5 Top Tips to Create Successful, Long-term Relationships
As a business owner, you probably hire experts in marketing, public relations, social media, and sales so you can focus on what you do best. But before you transfer responsibilities over to these professionals, there are a few things to keep in mind…
5 Top Tips For Communication Team Success
- Communicate expectations.
As soon as you hire your new public relations firm, marketing agency and/or advertising expert, communicate exactly what you expect. Develop a specific action plan, deadlines, responsibilities, and more so there are no surprises.
Also, set up regular meetings to share the latest updates. Both you and your team members need this information to create new press releases, marketing messages, social media posts, and events. Plus, this enables everyone to detect small issues before they turn into major problems or publicity nightmares
- Respond fast.
Your communications people need information from you to get the best results. So, when they request photos, customer testimonials, leadership bios, statistics, videos, and other data, try to get this to them as quickly as possible.
After all, media members, ad placements and tradeshows have specific deadlines. Your speed at responding to your team members can mean the difference between getting some free publicity and saving thousands on marketing or losing major media coverage and ad space to the competition!
- Listen.
You hired your communication team members for their experience and expertise. Use it! By listening to them, you’ll discover some valuable insights and creative ideas to boost sales and awareness.
Also, ask questions. If have no idea what to say to reporters, how to send a specific email message, why a marketing message needs to be written in a certain way, or something else, don’t be afraid to ask. You’ll learn something new and be able to use it to improve the way others see you and your business.
- Share information.
Let your experts know what is going on at your business and provide stats, sales goals, data about upcoming events, and immediate feedback on the media interviews you have. This is important information they need to create campaigns, develop media stories and successfully do their jobs to help your business grow.
- Offer bonuses.
In addition to paying your team members on time, tell them how their insights and work are important to your overall business. Invite them to special meetings, team events, work parties, etc. Also, if they do an incredible job, offer them a cash bonus, gift card or other token of your appreciation. These simple gestures can motivate them to do even more for your business and really feel like part of your team.
Get the Best Results from Your Communications Experts
If you hire public relations, marketing, advertising, and sales experts to help you increase sales, don’t just sign the contract and wait for results. Instead, treat them with respect and communicate regularly about expectations, sales numbers, media interactions, events, etc. Also, ensure they have the information they need to do their jobs and really listen to their insights. Pay them on time and offer additional bonuses when they do a great job.
This way, you can build long-term, positive relationships with your new communication team members that significantly increase sales and give you a competitive edge.
