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One conversation can influence your career. I know that is a little dramatic, but an interview with a reporter on any given day can potentially help your company position itself against the competition, open doors for your sales organization, give the marketing department a great article reprint for collateral or content for the company website. That one conversation could also position someone as an authority figure on a particular subject. On the downside, a bad interview can have an equally negative impact. On one such occasion, a former client and friend shared information with a reporter as “background information” – this information made its way into the article and was attributed to him. It made him look bad to his board of directors, and I believe it was the proverbial “straw” that led to his departure from the company. His story gets more interesting and this event may have been a door opening to a new career. That is, however, another story. So from a practical standpoint...

Approaching financial industry editors and reporters requires thoughtful consideration. Before you pick up the phone or send an email pitch, consider the media’s mission is to deliver relevant content. In my experience, editors and reporters tend to respond better to story ideas if you can link the benefit or end result to common themes which are “near and dear” to their readers’ hearts. By focusing on persuasive or high-impact stories, you can get the most from your public relations program investment. “Story silos” are a high-level way to look at how to mentally place the information into the best story. Story silos include: I. Improve Operational Efficiency Reduce costs (impacts profit) New ways of doing something II. Sell More/Gain Market Share Impacts profit Competitive advantage III. Lower Risk Fraud Compliance (SOX, U.S. Patriot Act, regulators, etc.) IV. Improve Customer Service Reduces time Cross selling Protects customers Saves customers money Improves access to...

There is one important constituency that will not buy from you, will not buy your stock, and will not take money for recommending your products/services – the editors and reporters in the financial services industry. But even though they do not do any of these things, they are extremely important because they represent the people who are in a position to buy, recommend or approve the decision to use your company (their readers). The media inform, educate, influence and occasionally entertain us. If you have an on-going, proactive public relations program, you are doing better than most companies selling to banks, credit unions and lenders. Understandably, you have to look hard at where you spend your money and time to get the best return on your marketing dollars. Sometimes you have to make tough decisions when cash flow is tight, profits are down or you don’t have all the right staff in place. So what are the consequences for taking a break from media relations? 1. Your absence spe...

I have had some gut-wrenching conversations with business owners about revenue, or lack there of. People make operational decisions based on achieving a certain level of sales. When they don’t materialize, tough decisions lay ahead. The first reaction is to cut expenses – not a bad choice if you know you are overspending in some areas or have under-performers on the staff. Unfortunately, companies rarely cut expenses enough to achieve prosperity. Good revenue has covered up a lot of mistakes. The second reaction might be to redirect resources or even spend more. So if you are lucky enough to work for a company that decides to spend more to increase sales, what do you do? Do you: 1. Implement a highly targeted direct marketing program? 2. Increase advertising (or start)? 3. Hire a new sales person? 4. Hire a public relations firm or add a staff PR person? 5. Refresh the company’s Web site? 6. Conduct market research? 7. Invest in product development? 8. Create a podcast series wi...

-- Looking at the major areas of concentration for corporate communications in a complex selling environment -- Your market needs to see a sense of balance of information coming from your organization. The million-dollar question I hear is, “What should our communications program look like when we are done planning?” The answer for each company is different because companies are in various stages of development, have their own internal assets from which to draw and unique stories to share with their markets. Before we get into balance, what does it mean to be out of balance? If you study a company’s communications you will see it – too much of the same thing or a lack of information. Does the company flood the market with too many announcements, thereby diluting the really important news? Is there a lack of evidence that illustrates the company as that of an innovator or market leader? In the banking community, you hear the term “silos,” which usually means a disconnect between area...

The full version, with graphs, charts and featured articles can be downloaded at: www.williammills.com/pdf/bab2006.pdf About Bankers As Buyers Years ago, ABA Banking Journal used to publish a great piece of primary research, called "Bankers As Buyers." It was the best "leave behind" any magazine sales representative had ever given me. I missed it and believe there was a void to fill. I started publishing "Bankers As Buyers," with ABA Banking Journal's permission, about five years ago. My version has evolved over the years, but in short, it is a collection of recent research and commentary about how we believe bankers will spend their IT budgets in 2006. I would like to give special thanks to Jeanne Capachin, Research Director for Financial Insights; Jimmy Sawyers, Director of Consulting for Reynolds, Bone & Griesbeck PLC; Chris Gill, Senior Manager, Dove Consulting and Art Gillis who provided me with content for this issue. If you like the issu...