Is PR really in the relationship business?

First, I need to give a huge hat tip to Jay Baer and Shannon Paul for the title and idea for this post. It’s based on a conversation Jay had with Shannon last week online. During that back-and-forth, Jay asked some very insightful questions (or in this case, statements). One of my favorites: “I’d argue that many PR folks haven’t been in the relationship business, they’ve been in the distribution business.” Shannon’s response (which I thought was spot on) “Yes! And herein lies the rub. In many ways, social media is a return to origins of PR. More human, less mechanized.”

As she does so often, Shannon articulated perfectly—and succinctly—the crux of the issue (and challenge) for many PR pros. You see, social media is really a throwback of sorts. Back to an era where PR was based on relationships. Honest to goodness, personal relationships. Oh sure, relationships are a big part of PR, but I’m talking about genuine get-to-know-you-type-stuff here. Not shotgun-style pitches to journalists that often don’t have the time or inclination to even read the email.

So often in PR, relationships do play a big role. But, it’s somtimes in the context of relationships with media members and outlets. In the traditional model, that’s what’s important. The belief: As a PR pro, your relationships with reporters will lead to more stories for clients. True? It’s debatable. But here’s the question: Shouldn’t the real relationships be taking place with the actual customer?

Stew on that for a minute.

The other piece at play here is the shift from the traditional command and control model of PR to one that’s more nuanced. More informal. And certainly more conversational and personal. It’s about having one-to-one relationships with your customers. It’s about talking to customers like human beings—not “targets”, “clients” or “key stakeholders.” And it’s about listening. Really listening to your customers. And learning and developing products and services to meet their needs.

Back to relationships.

Shouldn’t we, as PR pros, be focusing our time and energies on helping organizations develop more personal relationships with customers—not media members? Yes, traditional media outlets are still hugely important. No one’s arguing that point. All I’m saying is the traditional channels are just one piece to the puzzle now. New channels offer new opportunity to build direct, one-to-one relationships with customers. 

Put it this way: What if you had two choices. Option A: Sit down to dinner with your customer, spend two hours talking about why he or she loves your brand/what he or she doesn’t love about it, pay your check, go home and think about ways to improve your products and services. Option B: Talk with a third-party who then sits down with your customer, and talks about your brand for two hours over crab cakes and martinis. Doesn’t option A sound MUCH more appealing? More personal. No third party. And at the end of the day, you now have a relationship with your customer.

PR pros, I ask you: What are you doing to build stronger relationships with your customers TODAY?

The best investment you'll ever make

Over the last six months, I've been asked many times by colleagues, friends and family why I spend so much time on Twitter and other online channels. 

My one word response: Relationships.

Like nothing we've ever seen before, tools like Twitter allow you to connect, share and collaborate with fabulously smart, creative and interesting folks across the world. People like Chris Brogan, Amber Naslund, Beth Harte and Jason Falls, just to name a few (OK, so I don't connect with many people from Singapore....yet). 

These tools also allow you to build and foster relationships that often lead to real-life relationships. You hear examples all the time. Folks that have connected for months--even years--online, meet up in person and make the relationship that much stronger. It's like online dating, in a way. Twitter, and tools like it, provide you with the introduction and you build and nurture the relationship from there. I have gotten to know so many great people online this past year in the PR industry--folks like David Mullen, Rachel Kay, Danny Brown, Allan Schoenberg, Matt Batt, Scott Hepburn, Sonny Gill. I could go on and on. And I hope to meet many of these folks at events like SOBcon09 and BlogPotomac in the year to come. I also hope to meet up with others on a more personal plane in 2009--golf trips, informal meet ups, etc.

Why am I investing all this time and effort into this relationship building?

Simple. I see it as the best professional investment I can make. The relationships I build help me:

* Learn new skill sets. We're all learning about the ins and outs of these social media tools together, right? What better way to learn best practices and new approaches than from your colleagues and friends online? Seems like I learn a new way to use Twitter from my friends every day. I've also discovered new approaches to my blog by following, reading and commenting on some of the best blogs out there in the PR/social media space.

* Meet new people through my network's network. One of the first people I met through Twitter was David Mullen (lucky for me, I know). But through David, I've gotten to know so many other folks, like Lauren Fernandez and Jen Wilbur, who I know consider good friends and smart colleagues to turn to for advice and ideas. I've also met new PR folks locally through my online network--people like Ryan Mathre, Dan Wolter and Ryan Maus at the University of Minnesota. Folks like Graeme Thickins, Brad Bellaver and Albert Maruggi through Social Media Breakfast. And I've fostered existing relationships with PR colleagues like Eva Keiser, Jason Sprenger, LeeAnn Rasachak and many, many others. 

* Uncover new opportunities. Through Twitter and the relationships I've built online, I've been offered speaking opportunities (about social media/PR) and recently had a shot at moderating the famed Journchat conversation on Monday nights (congrats to @standupkid, by the way). Offline, my relationships have led to at least two job opportunities, freelance consulting engagements and a slew of life-long friends.

 

* Hone existing skills. During the day I spend my time consulting with clients, thinking and writing. That's pretty much it. So, you would think I'd be pretty sick-and-tired of writing by the time I got home at night, right? On the contrary, I've found my online engagement to be a great way to hone my writing skills differently than the way I practice in my "day job." And, since I don't work as much in media relations in my current job, I relish the chance to develop my pitching skills through Twitter. After all, every time I attempt to promote a blog post or RT someone else' tweet, isn't that what I'm doing? And, in 140 characters no less.

 

* Build life-long friendships. You can't put a price tag on this one. Folks like David Mullen, Allan Schoenberg, Lauren Fernandez, Jen Wilbur, Rachel Kay, Matt Batt, Candee Wolf, Joel Swanson (I can't possibly name everyone) are people I see myself staying in touch with for a very long time. They're people I connect with on a professional AND personal level. And I value their friendship and opinions every single day.

* Feel better about life. Every day I go online and connect with my colleagues and friends in San Diego, Boston, North Carolina, Minnesota, heck even Romania (yes I follow someone from Romania)--I feel better about myself. I feel better about humanity. I feel better about life. 

That's the "ROI" of relationships to me. What about you? Why do you spend so much time building your relationships? What do you hope to get in return?