PR is not just a 'frill'. Good Public Relations is a vital key to the successful management of any business. We believe that the practice of good Public Relations is the practice of 'Corporate Good Manners'.

Above all, PR is about REPUTATION. Your reputation. In fact, your perceived reputation

There is always a direct causal link between your information handling and the response it generates - the business-tool function of PR

• If you want to retain staff and not waste valuable time on replacing people - your staff needs to believe in their employers;
• If you want to enlarge your premises, or operate at antisocial hours, - the local community need to perceive you as ‘good guys’.
• If you want to extend your operating overdraft - your bank manager needs to see evidence that you are professional.
• If you want to secure customer loyalty - your customers need to know they will get value for money - on time, every time.
• If you want your shareholders to feel good about their investment they need to read about ‘their’ successful company
• If you want to secure a development grant then your funding agency needs to be able to read all about your success, in the right Press.

The list goes on. However, there are obviously two ways of dealing with any problem. Either you ignore it and hope it will go away (which it will not do). Or, you prepare for it and confront it.

We all know of people who do not open, let alone answer, any official-looking letters. On the other hand, if you respond instantly to every letter (especially those from the bank) then you will be treated with far more courtesy and consideration. You have been open. You have not tried to hide anything.

We had a client who had run into a short-term cash-flow problem. He did not want to let anyone know. He wanted to bridge the gap by deferring supplier payments - without discussion. We persuaded him to take the opposite tack.

He wrote to everyone concerned, outlining the situation. To his surprise, everyone he wrote to replied in the most supportive and positive terms. He got over the crisis and everyone was paid – late but by agreement and without penalty. To his further amazement, some of his larger suppliers then offered much better trading terms.

Sam Goldwin is credited with the idea that he didn’t care what people said about him, as long as they were talking about him. It may have been true for him but that is not an attitude any serious business can afford to hold today. Reputation is far too important, far too fragile, to be allowed to struggle on its own. It has to be nurtured and protected.

We tend to forget that the basic units, the most important building blocks, of every single enterprise are people. We forget that at our peril. With the right people on our side we will flourish. With the wrong enemies, we will wither.

PR is a straightforward tool best used at the interface of information and people. Well used, PR helps manage and regulate the proper flow of information - the lifeblood of our business communities. How much more professional a company looks with strategic corporate PR!

Good PR embraces such effective promotional activities as the planned Press campaign. This often produces far greater sales returns than a single advertisement. Indeed the right mileage in the Press can also help motivate employees - by allowing them to see the 'high' profile of the company.

Every business has 'publics' which need to be served with the right information at the right time, and in the right way. The most frequent mistake made in communication is that of failing to answer the question - or worse, answering the wrong question.

In the fiercely competitive world of business we are all looking for an edge. That one idea that makes us more successful than our competitors.

But how does the world learn of your USPs, your Unique Selling Points?