c



  
If a PR firm proves its mettle by obtaining coverage and producing results for clients time and
time again, then Connors Communications has certainly shown itself to be noteworthy. The
depth and breadth of our experience is displayed by our many case studies of successful PR
campaigns. Each client presents a unique challenge and these challenges are met with a thorough
plan and set goals, with results that often exceeded expectation.

Public relations is a fast-paced industry where results last a day or week in a publication, and
then the news moves on to the next item. It requires constant attention and commitment to
gaining press interest and staying competitive. Connors Communications has shown itself able to
sustain this kind of dedication, achieving considerable success with these high-tech companies:

áY xotolia
áY alooh
áY Picasa
áY merican Museum of the Moving Image
áY aony WebTV
áY Vonage
áY Priceline
áY ëordstrom.com
áY 
 Media
áY ëational Geographic

Impressive case studies are what set the best PR firms apart. Client histories show the experience
and commitment that has led to numerous success stories. If you want to see what a public
relations agency can do for you, look at what they have been able to do for others.

c   



  
÷




With the introduction of nationalgeographic.com, the venerable ëational Geographic aociety

launched its Interactive Division in 1996. The site provides visitors first-hand exploration via
their computer and serves as a cross-promotional vehicle for the aociety as a whole - drawing its
content from the aociety's vast store of valuable resources. Updated on a frequent basis, the site's
innovative content continues to attract visitors.




xollowing the site launch, Connors Communications has worked to continue to maintain and
build consumer and media interest in nationalgeographic.com by highlighting its strong editorial
content. We've complemented our traditional media relations initiatives with online outreach.
Over the course of the program we've implemented numerous vertical campaigns to sustain
momentum for the site and to support awareness of both individual modules and live events.
c

   

áY O





  
 








áY O











 





O


Connors has promoted site features and events on the site through targeted media relations
efforts. Because of challenges with a "fluid" editorial calendar, outreach has focused primarily on
short lead consumer print outlets, cool
hot
new Web sites (for example, Yahoo! Pick of the Day),
and vertical ezines. Connors has worked with the nationalgeographic.com editorial team to
"cherry pick features that are ripe for promotion." xor example, when the site launched a new
dinosaur feature we contacted dinosaur vertical interest sites, as well as traditional print media.
Connors recently did a content module promotion of the site's liveOtterCam, featuring the antics
of river otters, aplash and alide. We chose to promote this feature because of its interactivity and
also its timely nature. The live camera was only available for a few weeks and it complemented a
ëational Geographic Explorer television special, Otter Chaos that was airing on CëBC.

p 

xor Otter Cam, Connors focused on consumer technology writers at the top  newspapers and
cool
hot
new sites. We contacted them with a creative media alert that encouraged them to check
out aplash and alide and to also tune into the television program. Connors conducted an
aggressive follow-up effort to encourage the media to put pen to paper. xeature stories ran in The
ëew York Times, Ua Today, The Chicago Tribune, The Orlando aentinel, the Kansas City
atar, the at. Louis Post Dispatch as well as many other papers with a traditional media outreach
of more than  million. Online placements included Yahoo!, Web aearch, ëetscape and
UaToday.com.

mong the other campaigns was one for the 60 year anniversary coverage of Pearl Harbor. nd
thanks to the combination of coverage from an aEO-savvy PR firm, ëational Geographic still
maintains top results five years later -- the #1 position in Google for a search on Pearl Harbor.

cp

÷
÷ 


 

Yesterday¶s rant covered some of the common characteristics of

underperforming PR firms (from the frustrated client¶s point of view).

s kstarrpr (from Larkin Communications) commented, sometimes PR

firms do indeed ³[e]xpect the internal manger [on the client side] to do
the heavy lifting with the agency¶s duties ending up being extremely
tactical, non-creative and reactive.´

However, kstarrpr notes, ³[i]t is also important to point out that the most
successful program is collaborative in nature. It requires a push-pull
approach on BOTH sides. This means that in order to maximize effectiveness, the PR team does
need referencable customers, newsworthy announcements (i.e. - not just ³Barney´ deals) and
ongoing strategic discussions with the client to drive new trend ideas and opportunities. Either
side, working alone, will not generate results.´

I couldn¶t agree more that collaboration is the key « but both sides (PR firms and clients) often
miss opportunities to collaborate on a richer level.

One area where I think the collaboration is compromised early on is in the creation of goals

metrics. Within PR firms, ³managing client expectations´ is generally encouraged
applauded.
PR firms don¶t make good profits if one or two needy clients hog all their staff¶s time « so
account managers are typically taught to sandbag when the client asks for specifics on the types
of results (amount of publicity) they can expect (´better to under-promise and over-deliver´).

But doesn¶t it make more sense to put a stake in the ground and define some exact ways that the
success of the relationship is going to be assessed? Whether it¶s a percentage increase in the
client¶s publicity from the previous year, the extent to which they out-pace their competitors¶
publicity, or simply evaluating the known universe of journalists that cover the given subject
matter (and setting a target percentage of how many of those journalists will write about the
company in the next year) « client
agency relationships are always more productive when the
goals have been agreed to (by both sides) at the onset. Unfortunately, it¶s a very small percentage
of PR firms and clients that reach consensus about any sort of scientific performance
measurement. nd it¶s tough to collaborate with a partner who¶s very non-committal about
specific goals (as a number of vendors find their PR firms to be).

nother area where I see less collaboration than there should be (just to elaborate a bit on a point
from yesterday) is in the definition of the pipeline
progression of ³news.´ xor many vendors
that engage a PR firm, a major ³announcement´ (new product or otherwise) is the gaiting factor
that triggered the need for publicity. But in the hustle to get that out the door, very little thought
is given to ³what¶s next?´ ll of the great publicity around that single big ³event´ quickly
becomes yesterday¶s news, a couple of months pass without significant publicity and momentum
is lost.

ao who owns the process of deciding ³what¶s next?´ Both sides. The PR firm should understand
the flow of industry news well enough to anticipate
recommend the general types of follow on
announcements that are sellable to the press « giving the client the parameters
context to
retrieve those proof points (referenceable customers, new product or service enhancements, et
al). It¶s incredibly frustrating to be on the client side and to keep hearing ³what¶s next´ from a
PR firm that you¶re paying richly to help you solve that very problem.

t the same time it¶s unreasonable to expect a PR firm to continuously pull rabbits out of hats for
a client that isn¶t giving them anything to work with. One of the worst types of clients to have ²
in my opinion ² is the one that¶s always bracing you for ³big news´ that never actually
materializes. In your weekly call, they describe a major new customer
partner
product that¶s
just around the corner « but then when you ask them for an ET, it turns out it¶s been severely
delayed (or fizzled altogether). In that scenario, it¶s impossible to maintain any sort of calendar
of announcements ² or to take stock of what you have to work with. You¶re continuously re-
hashing plans and wasting your time and their money in these scenarios.

Btw: I stumbled across a ³Top Ten Reasons Why PR Doesn¶t Work´ list by Margie Zable
xisher. It has some additional, interesting commentary about the finger-pointing that tends to go
on b
w firms and clients when things aren¶t working out.







 

  

áY Œ






áY 






áY ÷

 

áY O 
 


 
 





áY


 
!"

áY 

áY #


áY 



„Y Œ

„Y ‰ $
%&&

„Y O


„Y x
 '

„Y ^ 


„Y 
  

„Y 
( 

„Y p


„Y ë
#


„Y O
 

„Y '
)

áY c 

áY p
 


áY 

n excellent discussion formed on Toni Bower¶s post Consultants must meet deadlines when a
reader asked what to do if you missed the deadline because of sabotage by a resentful employee.
xor me, this raised the larger issue of the consultant¶s relationship to client employees.

½
 
   
Bringing in a consultant is rarely a group decision.  C-level often engages the consultant,
usually without asking the employees about it. Unlike with new employees, a consultant may not
even get to meet existing staff before starting to work. Employees might therefore speculate that
the entire engagement is just the boss¶s panicked reaction to what seems like a hopeless state of
affairs ² that is, an attempt to clean up the mess that the employees couldn¶t handle on their
own.

If the employees had previous unpleasant experiences with consultants (such as a consultant
leaving an even bigger mess behind for the employees to clean up), it only makes matters worse.
It¶s no wonder that any opportunity to sabotage the arrangement seems appealing to employees.

    


We must be able to work with these people. On some projects you may be able to just do your bit
and git, but if you ever want to develop an ongoing relationship with your client, then you must
become a player in solving their larger problems. Those solutions require the cooperation and
backing of everyone involved. ao how do you win them over to your side? Here are five maxims
for handling the situation.

 

 
 .
Don¶t accept the adversarial role in which they may be trying to cast you. You aren¶t there to
prove that your advice is correct or even important ² you¶re there to help solve the client¶s
problem. In all discussions, try to keep focused on that goal, and discuss pros and cons of all
sides without trying to paint yourself as the expert. ny and all disagreements need to be pulled
back into the light of what matters to your client.

!
"

 

.
Resistance to consultants often comes from a perceived loss of status: ³We couldn¶t handle it, so
they called in the expert.´ Point out what they¶ve done right, as well as what they¶ve done
wrong. When you address past mistakes or bad choices, make sure everyone understands that
everybody makes mistakes. The occasional anecdote about the missteps you¶ve made and
learned from in the past can help break the ice ² especially if they¶re recent events. You want
employees to see you as someone who can mutually teach and learn with them, rather than a
know-it-all with whom they could never hope to keep pace.

    

"!.
This suggestion from TechRepublic member bspallino can be used to nip the problem in the bud.
ëot only does it add pressure to make the obstructionist want the project to succeed, it¶s possible
that the acknowledgment of their potential worth to the project could convert them into an ally
instead of an adversary. It¶s important, though, that their involvement is more than a mere
formality ² you have to really bring them in and listen to them, which may be taking a tiger by
the tail.

!
 .
Take pains to plan for successfully handing off the project when your engagement is over, if not
sooner. Demonstrate egolessness by making the project something that anyone with proper
training could carry forward. ëot only will these actions work to avert employee suspicions that
you might be trying to replace them permanently, but it could also almost paradoxically help to
insure that you will be kept around, because you obviously place the company¶s best interests
first.
  "
.
The hardest things to hear go down better with a laugh, especially if the joke is self-deprecatory.
Be careful not to bully employees with sarcasm, but keep a lighter atmosphere and foster a sense
of community by joking around together.

Where a customer pressurises an employer to dismiss, the employer must consider whether there
will be injustice to the employee and, if so, how to alleviate that injustice, before dismissing
(Greenwood v Whiteghyll Plastics Ltd).

Whiteghyll Plastics is a shop-fitting business, with a number of major customers including

Morrison's aupermarkets. Greenwood, who was employed by Whiteghyll, carried out shop-
fitting at Morrison's. Whiteghyll received 3 complaints from Morrison's in quick succession and
was asked to remove Greenwood from Morrison's team. Whiteghyll considered whether there
was alternative work available for Greenwood, but found that there was none. ahortly before
hand, Whiteghyll had made 9 redundancies.

fter going through its dismissal procedure, Whiteghyll dismissed Greenwood. Greenwood
claimed unfair dismissal.

#


The Tribunal found that there was a fair reason for the dismissal, namely "some other substantial
reason", and that Whiteghyll had acted fairly in dismissing for that reason. The Tribunal said
that Morrison's was an important client which had the "whip hand" such that Whiteghyll had
very little choice in the matter. The Tribunal accepted Whiteghyll's evidence that there was no
alternative work available. Greenwood appealed to the ET.

Whilst the ET accepted that there was a potentially fair reason for dismissal, namely pressure
from an important client, it said that the Tribunal had failed to go on to consider the nature and
extent of the injustice caused to the employee as a result of the dismissal. This requires
consideration of matters such as length of service, performance record and how hard it will be
for the employee to find another job. The ET went on to say that if the employer finds that the
employee has suffered serious injustice, it should consider ways of alleviating the injustice.

The ET remitted the case back to a different Tribunal for a re-hearing to consider the injustice
point.

" 


Dismissing at the behest of a customer can be a potentially fair reason for a dismissal, but before
effecting any such dismissal, the employer must consider the extent of the injustice on the
employee and what steps can be taken to alleviate the injustice. This includes:

áY considering the employee's length of service and performance record and the difficulties
that the employee will face in finding new work. n employer will be expected to go the
 extra mile for an employee with long service particularly one who has an exemplary
service record;
áY after considering the level of the injustice, the employer must investigate ways of
alleviating that injustice. This could include speaking to the customer to see if there is a
way that the situation can be resolved without removing the employee, for example, by
performance managing or re-training the employee. If that is not possible, the employer
should consider alternative work and if none is obviously available consider creative
solutions such as swapping the employee with one working for another customer or
perhaps finding a role for the employee that is not customer facing;
áY if no alternatives are available, the employer must remember to follow the statutory
dismissal procedure before dismissing.
áY Consider for a moment the "old agreement" between companies and employees that we
simply took for granted.
áY The agreement stated in basic terms that if an employee would work hard and be loyal to
the organization, the employee could count on a job for life, along with regular salary
increases and a secure future.
áY Without a doubt, the above agreement is no obsolete!
áY ëob security and company loyalty have been replaced with the realization that tomorrow
your organization may downsize and eliminate your job at any time. Make no mistake,
the only person who's looking out for you, is YOU.
áY ao how does all this relate to our initial question? Is employee retention linked to
customer retention?
áY s organizations change and new faces appear in front of the customer, to some extent
it's the customer who will help train those new employees. You can count on customers
to correct your employee when he
she gets it wrong, as every employee surely will make
mistakes as they learn their new roles and responsibilities.
áY Overall, a customer who is already satisfied doesn't necessarily welcome change. 
customer feels secure knowing that a long-time employee, whom they've worked with
over many years, will be there to help them again when they have a need.
áY ao how do managers ensure higher rates of employee retention? xirst they must
understand that in general, employees don't quit a company - they quit their manager.
Managers must take time to connect with their subordinates.
áY In a recent poll, past employees were asked why they left their company. The number one
answer was that the employee felt that their supervisor was "indifferent" - meaning the
employee didn't feel as if their manager cared.
áY On average, too many managers fail to acknowledge any responsibility for an employee
resigning. Too often upon receiving an employee's resignation, a manager will fail to
conduct a thorough exit review ± they fail to try to understand the main reasons for the
employee's decision to leave.
áY ao many managers fail to connect the dots, or even ponder the question ³Is employee
retention linked to customer retention?´.
áY Upon learning about an employee's upcoming departure, many supervisors¶ first thought
is how they are going to backfill the position without missing a beat in sales production.
 question that is seldom asked is how will the customers respond to the news that this
employee has left.
 áY The loss of a valuable employee can be a major factor in the perceptions of your
customers. If they loved ëoe aalesman, and they learn that he just walked across the street
to XYZ Company - odds are that at the first sign of a lapse in service, the customer will
walk across the street as well.
áY Employees are the most important assets an organization has. ao the answer to the
question "Is employee retention linked to customer retention?" is without a doubt - "Yes".
áY In conclusion, organizations that strive to maximize customer retention should have a
plan in place to maximize employee retention.
áY Both efforts strongly contribute toward the longevity and stabilization of the
organization. Take care of your people and they will in turn take care of your customers,
and you.

c



 

  

* 





+
,O
 

 




c
 

O 
&


 




#

-

^



 





½ 
" "

" "
"  
 

  
 "



$     


"%

& 

Whiteghyll Plastics is a shopfitting business, with a number of major customers including

Morrison's aupermarkets. Mr Greenwood, who was employed by Whiteghyll, carried out shop-
fitting at Morrison's. Greenwood was involved in rolling out new promotions in Morrison's,
which involved working through the night to set up for the following day. Whiteghyll received
three complaints about Greenwood's work from Morrison's in quick succession. s a result
Morrison's asked Whiteghyll to remove Greenwood from its team. Whiteghyll considered
whether there was alternative work available for Greenwood, but found that there was none.
ahortly beforehand, Whiteghyll had made nine redundancies.

fter going through its dismissal procedure, Whiteghyll dismissed Greenwood. Greenwood
claimed unfair dismissal.

#


The tribunal found that there was a fair reason for the dismissal, namely "some other substantial
reason", and that Whiteghyll had acted fairly in dismissing for that reason. The tribunal said that
Morrison's was an important client that had the "whip hand" such that Whiteghyll had very little
choice in the matter.
The tribunal accepted Whiteghyll's evidence that there was no alternative work available.
Greenwood appealed to the Employment ppeal Tribunal (ET).

While the ET accepted that there was a potentially fair reason for dismissal, namely pressure
from an important client, it said that the tribunal had failed to go on to consider the nature and
extent of the injustice caused to the employee as a result of the dismissal. This requires
consideration of matters such as length of service, performance record and how hard it will be
for the employee to find another job.

The ET went on to say that if the employer finds that there is serious injustice to the employee,
it should consider ways of alleviating the injustice.

The ET remitted the case back to a different tribunal for a re-hearing to consider the injustice
point.

" 


Dismissing at the behest of a customer can be a fair reason for a dismissal, but before any such
dismissal, the employer must consider the extent of the injustice to the employee and what steps
can be taken to alleviate the injustice. This includes considering the employee's length of service
and performance record and the difficulties the employee will face in finding new work. n
employer will be expected to 'go the extra mile' for an employee with long service, particularly
one who has an exemplary service record.

fter considering the level of the injustice, the employer must investigate ways of alleviating
that injustice. This could include speaking to the customer to see if there is a way the situation
can be resolved without removing the employee - for example by performance managing or
retraining the employee. If that is not possible, consider alternative work and, if none is
obviously available, consider creative solutions such as swapping the employee with one
working for another customer, or perhaps finding a role for the employee that is not customer-
facing.

If no alternatives are available, remember to follow the statutory dismissal procedure before
dismissing.

‰

 

 
 





    



        
 
½
YY
Y Y
 Y

Y Y
Y

Y   
Y


áY Uses only research-based, theory-supported approaches to improving employee

engagement. voided are gimmicks such as employee of the month, suggestion boxes,
 prizes or other ³carrots.´ While commonly used, these short-term fixes fail to produce
genuine employee loyalty (more than 60 years¶ of research tells us so!).
áY Employs an easy-to-understand systems approach to ensure the root causes of turnover
are addressed and the potential for lasting change unleashed.
áY Customizes all activities to your organization¶s unique history, current practices and
strategic objectives. lso considered are challenges unique to your industry sector,
competitive marketplace issues and talent shortages.
áY Involves those responsible for implementing change in actually creating the change,
ensuring input and improved shared understanding and support of all initiatives.
áY Integrates hands-on, action-oriented approaches that enable organizations to move
forward quickly and effectively
áY Recognizes the research-proven role of no-cost strategies in developing the ³glue´ that
builds employee loyalty and commitment.
áY Brings to your organization leading-edge organization-development best practices to
effectively and quickly build a retention-rich culture.

The Employee Retention atrategies newsletter, which gained this website the ëo. 1 positions on
Google and Yahoo during its publication in the early part of this decade, was a nationally noted
source for research-based, fact-driven guidance on enhancing employee retention. (Back issues
still are available). xrom that research come approaches built on a solid foundation of what
works (and what doesn¶t) to gain the commitment of employees in all industries and economic
sectors.

dded to this base are leading-edge organization-development methodologies to bring your

organization¶s strengths to the fore, to rekindle the dynamic potential of your company to meet
today¶s challenges and to rebuild workforce commitment to the heart of your organization¶s
mission.

apend time reading the topics on this site. Understand more about what truly contributes to
employee engagement and retention. Then, call for an individual discussion of your
organization¶s unique retention agenda.