Public Relations Today

    In my small hometown, some of the elected officials who serve on our Town Board are being challenged in the courts with various charges of corruption, from bribery and cronyism to harassment and discrimination.  The legal fees to defend these cases are mounting, and taxpayers are nervous about the possibility of long, drawn-out proceedings, not to mention the awards being sought, one of which is $30 million.

    As a professional marketing person, I have always relied on communications to pay for my supper, but in “legaleze” speak, it’s the lack of communications that seems to be the first line of defense.  All the defendants in these cases have said either “no comment” or they have referred any questions to their lawyers, who also say nothing. This drives me a little crazy sometimes.

    If I were personally accused of even the very least of these offenses, my natural instinct would be to say, “Whoa, are you nuts?  Me?”  But in representing clients, I do say that there is a time to be open and a time to be silent. Lawyers demand that their clients always be silent however.   I called a friend of mine who has served as a state Supreme Court justice and asked him why there’s always a gag rule for clients. He responded simply, “because it’s the fish that opens its mouth that gets caught!”

   Yeah, but doesn’t this assume that the clients will get caught only if they’re guilty? What about the innocent ones?  Why can’t they proclaim their innocence with confidence and let others know exactly what the situation is?  Assuming of course, that they’re innocent.  Do we always have to listen to the lawyers? Didn’t Shakespeare say to kill all the lawyers first? 

     It’s so hard to say goodbye. Almost inevitably, business relationships come to an end.  You want them to last forever, and while many may be long term, nothing lasts forever. 

     Clients’ needs and expectations change.  People in power move on.  Others die.  In the restaurant promotion business, there is an axiom that you automatically lose one percent of your market each year due to death.  In the real estate business, that presentation that you just knew would result in a listing goes to someone else.  Saying goodbye and knowing how to say it is part of the sales process.

     In this period of economic turmoil, many, many relationships are coming to an end, and we have no control over them.  Both my mortgage company and my bank have been absorbed by other institutions and I expect my statements to come from new addresses in the future. Clients run out of money, homes that we sold face foreclosure, long-term friends lose jobs and have to move to other locations.  I have a favorite expression which has carried me through many hard times and lost relationships.  Acceptance is everything. 

    When I experience loss, I try to look beyond my vessel lessening in volume. I try to accept the situation, the disappointment, and strive to look at the lessons I’ve learned, both professionally and in human relations, while the relationship lasted. Did I make the best contribution I could? Was I enriched by the experience?  Did my client and I make some difference together?  This kind of accessment is more productive than resenting the situation and focusing on a negative perspective.

     And sometimes, it’s just time to say goodbye.  If I can do it with grace, congratulations, I’m a grown-up.