Are You a Sales Person?

“PR is just like sales, are you a sales person?” This is the question my placement boss asked me last week. For all intents and purposes, yes I am. I have worked in high-end retail management for years now. I could probably persuade you give me your bag and then make you buy it back for twice what you originally paid for it. What she was getting at was that a PR practitioner has to sell their pitches to clients and their ideas to management. To do so they have to be confident, knowledgeable, efficient and authentic; just like a good sales person.

Though years of customer interaction at work, I have fine-tuned the art of selling. But what I’ve realised, after studying communications, is the reason I sell well is not because I can manipulate customers into buying things they don’t need. It’s because I do the exact opposite. I help them realise what they do need and then present only options to fill that need. And I do that by asking open-ended questions. In other words, I do my research. 

I ask customers questions such as, “are you shopping for yourself? Are you buying a gift? Is the gift for a special occasion? What is their personal style?” By finding out what they need, I also find out what they don't need and from there I can make appropriate suggestions on products. 

Alike to sales, we have to ask the open-ended questions in PR too, although, we answer them ourselves by conducting in-depth research into our client’s business. Why does the client need PR? What is already working for them? What isn’t? Are they sending the correct messages to the correct people? In public relations, and not just writing a PR plan, research should be the starting point for any initiative. Without research we cannot define objectives because we do not know what we need to achieve. Research is the difference between an idea and an effective solution. In retail, it makes me a sale. In PR, it wins me the client.

An end to the beginning

It’s hard to believe that not only my internship has come to an end but so has my time of studying, hopefully.  What an incredible journey it has been, over the past six years, I have studied architecture, quit university, come back to university and now, I’m finally about to graduate.  The last three years of studying Public Relations though has truly been the best, and reassures me that I have finally chosen the right career path. My 20-day internship has given me a valuable insight into the world of public relations and has given me the opportunity to build relationships and gain vital knowledge that has equip me for the rest of my career. During my time at PPR I was able to utilise and build upon the foundations taught at university.

During my time at PPR I learnt several key things that I can carry into the business world. Some of these things I already knew before starting, but working as an intern really highlighted these things. I would like to share with you and future interns to help improve their intern experience.

Ask Questions: I learnt very early on in my intern that the best way to get work or be invited to events is to show interest and ask questions. I realised by asking questions about colleague’s clients, work and upcoming events that they would realise my interest and quite often I was asked to help them out. This happened to me in the first week. With a background in architecture I was very interested in one of my colleagues clients, Finbar, who are Perth’s leading apartment developers. After showing my interest in this client I was invited to attend a meeting with Finbar’s Chief Operations Officer Ronald Chan and his marketing director. It was a fantastic experience to share my ideas for Finbar in this meeting, something that wouldn’t have been possible if I didn’t ask questions.

Meet your deadline: Completing a task before the deadline is a great way to show colleagues that you are a hard worker and are eager to learn.  Be sure though to fully fulfil the brief and to complete work to the best of your ability. After all you’re there to learn and improve your skills. It’s also important to show initiative and ask whether there is anything else you can follow up with, which will shape your colleagues opinion in regards to your work ethic.

Always say ‘yes’: This was definitely something I knew before hand, but saying ‘yes’ at PPR opened up so many doors and opportunities for me, and highlighted to me the importance of always being open to opportunities. Saying ‘yes’ allowed for me to attend various events, including the opening of a gymnasium where the premier was a guest, sit in on meetings, venture into the city to carry out tasks for colleagues, activations and attend media filming and interviews. It’s really amazing to see the opportunities you’re presented with when you just say ‘yes’. By doing so I have been able to use many of my PR skills including writing, interviewing, event planning, communicating and my ability to network.

Overall my experience at PPR was amazing and it taught me so much in regards to the PR industry. I was proud of myself for completing something that was so far out of my comfort zone at the beginning. Each day I was challenged in some way or anything, but this has only helped me face my fears and develop my skills and understanding of the PR world. I am so grateful for the opportunity I was given and I now feel ready to take a leap into the world of PR and start my career.

Good luck with your intern.

Georgia 

Sifting Through the Rubbish

On a daily basis we are exposed to millions of adverts, stories and information about the world and ourselves via a range of mediums. I don’t think that it has been until now that I realise the effort and work put into constructing this information for the world to see. We almost become oblivious to it, like it’s apart of everyday life. We wake up and the paper is in your mailbox. You don’t think about the people who have created it, or those who has crafted their images and writing to suit their clients needs and wants. This is a very selective process, one which takes times and effort. During my first week I learnt about this process and the skills needed to ensure that work is crafted to the highest standard, in order to give the client the best possible chance of receiving coverage. Some might ask how? It’s simply, or rather complex. You learn to sift through the rubbish.

On my second day I was asked to write a press release for a client who is opening a new gymnasium. In order to do this the steps are as followed

1. Research about the client and the new gym.
2. Produce ‘word vomit’ as my mentor likes to say.
3. Now its time to refine your writing skills.
4. Repeat step 3 multiple times until you believe all the refining is done.
5. Produce press release to the client
6. Repeat step 3, again until given the ok.

Something I thought would be a quick process, soon turned into a process that consumed half of my day. You see in step 1 its all about sifting through the rubbish and realising what is the essence of your story. This process is very much a form of art, because this information will form your story and your title.

Step 2 has to be my favourite. Now you must regurgitate that information and vomit it up onto the page. Hopefully following a pyramid structure. When I look back on my first go at writing the press release for the gym opening, it was all over the place and some key elements of the story were being lost. This is where Step 3 came in.

Step 3 is where you start shaving away at parts of the apple so to speak. Removing bits from here and changing words from there. This is where writing really becomes an art form. You learn to hone your writing skills. And this does take time. I’ve learnt that only practice will make me a better writer and maybe this is why I’ve been asked everyday this week to write a media release for a client, after all writing is a core foundation to PR.

Step 4. Yes, this step can be monotonous and tedious at times, but its essential to ensure the best possible coverage. It can be the simplest of thing during this process that can make the world of difference, to whether your story gets coverage or not. For example the title “Harper Family to Open New Gymnasium at St. Fredrick's Grammar” is far less appeal than “WA Premier to Open New Gymnasium”. No ordinary citizen would know who the Harper family is, but EVERYONE knows who the WA Premier is. Instantly your story has newsworthiness and coverage. And you now have a happy client.

So for us as PR students I encourage you all to practice your ‘sifting through the rubbish’, your writing and your refining, after all it is these skills that along with appealing and captivate photos that engage people and hopefully bring your client coverage.  But for now, what do you guys think is the most important skill in PR?

Georgia

Chinese New Year celebration with hotel's travel agents

I am so grateful that I could joined the Chinese New Year carolling team of Shangri-La Tanjung Aru Resort and Spa (STAR) hotel for three days which held on one week before the Chinese New Year. This Chinese New Year carolling was held annually, I had joined carolling for Christmas for a few times but this was the first time I joined the Chinese New Year carolling therefore it was quite special for me. We went all the hotel's travel agents and sang Chinese New Year's song for them and gave them a hamper as appreciation because travel agents were important business partner for hotel since the customers source of hotel are mostly came from the travel agents. The travel agents that we went were Hana Tour, First Tour, Sky zone, Kinabalu Heritage, Perfect Holiday, Excellence Eco Tourism, Popular Express and others. The staffs of these travel agents were very happy and enjoyed the New Year song we sang to them, all of them followed us to sing although some of them cannot read Chinese. This is one of the thing I felt so proud of them and this had showed that they really support STAR hotel. After the Chinese New Year song, we chit-chat with them and the carolling ended up with a group photos of the staffs of STAR hotel and travel agents. These travel agents helped STAR hotel to attract guests and introduce the guest the best services that provided by STAR hotel. The main objective of this Chinese New Year carolling is to appreciate the hotel's travel agents and in the same time maintain the relationship of each other. 

A group photo with the staff of Kinabalu Heritage. 

Group photo with the staff of Hana Tour

Christmas party for underprivileged children

 Shangri-La Tanjung Aru Resort and Spa , Kota Kinabalu held a children 's Christmas party for unprivileged children. The charity event is held annually at the resort. Seventy-seven children from a number of charity homes, including Sabah Cheshire Home, Taman Didikam Kanak Kanak,  Kanak Kanak Kurang Upaya Sembulan, Rumah Kanak Kanak Berringis, Jireh Home, Rumah Bukit Harapan , Seri Mengasih Centre and Sekolah Kebangasaan Pendidikan Khas attended the party.

Shangri-La  prepared an amusing line-up of activities for the party. Before the party began, some of the hotel staff dressed up as Santa and Santarina, and welcomed the children arriving at the main lobby with a warm smile. During the opening ceremony, resort staff Jessica Morris gave a heartfelt welcome speech. This was followed by the high tea buffet and more activities.

After the scrumptious high tea buffet, a variety of games and activities were conducted, beginning with the dance performance by children from Rumah Kanak-Kanak Beringgis followed by a magic show and some parlour games such as, "Musical Chair" and "Ping Pong Race"which brought so much surprise and laughter.

The Christmas party ended up with a group photo. Everyone had a joyful and enjoyable Christmas party.

This event showed that Shangri-La hotel is doing Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) which comply with the hotel's CSR vision and mission statement, which is " We envision a community of responsible and educated citizens who are environmentally conscious, practice social responsibility in their daily lives and inspire others to do the same. We commit to operating in an economically, socially and environmentally responsible manner whilst balancing the interests of diverse stakeholders. 
We strive to be a leader in corporate citizenship and sustainable development, caring for our colleagues and guests, seeking to enrich the quality of life for the communities in which we do business, and serving as good stewards of society and the environment." 

Besides, this event also build a win-win situation for both the Shangri-La hotel and underprivileged children. Shangri-La hotel can maintaining and enhancing their own reputation and credibility, engaging with the community and building a good relationship with public at the same time taking care of those under privileged children and let them know the feeling of being love.

I am glad that I had a chance to participate in this event and my PR director had assigned me some task for this event which is to be the photographer of this event, and wrote a media release for this event for the publication on news. Lastly, I had gained a lot of experience throughout this event.

Scrumptious high tea buffet 

Everyone enjoying the foods 

Games time 

The party ended up with a group photo. 

Hiho hiho back to work I go!

Hello there,

And so begins the new year!

2014 will be exciting for West Australian Ballet with the world premier performance of Radio & Juliet. The show begins on the 7th February at the Quarry Amphitheater in Perth. The music for the performance has been written by the highly acclaimed and well-known English band, Radiohead. Shows to follow in the season include classics such as Gisselle, La Fille Mal Gardee and Snow White.

The public relations and marketing staff are busy with the preparations for Radio & Juliet. Copy for season and show programs and brochures are being created, websites and social media sites updated, posters and banners advertising the season are being dispersed throughout the city and media releases are being drafted.

Having spent a day writing constantly I thought it would be fitting to write some more and create a new blog post! To begin the day I found myself in a 'stop/start'mode of writing. I felt the necessity to reword and fix every word or sentence I typed. After about two hours of this I stopped.  I began to just write. What I wanted and how I wanted, deciding to fix mistakes later.  This has worked extremely well for me. I found that being to pedantic reduced the flow of my creative thinking. I believe this issue I have is a result of learning journalistic style. I will have to consider this and try leave my journalistic hat at the West Australian Ballets door step!

Oh my! I now have but only eight days left of my intern-ship to complete. Enjoy your experience! The time goes so quickly!