A lot of businesses in different parts of the world have failed in achieving their ultimate goal of making profit, not because they did not have the wherewithal in terms of finance, human and material resources but because they failed to recognize and accept PR as a tool to promote their companies’ image and line of products which will automatically leads to increased sales.
Before going into the nitty-gritty of using PR to enhance sales, it is pertinent to look into what PR is all about.PR has been defined in a number of ways as we have PR professionals and organizations in different parts of the world.
For instance, the Chinese version simply puts it in the realm of doing good and talking about it. George Meredith, a one time president of IPRA, defined PR as everything involved in achieving a favorable opinion. Professor Sam black puts it as the art and science of achieving harmony with the environment through mutual understanding based on truth and full information. The international institute of PR defines it as the deliberate, planned and sustained efforts to establish and maintain mutual understanding and goodwill between an organization and its publics. The Mexican chapter in 1978 defines PR as the art and science of analyzing trends, predicting their consequences, counseling organization leaders and implementing planned programme of action which will serve both the organization and the public interest.
Dr. Chuks Osuji defined it as a process of creating favorable public opinion for an organization, institution, individuals, commodities or intangible things such as names, so that people who have something to do with them may perceive them in a good way.
Indeed all definitions, notions, thoughts, ideas about what PR is, centre on public spirits e.g. goodwill, cooperation, acceptability, mutual understanding etc which guarantee the survival of an organization within an environment where it operates and in fact in the business world.
Export on the other hand is the transfer of goods and services across international borders. It is different from domestic trade which is locally based. An exporting company therefore is a profit-oriented organization which engages in a cross border sales of goods and services. Export business is quite tasking, hence the need for the exporter to pay adequate attention to adaptation to foreign culture, documentation, mode of transportation, payment methods amongst other things and above all, pay adequate attention to communication which PR is all about.
Having gained insight into what PR and exports are all about, what remains is the beaming of searchlight into how PR can effectively and efficiently enhance the sale of your products. Really, the objective of any commercial organization is to make profit through sale of its products/services. Therefore, the PR objective should be geared towards profit making. This is so because if shareholders, customers and prospective ones are unsatisfied with the products and services of the company or the investors withdraw their capital, the company will cease to exist. PR does more than helping to satisfy the wants and needs of the employees and their neighbors as well as the shareholders. It also creates an environment in which owners of the business or investors are satisfied with the returns on investment.
Firstly and most importantly is the need for your company to have a quality and standard products/services for sale. In PR, it is believed that a rotten wood cannot be carved, the need to have a standard and quality product is very essential because it makes PR’s task of promoting the products so easy. A bad or poor product/service may not enjoy patronage even with an effective PR. Product quality is essential aspect of the corporate reputation of an organization. It determines its boom or doom, it guarantees repeat sales when it’s good and prevents it when it’s bad. It ensures customer adherence or abhorrence both of which are vital conditions that keep companies in or out of business. Good quality product makes advertisement effective and profitable while product with bad quality makes it a waste. It is a popular saying that no advertisement, however good can sell a bad product more than once.
It is worthy of note that quality has been universally recognized as one of the key strategic elements of product competitiveness in both domestic and international markets, along with price and delivery factors. Quality is the pre-requisite for successful market access and for achieving continued customer satisfaction. There should be a concerted effort, devotion, dedication, expertise and craftsmanship on the part of the production staff and indeed all members of the exporting company in ensuring that only quality and standard product /service come out of their company.
The issue of packaging and labeling is closely related to that of quality product. A very nice product with a very poor packaging /labeling may not attract buyers and this explains why emphasis should be placed on it. Any amount of money spent on packaging and labeling is worth it as it will definitely serve the purpose of attracting buyers.
MARKETING MATERIALS: The production of up-to-date and world class marketing material is another PR strategy to enhance sales. For instance, materials like business cards, brochures, branded envelopes, papers and nylon bags, pens, vests etc. are the main items your publics will have to remember you by. Your business cards for example should contain relevant information about the business. E.g. office/e-mail and web addresses, registration number of incorporation, phone numbers, brief description of the business etc. Related to this is the establishment of a functional website to obtain the gain of the modern technology which has indeed transformed the world into a global village. The use of an e-business as a marketing and PR tool for tapping the virtual market place and for showcasing your products via website is a must. It also provides contacts with other business network, access to better information and a window on the world. The need for a two-way-communication should be stressed here, your site will definitely provide you with information on interest of your customers, it is highly necessary to include your contact e-mail address and phone numbers on every page so that they can reach you when the need arises.
MEDIA RELATIONS: This is another opportunity opened to you to promote your company and line of products. PR deals with people, ideas, events, actions etc. and it involves four basic processes namely, sender, message, receiver and feed-back or evaluation. When we talk about media of PR, we are simply referring to the channels of communicating messages to target audiences identified in a PR plan of your company. Examples of target groups include employees, customers, shareholders, government, press, prospective customers or investors, financiers, community, employee family members etc. Without the media, nothing can be expressed and neither would there be a communication with any one. As Regina Watts puts it, PR is about communication.
The media remain an important vehicle for communicating messages to the publics. A conversation is a medium just as much as a T. V. programme watched by millions of people. The television and the radio are regarded as broadcast media. Printed literatures include pamphlets, booklet, manuals, journals, books, letters, bulletins, position papers, printed speeches, bulletin boards, posters and billboards. There is also the community media; traditional rulers with their councils, palace meetings, town criers, mobile public address systems. The selection of any of these PR tools would depend on the message and the audience to be reached. As an exporter, it is important that you allow both local and international media to promote your company and product or service by providing a good mix of timely materials that they can use in their stories such as facts and statistics, opinions, controversy, uniqueness, differences, relevance, information, intelligence, challenges, achievements, etc. You can also place articles in international trade publications, communicate your successes, talk about things or factors that distinguish you from your competitors. Doing so will make your company popular within the media circle while at the same time, your company or service gains prominence among importers abroad.
Your company should maintain a cordial relationship with the media in the following ways:
PRESS/NEWS RELEASE: A news release is different from advertisement because it contains main points to be disseminated which must be of interest and value to the publics.
FEATURE ARTICLES: Your Company can use feature article to build up the image of your company and product or service. Information to be disseminated is forwarded to the editor for negotiation on the format, size and number of words and it should be well edited to create the necessary impact.
FACILITY VISIT: This is a tour round the company to expose the press to the activities and progress of the company. The press will in turn reports to the publics. The essence of the visit is to facilitate first hand assessment of developments by media representatives so that they will give authentic portrayal of what has taken place and on-going events.
PRESS BREIFING: This is organized by the exporting company to give journalist background information about its activities so that when there is an outbreak of any negative news, the press will be able to write authoritatively on the issue.
PRESS CONFERENCE: This is another method of relating with the media by extending invitation to pressmen for a press statement. It is a roundtable forum at the end of which pressmen are allowed to ask questions regarding the issue under discussion. The maintenance of a healthy relationship with the media is essential; the gains are enormous as they engender favorable exposure, good coverage for corporate events, mutual confidence and frank exchange of information. All these will definitely translate to increased sales.
ADVERTISEMENT: This is another PR/marketing tool which affords your company the opportunity of telling a widespread but selected audience about your product or service in the word of your own choosing when and where you belief your customers are most likely to see them. Advertising can make companies to make the best and fullest use of their resources by creating awareness of what they have. To ensure the success of advertising, it is necessary to observe the following guidelines.
1. Be frank, fair and honest.
2. Tell your story directly to an individual in is own language
3. Use simple words and facts so that everyone will understand and belief you
4. Tell a story at a time, do not overload your copy
5. Use figures sparingly and only when illustrated by simple everyday examples
PARTICIPATION IN TRADE FAIR AND EXHIBITION
Trade fair and exhibition are major PR tools which are regarded as the most efficient means of exposure to export markets. In order to reap the full benefits from participation in them, it is important to look at them one after the other.
EXHIBITION: Exhibition serves the purpose of showing new developments in businesses. These developments could be in the area of new inventions/introductions in the manufacturing industry, new production processes and new products especially in areas where they are previously unknown or to new audiences. Through exhibition, your company has the opportunity to demonstrate new inventions and products to prospective customers in ways that might be otherwise possible. Exhibition also avails your company the opportunity of expanding sales frontiers, cross fertilization of ideas on latest production techniques, financing options as well as collaboration on sales of products and services. It is important to point out here that you should be armed with samples of your products for display and not for sale. Also, your marketing materials: business cards, brochures, catalogues etc should be taken along to be given to participants.
TRADE FAIRS: Trade fairs are for exchange of goods and services for money or other considerations. Buyers attend such programmes because they know that different products of interest are available for sale at cheaper rates. The main objective of the seller too is to dispose more of his products for money. To enhance good sale, it is advisable to take active part in exhibitions and trade fairs. You cannot imagine the benefit that will accrue to your company as a result of this. Buyers and prospective ones are out there waiting for your unique products and services. Harness the potentials inherent in these PR tools and you will definitely get the positive results in terms of huge contacts.
LIAISON: Liaison uses face to face interaction in the form of visits, get-together and meeting. Through liaison, your activities, challenges, achievements, on-going projects, awards etc. can be passed to your various publics. It is important to equip them with this information to gain their confidence, trust, mutual understanding, cooperation and goodwill. When your companies are taken into confidence, they will give you full cooperation; they will even say their minds concerning what they expect from your company. Their cooperation is assured if their suggestions are seen to be incorporated into the overall objective of the company. Liaison can also be said to be a form of networking exercise which should be undertaken by your company. You must have the potential to meet customers, partners or referrals and to gather market intelligence. No one can survive in a business without strong network of information and referral sources. Infact, your local or international success depends on the relationship you develop with your publics.
CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY: It is defined as an institution’s planned active and continuous participation in the development of the community in which it operates in order to maintain and enhance its environment for the benefits of both the community and the company. Being socially responsible and responsive to the needs of the society where your company operates is a task that must be done. For a company to enjoy the mutual understanding of the community, it must go extra miles in building a concrete and harmonious relationship between it and the community through the provision of good roads, clinics, hospitals, pipe-borne water, classrooms and other infrastructures that will make life more meaningful and habitable. Also, visits to old people and motherless baby’s homes, the physically challenged, are also part of activities which present an organization as being socially responsible corporate entity. This kind gesture will undoubtedly improve the corporate image of the company both nationally and internationally. A good image in my opinion is like a magnet which will definitely attract buyers from far and near to your products and services.
SENSITIVITY: Another strategy to boost export sale is through sensitivity, it is a prompt response to distress situation. It is done by being sensitive to the needs, feelings, problems and aspiration of your publics. You should share in their moments of joy and calamities by sending warm greetings, paying visits, assisting in cash or kind. This will go a long way in showing them that your company is indeed a caring and sensitive one and they will reciprocate through continuous and sustained patronage. In addition, they become your ambassadors and will introduce your company and products to their colleagues who are in the same business with them.
I strongly belief that if these tools are adhered to and implemented religiously, the benefits in terms of understanding, support and coorperation of the customers which could lead to massive sales are certain.
GENERAL TIPS:
1. Develop a healthy relationship with all your visitors and customers and, never abuse, underrate or argue with them.
2. Give customers discounts on their total order to increase sales.
3. Join associations that relate to your area of business for trade leads and, to obtain new ways of running your business.
4. Your business cards should be with you wherever you go and be sure to hand them over to people you meet.
5. Find ways of getting your business in the news both locally and internationally.
6. Look for opportunities!
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