Highlighting the leadership style that makes you successful and attractive to customers, investors, employees can also make you interesting to the media.
The first Thursday in every calendar quarter has been designated “Get to Know Your Customers Day”. That’s not exactly as fun as National Donut Day (June 1) or National Tequila Day (July 24), but not every day can include a celebration of carbs or booze. In PR, getting to know your customers can mean lots of things. It’s obviously important to know what they do, who their target market is, and the kinds of messaging that will resonate with those markets. But another great way to get to know your customer, and to get them great media coverage, is to focus on not just what they do, but how they do it.
This includes everything from how a company is organized to its management style. Once at a new client orientation meeting, we learned that there were no chairs in the company conference room. All meetings were done standing up. Managers felt that kept meetings short and to the point. They didn’t want people getting too comfortable in chairs and dragging the meetings out. That turned into some great coverage about this company’s management style.
Here’s another example, INK client Coast to Coast Computer Products was founded by a man who is a recovering addict. A large portion of his sales staff are in recovery themselves. It’s a great story about second chances and the value of hard work. That story ended up being the focus of a profile piece on CNBC last year.
SIB Fixed Cost Reduction is a company that helps businesses save money on their recurring monthly bills. Early in the company’s existence, founder Dan Schneider employed a unique policy for employees who made mistakes. Rather than yell at them or punish them, he held ice cream parties with them. The parties were designed to take a lighter approach to dealing with the mistake, and also to help others learn from what happened. That kind of unique management style earned a profile piece in the New York Times Sunday edition.
Focusing on the “how” part of your business can open up the possibilities for media coverage beyond just the reporters or outlets that cover your specific industry or space. And those stories can highlight the leadership style that makes you successful and attractive to customers, investors, and employees.
So happy “Get to Know Your Customers Day”, everyone. May your customer knowledge land you awesome media stories that are worth celebrating…perhaps with a donut and some tequila.
