Does your business have good will?
The purpose of public relations is to build awareness for a company and to help develop a sense of community. This provides enthusiasm for customers, employees, vendor and the owners, themselves.
Some big companies (as well as some politicians) try to “spin” things and call that “public relations”. This however, is not what it is all about. We talk about building a business “identity” not an “image”. An image is only skin deep. It tries to portray something that is not real. An identity is more solid. An identity stands for what your company is all about. It’s in some ways the heart and soul of your company.
How do you build this identity and develop goodwill? An important part of this is your involvement with the local community. To develop this, business owners need to get out and get involved.
Many do this. They join local service clubs like the Kiwanis, Rotary, and Soroptimists as well as chambers of commerce who take on community projects. They sponsor little league and other sports teams. They make donations to local charities and non-profit organizations.
Tragedies and disasters sometimes provide an opportunity to show community spirit. Raising funds for medical expenses for someone locally often works. Yesterday, I was in a Bremerton store and asked if I wanted to contribute to the Katrina hurricane disaster fund. They said they would match any donation up to $10. Many other stores are doing this. God bless them. This works.
Several years ago, when I lived in Port Hadlock, the local Port Hadlock Hardware store burnt down. It was arson. It took many months to rebuild but the owners had employee salary insurance and all the employees had a paycheck while the store was out of business. We all felt good about that.
That’s the point about businesses being involved with the community. Many people feel good about it, including customers. Also, accountants will tell you that goodwill is a business asset and many businesses have this on their balance sheet.
Customers also have a responsibility in that they must repay “good” local businesses when it makes sense. I don’t support shopping local just because the businesses are local, although convenience alone can be a compelling reason. As consumers today, I think we are shopping too much just for price and we are forgetting quality and service. Many local businesses can supply this quality and service and should be patronized because it’s in the best interest of the customer. One practice that jars my preserves occurs when shoppers go into a local small business and obtain advice and information from that business. They then shop at a discount store or go online to buy it. Not only does this hurt the small, local business, but it hurts the rest of us because we no longer have local, knowledgeable businesses where we can go for help. Customers, also have to have a sense of community.
This process must make financial sense for a business. However, much of this is hard to measure in dollars. Successful businesses owners generally do what feels right. It takes on the personality of the owner. Also, the public must find out about this generosity. Not by trumpeting it at a great decibel level, but subtly and softly.
So do something good for your community, it will be good for business.
This article was written by Seattle SCORE Chapter member Fred Parkinson for the Kitsap Sun in Bremerton.