It’s not enough these days to have an outstanding PR service; if your clients or the media are unhappy or can’t reach you with a question, they will be quick to take you off their list, criticize you on social media or worse, you won’t get that opportunity again!
Have you analyzed your media or client relations practices recently?
If you want to develop a reputation for being a reliable women in public relations professional, you need to be approachable, responsive and empathetic.
Here’s what to do next:
Kill them with kindness.
As a women in public relations professional, you need to be approachable. Follow the old saying of, “Kill them with kindness.” You can never go wrong being friendly and patient, even if your client is being difficult. If your client feels that you aren’t affected by their negativity, their temperament will calm down. The same is true for rude or unhappy emails. This is where having canned responses can help, especially if you have an assistant helping you.
Set specific hours for checking emails.
To avoid frustration from clients or media professionals, establish a process for answering emails or phone calls quickly. If you have specific office hours, make them public on your website, have them listed in your email signature, and certainly mention those hours on your phone voice message. If you get a high volume of emails, you could have an out of office message on that indicates when they can expect a response from you.
Delegate your Inbox management.
We’ve all been there – workdays get hectic, inboxes fill up, and to-do lists quickly snowball out of control. In your state of panic, all your tasks seem equally important and time-pressing. No matter how much you try to plan, life always puts a wrench in those plans. You need to learn how to be more productive and how to prioritize.
As a successful woman in PR professional, you know your PR service inside and out, but handling your emails and managing your Inbox can be time consuming. If you can, hire an assistant to delegate that task so you can be more productive on the things you love most!
You also want to be empathetic. People want to be heard and they want quick results. If your client is having a problem, they want you to respond with an appropriate response, not with the standard canned response that doesn’t apply to them.
Productivity in public relations is not simply doing something for the sake of getting it done. It’s about doing the right things at the right time to achieve maximum efficiency for your effort. You have unique needs when it comes to maximizing your PR efficiency for optimal productivity.
If your goal is to accomplish more in less time, then you need to develop the foundation for your productive PR work week.
The Women in PR Time Management + Productivity Program will help you learn how to manage your time rather than being managed by the lengthy list of items on your PR to do list. We will show you how to make small tweaks to your work habits to improve your PR productivity.
If you haven’t already, please join us in the Women in PR Academy for monthly PR career and lifestyle inspiration.
American Women in Public Relations™ (Women in PR USA®) and Canadian Women in Public Relations (Women in PR Canada) has been formed to enable groups of public relations women leaders across the Americas to come together to share ideas, contacts, experiences, and to advocate for major issues directly affecting women working in the PR industry today.
Join our online community to be interviewed on our website as Women in PR, gain access to our premium resources, find your next job and build contacts in your field. We also offer member discounts on PR tools, events and training to help you thrive in your career.
Talia Beckett
Talia Beckett Davis is the Founder of Canadian Women in Public Relations and American Women in Public Relations. She works as the Managing Director of Pink Pearl PR.
