Anne Gregory

Getting it right

So business to business communications need to be seamless, timely and have a goal that is measurable in more than just newspaper column inches or radio airtime.
Suppose the organization has to make a difficult announcement, something that isn’t going to go down well or maybe an issue of potential embarrassment. What factors are going to make for success?
First, timing is going to be very important but it is rarely going to be absolutely right. All kinds of things can leap in to frustrate and overturn all best efforts to find the right time to tell the world the news (just as a major disaster can bury your important profit announcement on page four, a slow news day can take a minor incident and make it sound like the ultimate tragedy). In reality you can try to pitch it right, but you can’t guarantee that time will be working with you – so it’s not worth waiting for some bad news from someone else before releasing your own bad news. It’s a gamble and it’s better not to gamble. Luck may help with timing, but can just as easily frustrate. On top of that, a really juicy story is going to be juicy even if it’s a busy news day. It may slip down the list in terms of media interest, but someone will still run with it if they think the angle is right.
More crucial with difficult announcements is the speed with which you react and the force you are able to put behind your defence should that become necessary. In business to business dealings you should know in advance about most difficult issues and be able to plan for many contingencies. That’s not to say that they’ll always be easy to handle, but it does give time to plan, prepare and consider various scenarios.
Accidents do happen and market changes can be rapid, but, on the whole, business developments ‘emerge’ and trends can be seen in advance. Here the trade press is usually first on the scene. Informed insiders in direct marketing knew that it was only a matter of time before the big name fast moving consumer goods manufacturers turned to below-the-line techniques to ensure and build brand loyalty. To those on national papers it was all something of a shock.
As part of this process lines of communication and who will communicate what should be clarified. It’s often a good idea to have a single spokesperson available to handle the media. The more difficult the issue the more senior they should be, but this isn’t a fixed rule and things may make you want to change this. It may be very hard on the individual concerned, but it is sometimes good to have the same face and name doing the work on television and radio. It can help focus arguments far better than having a series of people who change with every twist of the story.
A tip for those who might have to face a live broadcast interview is to draw up a list of no more than three or four key points you want to get across in advance of the event. Whatever happens in the interview, take every opportunity to get them across and try not to be sidetracked by the interviewer into other areas which are not relevant to your organization. This technique will also help you to focus your energy and attention.
Whoever is used, they have to be prepared to act fast. When planning be prepared to have to react quickly – the situation may be very fluid, and likely to twist and turn as the media look for different angles. One minute you might be denying a rumour, the next second you could find that the journalist has a document in their hand and is hawking it about and looking for a response. They won’t wait for 12 hours while the board agree how to react and approve your statement. By that time something else will have happened. The risk then is that the story will run anyway with your own inability to react phrased by that telling statement ‘unavailable for comment’ attached.
Know and exploit all available communications channels. Remember that a timely, well-argued letter to customers or shareholders backed up with a telephone helpline or an offer of further information can do a great deal to calm rumours and stop the media ever getting to a potentially problematic business change or development. Basically, use whatever communications techniques will work best to deliver the result. If an imaginative three-dimensional direct mailing piece to employees at their work addresses will get over the message then do it! Royal Mail did use a direct mail based campaign in an effort to boost service quality in one particular product – and the results were spectacular, both in terms of recall of the campaign messages and in the fact that the quality of service jumped dramatically. There is no reason to believe that the same techniques applied to other areas should not work equally well. For example, use imaginative posters, exhibitions or video – basically whatever will succeed best for the chosen targets.
One major water authorities recently tested a number of communications techniques to see which worked best in getting across water saving messages to its customers. Press and radio worked well in terms of reaching a large number of people with a high impact. But what customers liked best was a simple letter which put across the facts and explained what they could do to help. Loudspeaker vans were the worst option of all. This company had no negative reactions to its campaign; indeed, it didn’t need to impose drought restrictions and saved itself from the damaging reports which hit so many other water companies over the same period.

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