Savvy salespeople who implement public relations strategies position themselves a step ahead of their competitors. Here’s our tip of the week from Kathy Ziprik, public relations representative for Building Leaders, Inc. and author of the book PR Power: Public Relations for Building Product Manufacturers.

Get to know your company’s public relations and marketing team members. Request copies of press releases they’re distributing nationally and make them available to your customers to customize and send out locally. Better yet, make sure your company PR leader has all the media in your customers’ geographic areas on his or her media list.

Want to stay a step ahead of the competition? Here’s our tip of the week from Kathy Ziprik, public relations representative for Building Leaders, Inc. and author of the book PR Power: Public Relations for Building Product Manufacturers

Help your customers gain free publicity by promoting them internally as resources to your company’s PR team. And, don’t forget to send your company PR team before and after photos of projects using your products so they can create national press releases and case studies from these materials.

Get ready to be more valuable to your customers! Here’s our tip of the week from Kathy Ziprik, public relations representative for Building Leaders, Inc. and author of the book PR Power: Public Relations for Building Product Manufacturers.

Know your local media outlets. Read the newspapers in your area and watch newscasts. You’ll soon determine if there are any special angles or interests they have on a regular basis. Then you can help your customers target press materials on your products to these media members.

This week we’re going to share some basic "do’s and don’ts" of being interviewed by the media. They’re offered by Kathy Ziprik, public relations representative for Building Leaders, Inc. and author of the book PR Power: Public Relations for Building Product Manufacturers. Look at the tips and think about how many apply to selling situations!

Do:
   • Take time to listen to the question, think, and then respond.
   • Use any approved talking points your company has developed.
   • Ask questions to clarify anything you don’t understand.
   • Be enthusiastic. Use specific information and examples to drive home your answers.
   • Keep your answers relatively short and complete. Take time to ask the reporter if he/she understands what you’re talking about.
   • Make sure you’re doing the phone interview in a quiet location, such as a conference room or office, where you won’t be disturbed.
   • Use the interview as an opportunity to put forth your company’s most important points and key messages.
   • Keep in mind the time limit of the interview if there is one.
   • End an interview by asking if there’s anything else the reporter would like to cover, or if he/she feels they need additional information.

Don’t:
   • Feel pressured to answer a question. Only answer questions you are comfortable with; take your time to answer.
   • Talk in industry jargon. A reporter may not know what NFRC, AAMA, BOCA or industry names and terminology stand for. Make sure to use layman’s terms when doing an interview. When the answers are technical, take time to ask the reporter if he/she understands your answers.
   • Say “no comment” to anything. It sounds terse, and as if you have something to hide. Instead, offer a statement such as “I’m not prepared to discuss that topic today. Let’s move on to another question and we can always revisit that issue at another time.” (Make sure to tell the PR team about any occurrence such as this.)
   • Make negative comments about competitors. There’s no way to win if you start talking badly about your competition.
   • Say anything you don’t want seen in print. There is no such thing as “off the record” --- anything you say may be used in the story.
   • Answer any question you’re not 100% comfortable with. Make sure you feel confident about an answer before giving one; don’t speculate or try to answer for someone else.

Savvy salespeople who implement public relations strategies position themselves a step ahead of their competitors. Here’s our tip of the week from Kathy Ziprik, public relations representative for Building Leaders, Inc. and author of the book PR Power: Public Relations for Building Product Manufacturers.

Help your customers determine which local and community organizations to consider supporting by evaluating the following:

1. Consider strongly what potential “pay back” either product, cash or labor donations will have on your business.
2. Look for networking opportunities with your key target audiences.
3. Seek out strong company name recognition in printed materials in exchange for your participation.
4. If you’re donating labor to a project, make sure employees are all wearing bright-colored T-shirts with company or product names on them in bold letters. 5. Look for ways to maximize your company’s visibility with a community project. This could mean getting your name on the signage involved at a project site, getting your logo included in printed materials or having the organization include your company in its press releases. Will there be an opportunity to do media interviews about your involvement in the project?

Looking for Fast PR help? Here’s our tip of the week from Kathy Ziprik, public relations representative for Building Leaders, Inc. and author of the book PR Power: Public Relations for Building Product Manufacturers.

Since builders and remodelers are a key target audience for your sales, it makes all the sense in the world to determine what community projects your potential (and current) customers are involved with locally. This conversation may open the door for you to be more closely tied in with your target audience and gain visibility for the products you sell with others in the building industry.

Savvy salespeople who implement public relations strategies position themselves a step ahead of their competitors. Here’s our tip of the week from Kathy Ziprik, public relations representative for Building Leaders, Inc. and author of the book PR Power: Public Relations for Building Product Manufacturers.

One of the easiest (and most effective) ways to make your company’s products known is to network through local home builder associations. Ask what community projects they’re supporting at your local association and how you can get involved. Negotiate and supply products to highly-visible projects supported by your local builder associations (such as a parade of homes!) and you’re off and running with solid community relations --- and potential sales!

This week in Kathy’s Korner we’re offering “Five Ways to Help Your Customers Get Free Press Coverage.” These ideas are recommended by Kathy Ziprik, public relations representative for Building Leaders, Inc. and author of the book PR Power: Public Relations for Building Product Manufacturers.

1. Contact a radio station and offer to serve with your customer as guests to answer homeowner call-in questions on your specific products and home improvement issues.
2. Volunteer to do a TV segment for your local news station on combating soaring energy costs by installing energy-efficient products. Find your "green angle" and promote it locally.
3. Provide your customers with dead-stock products that they can in turn donate to high-profile community projects, positioning them as the hero!
4. Join forces with your local home builder association to create a Street of Dreams or Parade of Homes and promote your involvement to the local media.
5. Offer your services as a guest expert for chat rooms and e-mail sessions on the topic of your products to your customers for their web sites and to your local media members --- newspapers, radio and television stations --- for their web sites.

Want to look like a hero to a customer planning a special event? Offer them this checklist for Kathy Ziprik, our public relations representative at Building Leaders, Inc., to use whether they’re hosting an open house, special celebration or grand opening:

Start with the basics.
1. Identify the idea and purpose of your event.
2. Create goals and objectives for the event.
3. Put a team together and determine who will coordinate the various details of the event.
4. Set a realistic budget.
5. Create a written plan of action and a timeline.
6. Assign responsibilities and set progress goals.
7. Identify a listing of your needs and outside assistance.

Planning an Open House
1. Determine a date and time that works for everyone involved.
2. Create written invitations to promote your open house.
3. Create a comprehensive invitation list.
4. Pick a place and arrange the logistic details.
5. Hire a professional photographer.
6. Handle the details … entertainment, parking, restrooms, audio visual needs, promotional materials, etc.
7. Anticipate and plan for bad weather.
8. Plan the program minute-by-minute to reduce problems.
9. Make the event memorable with giveaways, literature and gifts.
10. Sweat the details.

Here’s our fastest tip of the week from Kathy Ziprik, public relations representative for Building Leaders, Inc. and author of the book PR Power: Public Relations for Building Product Manufacturers.

Have you received a great referral lately? Make sure to show your appreciation to the person by sending a gas card --- good for a free tank of gas!

Savvy salespeople who implement public relations strategies position themselves a step ahead of their competitors. Here’s our tip of the week from Kathy Ziprik, public relations representative for Building Leaders, Inc. and author of the book PR Power: Public Relations for Building Product Manufacturers.

Next time you go on vacation, take the names and addresses of your top 10 customers with you. Spend ½ hour sending them postcards from your destination location letting them know that even while you’re away, you’re thinking about ways to build their business.

Are you exhibiting at a local home show or supporting a customer who is exhibiting? If so, follow these tips from Kathy Ziprik, public relations representative for Building Leaders, Inc. and author of the book PR Power: Public Relations for Building Product Manufacturers.

Local home shows bring out thousands of consumers; all of whom are potential purchasers of your products --- either directly or through their builders and remodelers. To connect with consumers at a show, make sure to plan ahead. Whether you have your own booth or you’re supplying support to your customers who are exhibiting, here are some tips to maximize your home show participation:

1. Include large photos or a photo book of "before and after" images of projects to help homeowners visualize the results of using your products.
2. Have plenty of business cards on hand to distribute.
3. Send a pre-show postcard to potential and previous customers inviting them to stop at the booth.
4. Include displays, literature, exhibits and hand-held samples in the booth.
5. Offer prize drawings from your booth to build up your follow-up list for after the show.
6. Offer to do radio, TV or newspaper interviews before and during the show to maximize your exposure.
7. Distribute limited time offer discounts from the show booth to generate immediate callbacks after the show.