Public Relations: The Ultimate Customer Service Experience

I still consider myself a "PR NEWBIE" and continue to grow as a professional in this field. This profession has become my passion and when I discovered it I became embedded in its essence. I meet so many aspiring PR professionals who look to find the key to establishing a successful PR career and become shocked when I tell them the core of the profession. In order to obtain a successful PR career you must remember that PR pros bridge the gap between the brand and the audience.

I worked in customer service years prior to establishing my own PR/Branding firm and ironically the practices I utilize to meet quotas apply to my practices for company goals. In a field where PRs are considered the "go to person," you must be available and knowledgeable about your clientele brands as well as how your new relationships can benefit from your clients services. Whether it is B2B or B2C interaction you must show that your client can add comfort to the consumers life.

I worked at New York and Company and as a Sales Associate one of our duties was to promote and accumulate a certain amount of store credit card sales. I worked very hard to establish relationships with customers and won their trust so their friends could become my customers. This method should be applied to how Publicists work with clientele. The key to a successful PR career is ensuring that your work speaks for you! 

Publicists do more than write a press release and establish placements in media. To run an effective public relations program you must establish healthy relationships in media and your genre of expertise. Can you get your client into prominent venues? Can you partner your client with brands than can propel their image? If you cannot provide these services then you must look at how you can expect to win your clients trust and assurance as well as grow your business.

I have experienced so many trials and errors in this field that at one point I was reconsidering my career, but you must understand who you are and how you can relate to your clients as well as their audiences. Key thing to remember is that as a PR pro you are always on! Image is key to our career and that ranges from conversation, appearance and in my hip hop voice "swag." 

Therefore to all my aspiring Publicists and Brandistas, research the markets you wish to enhance and expose! Know the audience and become one with them so you can win their trust as well as assure potential clients that you can advance propel their brand. I suggest all PR pros that suffer from "people don't like me" syndrome to smile more and embrace the theory of being a social butterfly. Allow those wings to flap and watch your career soar!