About a week ago, I paid what I considered to be a hefty price for a plumber to remove a broken drain stop from my upstairs bathroom. The entire process lasted five minutes and entailed him removing the access panel, unscrewing the overflow piece attached to the drain and pulling out a broken piece of plastic.
Of course, I wasn’t charged for five minutes work; I was billed a flat rate for the visit, plus a charge for the “work” performed.
I’ll stop you now, before you finish those thoughts about what a whiner I am. This is not a complaint. I’m grateful for the service he performed, because he also verified that the area had no leaks and was – overall – in satisfactory shape.
I lacked the experience and knowledge to make such assertions, so I was pleased to let a professional tell me not to worry about the stability of a device made to hold and drain water that sits directly above our brand new kitchen.
Bottom line: I wasn’t just paying for the manual labor, I was also paying for the peace of mind associated with knowing an expert had evaluated the situation and confirmed there were no additional problems.
I’ll be the first to admit I’m no expert on many – if not most – things in this world, but it always surprises me to find out how many people like to portray themselves as authorities in areas well outside their proven specialties.
For a company that doesn’t have a professional communications staff at its disposal (either internally or on retainer), that type of hubris can come at a very high price — both in terms of financial consequences and damage to its reputation.
Yes, all successful enterprises have bright people on their staffs who are well read, well spoken and probably have demonstrated a way with words on the occasional memo, email or internal newsletter.
However, do they know media relations, crisis communications, public relations and storytelling the way a professional does? It’s okay to admit they don’t — I can’t argue before a grand jury the way a trial lawyer does nor comprehend what it would take to perform open-heart surgery like a thoracic surgeon.
But the talented staff members here at WordWrite are experts in the field of communication, public relations, media relations and — on the most elemental level — simply sharing a client’s story the way they want and need it to be shared. Just look at the backgrounds and resumes of my new colleagues. I’m humbled they’ve allowed me the privilege of joining their team.
A truth that should be (but apparently isn’t) self-evident these days is that credentials count. Specific, hard-earned qualifications are why we choose whom we choose to provide services. We want the best and we want value for our hard-earned dollars.
Not to get too high on my soap box, but since when did politics and politicians hijack “elite” and turn it into a pejorative word? I want a college for my children to be considered elite, much in the same way I’m looking for the very best when it comes to selecting a doctor, attorney or contractor.
Most reasonable people wouldn’t skimp when making similar decisions, so why would a business do it with its crisis communications, public relations or media relations? Isn’t your company’s reputation worth it?
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Jeremy Church is an account supervisor for WordWrite Communications.
He can be reached at jeremy.church@wordwritepr.com and on Twitter @churchjeremy.
