Ari is a disgruntled customer and he’s been complaining to everybody he meets! The bad PR from word of mouth alone would make me nervous, but imagine if Ari decides to start talking about this online… this has the potential to turn into a Kryptonite case in no time. So, Ari sent Sarah an email explaining his issue, making it clear that he has no qualms about sharing his perceived injustice with friends and co-workers, and asking for her support.
Sarah’s response was more than disappointing to both Ari and me:
I sincerely apologize for your wait and inconvenience. I can understand your frustration as I had a similar situation with my Denon receiver. I was waiting on a part that was out of stock and it seemed like forever before I got my receiver back.
I know that at times our vendors do run behind in production and there is little we can do about it. We are basically at their mercy. But I can understand how you would feel “jerked around” with your system repair getting pushed back farther and farther. And for that I am truly sorry.
I know that our replacement amps are in route as we speak so I am confident they will be able to repair your system very soon. I wish I could personally help you but this is out of my realm. My job is to handle media inquiries and copywriting tasks. I have notified customer service manager Gerry Power (who I know you spoke to) about your extreme dissatisfaction and I am sure he will work to get your repairs expedited as quickly as possible.
I’m curious as to how she expects this to help her situation. Realistically, she probably has very little power to do anything for Ari. It seems that Klipsch is one of those companies that does not hold their PR resources close to the corner office. Do they not expect any business benefits from PR? Do they only see the PR value in media relations? There are relatively easy and cheap ways to keep Ari happy and Klipsch is missing out on an oppotunity to build positive PR. Instead, they have a frustrated customer on their hands, one who is now has no reason to sit back and be patient.
