The value of relationships in PR

Everyone knows relationships matter. Not just with clients or at work, but in life – it’s all about who you know. That’s why it always surprises me when some people are so quick to damage relationships just because they’re in a grumpy mood, or having a bad day.

Working in PR, I do quite a bit of blogger outreach. I frequently hear my colleagues who work on the traditional side of PR constantly pitching reporters and media, and sometimes people on the receiving end of the call are not so nice. I’ve been pretty lucky in that department, as the majority of people I’ve contacted in the last year at my job have been friendly and responsive. Even if they decline a particular program I’m pitching, they tend to give a reason why, or a simple, “no thanks.” However, this week I had my first relatively rude, abrupt email declining an invite to participate in a program I’m working on behalf of a client with.

Now, I’m the first to admit I’m an overly sensitive person to begin with, and I suppose this person could have been having an off day, but when someone is unnecessarily rude to me, unfortunately I can’t forget it. It makes me not want to ever reach out to this person, because why set yourself up for rejection again? If colleagues ask me for recommendations on who to work with on future programs, I usually will suggest friendly people I’ve worked with before, and I’ll make a note to not reach out to x blogger based on previous correspondence. I’m sure that many bloggers get tons and tons of terrible pitches on a daily basis, but I actually make it a point to spend time drafting a pitch to be as clear and concise, and personal as possible. I actually do research on each and every person I reach out to, I check out their Twitter account, their most recent blog posts, and so on. Basically, I put time into reaching out (which should be part of every PR professional’s job), so it’s frustrating to get a rude response back.

I think it was Maya Angelou who put it best:

“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” 

Similarly, I’ll never forget the time I volunteered for LG Fashion Week back in 2010. I was so excited to help out, and had a less than ideal experience. There was one publicity firm in particular who was helping organize the event, and the representatives from that firm were so unfriendly and rude to me, that it pretty much turned me off of wanting to be involved in fashion PR and publicity. A  year or so later I can see that this firm is very successful, and has amazing clients, but I could never work for them because I would hate to work for a company who’s team members are just not nice people. My point is – relationships DO matter. Don’t be rude to the “little” people – you never know what they have to offer now, or a few years down the line.

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