Effective communications means more than just \”spin\” you put out to the press. Your corporate communications must reflect genuine actions, practices and commitment to ethics, according to Randy Ryerson in Building an Effective Communication Strategy. The old adage of public relations still rings true today: \”You can’t polish B.S. It only makes a bigger mess.\”
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Unfortunately, too many distribution companies aren’t minding their messages or devoting the time and resources to communications planning. Often, communications is misunderstood to mean \”marketing\” and turned over to a sales executive who lacks the training of a PR professional. In public companies, you may find a financial executive does the bare minimum of communicating necessary to meet regulatory requirements. Companies using unsophisticated or ad hoc means to manage their communications run a very real risk of damaging their credibility, losing sales, lowering share value, and reducing employee productivity.
Everything from earnings announcements, hires, layoffs, accidents, new accounts, charitable donations, or even the way your truck drivers pass through a school zone is like a stone being tossed into a pond. Ensure that your company is getting the most out of its communications by assigning someone to oversee the functions. And make sure that person has the right skill set to evaluate the impact of those communications.
Related Resource: Managing Change: Tactics for Distributors (DVD)
