So, I've moved on up and have landed a gig writing for a Garden Center Magazine, focused primarily on the business and running of a successful Garden Center. My first assignment is on how to overcome bad PR - so I'm reaching out to you! If you were a customer of a local business that had a bad PR Rap, what would it take to re instill your faith in the company and continue to give them business. Obviously this has some overshadowing in other industries, kind of like the whole tire blow out things a while back and recalls occasionally. What does it take? Any feedback appreciated
I'm not a professional PR person - I'd suggest using the PRSA ( http://www.prsa.org/ ) to see if you can find some PR folks to interview. My opinion on how a business might deal with bad press is... the response should vary based on the situation. Some things may require an anticipative response, or pro-active, or direct, or perhaps none at all. In our sound-bite short-attention-span media culture, if something is just likely a negative sound bite news story that is unlikely to resonate or draw further attention, who knows, maybe even no response at all is more appropriate. One has to gauge the nature of the bad press or whatever, and respond appropriately, and intelligently, without over-reacting, (or under-reacting), and in whatever way will lead to the best resolution for the company, or all involved. I tend to think of public relations as a bit of an art, with complicated technical underpinnings, in part based on insight of human individual and collective psychology.
Most businesses build customer loyalty one customer at a time. I guess if you have to rebuild customer loyalty it works the same way. Winning the right customers back, in today's high-speed social media world can be a great place to start. Quality, Price or Service, fix what's broken. Got a few years in the Nursery Biz, me too.
As a customer I guess I appreciate companies that take responsibility for their mistakes and take transparent, concrete steps to remedy them. Companies that try to "spin" their way out of a problem deserve a death spiral.
I really appreciate all of your feedback! I have thought of implementing some sort of Loyalty Program here, but at the same time, I figure if somebody is going to be loyal to someplace, they're going to do it because it's in their hearts not a little plastic tag on a key ring - - although that little plastic "Loyalty Card" is a great reminder that you exist. Like certain people that have something like twenty of little plastic do-hickys hanging off their key rings, it reminds them every time they get in their car about places existing..."Oooo, I haven't been to _________ in a while" and after making that statement, either they will remind themselves WHY they haven't visited or WHY they don't visit more often. Loyalty hits a sensitive cavity in our field, especially when you find you're the only game left in town...you have to really judge if its really loyal customers or customers that have no other option. Like if the new Three series only came in White...and you hate white...but you really like the three series....and you live in the middle of Alaska....alright, that's a stretch. Perhaps my analogies are better after about two cups of coffee and some butt kicking around this place. Boot, get ready, let the kicking begin.
Loyalty needs satisfaction to florish, as much as petunias need sunshine. The Nursery business is the one business where you literally watch your future grow. Identify the source of your bad PR, correct the problem & give your customer a reason to be loyal.
Just a heads up and a great big thank you to everyone who chimed in and gave me some insight for my PR piece. If anyone is interested in reading it, go right ahead. Warning, if you don't care much about garden centers, it might be a bit on the dry side. http://www.gardencentermagazine.com/garden0113-public-relations.aspx
"Plant yourself firmly in the ground..." I see what you did, there! and - "xeriscape" - wow. I'm gonna have to save that word for a scrabble game. If I get asked what it means, I'll just have to say: xeriscape, there-escape, everywhere a scape, scape!
