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How to engage successfully with client CEOs
By Tushar Panchal on Nov 23, 2007 in clientservicing
There are CEOs and there are CEOs. I meet many quite often and was told by one of them very recently that becoming a CEO and remaining a CEO requires only one quality - ability to make profit, profit and more profit. Well, he may be right and I don’t blame him either. That’s the way global corporations are designed - shareholders driven! A CEO juggles with many things, so does he or she has a time for the PR guy? How do you make sure that a CEO listens to you and engages with you so that you can make your PR more effective and beneficial for the organization. Let’s try to find out.
I have a very simple suggestion to make here. Talk to a CEO like a CEO. Let me explain what it means.
Who is a CEO? A CEO is a person who has been given a responsibility to run the organisation (and make profits) and who is expected to know all aspects of the business - typically finance, manufacturing, sales & marketing, expansion, new product development and so on. The list is endless. In the limited 24 hrs of a day he/she has to juggle through all these and more. After all, he’s/she’s also a human being! Okay, let me admit that this sounds too much but he/she has team of people to do all these and more - he/she just need to make sure that the people are doing the right ‘work’ and in the ‘right’ direction.
So, here comes our statement - talk to a CEO like a CEO. If I go by what my friend said about profits, I would suggest you talk to the CEO like him/her - about profits the PR can bring to his/her organisation. Can PR be a profitable exercise? Yes.
We all know what a good public relations exercise bring to the organization - it generates goodwill, it generates interests in investors, it generates positive response from trade partners, your sales process becomes , your advertising spend reduces, your employee satisfaction increases, it brings you more customers, it can open doors to policy makers, you become famous and may be some other bigger, better company would hire you as a next CEO! Isn’t it exciting enough for CEOs to listen to you now?
CEOs respect the sound advice coming from a sound professional and now many CEOs are looking forward to PR for advice on things more than media relations - they are seeking inputs on government relations, investment options, CSR, global warming, carbon credits, internal communications, connecting with consumers and so on. They want all these from a PR guy! So, Mr. PR - be ready to play the role of a trusted advisor to the CEO. Learn his/her business, understand his/her issues, find solutions, and offer concrete ‘workable’ advice and I am sure many CEOs and any CEO would want to listen to you!
After all, we have all learnt this early - ‘Give me an idea and see how I can sell it to you in less than five minutes!’
On Nov 24, 2007, KJ said:
a ceo knows best about his own business…how to sell his products, his industry, market,competition. he looks forward to experts from other disciplines. as long as you give him a valid thought proposition that will add value to him, he will appreciate you.
On Nov 24, 2007, palinn said:
Well said Tushar, we have been emphasizing on being consultants to our clients,who can add value to this business with knowledge of the media and industry, trends, branding, publicity, positioning, etc.etc. instead of just being media outposts.