Piaras Kelly PR – Public Relations in Ireland

Stephen Davies recently posted ‘Five Tips for being a great PR consultant’ and asked me what my five tips would be. I think the title of the post doesn’t necessarily do it justice, I think 5 tips for becoming a great PR consultant would be more suitable. Here’s my 2 cents:

Stay calm. We work in a deadline driven industry and when something pops up at last minute or you can’t get hold of a spokesperson, there’s no point losing your head over it. Take a deep breath and get on with it. Running around like a chicken that’s lost its head is inefficient and affects your colleagues also.

Everyone makes mistakes, it’s how you deal with them that counts. Let’s look specifically at events, something always goes wrong. A supplier could be late or you might forget something in the office. By staying calm and thinking things through, you’ll come up with a solution. It’s the MacGyvers amongst us who come up with solutions instead of wasting precious time placing blame.

Keep track of what’s going on. Working in a consultancy means that you could be dealing with around half a dozen clients at any one time. Activity should constantly be tracked otherwise something risks falling between the tracks. I keep lots of notes on what I’m doing for every client and we also have documents tracking activity, deadlines and responsibilities to make sure that everyone is in the loop.

Don’t be afraid to get your hands dirty. There’s always something that you’re putting on the long finger in a bid to avoid doing it. These are the types of tasks that should be done first. If you’re knocked back, then dust yourself and move on. Unfortunately in PR you’re always going to come across people whose detest you can sense on the other end of the phone. Avoiding the problem will just end up making a mountain out of a molehill.

Take the time to understand your client’s business. Most service providers are more interested in ticking boxes and saying job done than creating long term relationships. By taking the time to understand client’s business and the pressures they are under will make your job much easier and ultimately make sure that your services are retained in the future. Change your definition of CRM from Customer Relationship Management to Creating Relationship Magic!

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