Xenophon Strategies

Rule 1: Plan Ahead (Or Why PR is a Force for Good)

Matt Meenan

Note: This is part two of an eight-part blog series on the “Rules of the Road” for good PR. Today’s lesson – “Plan Ahead.” To read the original post click here.

Let’s be honest, public relations isn’t the world’s most respected and admired profession. I know that comes as a great shock to all of you, but, turns out, it’s true.

We’ve heard it all before – we’re flacks, we “spin,” we’re dishonest. Perhaps not surprisingly, I tend to look at the profession differently (and being dishonest is the easiest and quickest way to ruin your career in PR, just for the record).

The way I see it, PR isn’t only necessary, it is actually often an incredibly positive force within modern businesses and other organizations. The necessity of public communications often forces groups to think critically about potential problems that might otherwise be ignored. In fact, communicators are often the closest thing most businesses today have to internal whistleblowers. (Consider Irv Miller of Toyota).

Why is this? Well, in addition to being good corporate citizens, us PR types also understand the first rule of good public relations – Plan Ahead. And the best way to plan ahead is by asking questions, identifying problems, alerting leadership and coming up with ways to correct or at least manage the issue – in advance.

As one of my colleagues often says, “There are two kinds of companies, those that have dealt with a PR crisis in the past and those that will deal with one in the future.” This is why we advise every client – have a crisis plan in place – and integrate communications into that plan. It’s critical to have a framework ready ahead of time so that you aren’t caught flat-footed when something does hit the proverbial fan.

True, nobody can prepare for every eventuality, but there are often many things that you can identify in advance. For example, if you are an airline, you need to have a plan in place for responding to a plane crash. If you’re a restaurant, you probably want to put some thought into how you’d handle a food poisoning outbreak. Even a general purpose crisis plan – addressing things like who is your key spokesperson, how staff should handle media requests and who is responsible for various tasks during a response – can be extremely useful.

And you really don’t want to be coming up with that plan in the midst of managing a crisis. Trust me. I’m in PR.

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