Public Relations Management in Service Sector

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For a quick and simple explanation of public relations, consider the world as being split into three groups. There are those who know you and like you; those who know you but do not like you; and those who don’t know you and don’t care about you (these usually comprise the large majority). The intention is to reach a point where those who know you and like you stay that way; those who know you and do not like you change their opinion; and those who neither know you nor care wish they could meet and do business with you. You will then be enjoying good public relations.

From the above it should be clear that there is much more to public relations than ‘being seen to be nice’. Frequently, where a problem arises, a specific PR programme may be the only way of dealing with it. Such a programme must be flexible and adaptable, for events can happen at any time to any company which will require the immediate attention of public relations programme.

For instance, a car manufacturer may suddenly discover a fault in the braking system of a new model; the company will need to recall all the cars sold for checking and repair without damaging public confidence in the model and the company. Carefully and properly handled, the operation could be successfully managed with minimal damage to the company’s reputation. Mishandled it could become a major disaster.

The Reliance World Cup cricket tournament in India is another such example. Reliance Industries’ image in the 80s was being eroded for various reasons. A lot of noise was being made by its critics’ o the company’s business policies and corporate practices. But with the sponsorship of the World Cup, Reliance was able to divert attention and build up a lot of positive publicity for a length of time. Every person in the country was aware of the Reliance World Cup, and millions followed the game on television, in the press, and other media. It gave the reliance name a tremendous boost, which paid Reliance rich dividends.

Public Relation is the science of success. It manifests on human behavior and becomes cognizable as bench marking when practiced meticulously by way of its in built trajectory of tools. These tools which are known as mediums, incidentally, as so varied and communicative in nature that they automatically attract glamour, which is why; Public Relation is a science is quite often misunderstood transmitting wrong pictures to wrong quarters. For those, who are eager to know, PR is one of the toughest profession which is supposed to give the best in worst of times but requires the best all times. When it comes to performance it requires hard work, dexterity, clarity of thought, richness of language and an optimum level of conviction. It is a science of public, for the public and is practiced by an individual or a set of individuals who know the art of utilizing the correct tool or tools in a given time. It is transparent because the results become public next day. The practitioner when engrossed in the chemistry of the tools and their versatility- all production work is carried out in haste –automatically assume the role of a king pin in the setup similar to a driver of a vehicle who becomes a part of the driving. This, as the time passes, brings into play the spirit of camaradene and communication skills in the PR practitioner. The main goal of a public relations department is to enhance a company’s reputation. Staff that work in public relations, or as it is commonly known, PR, are skilled publicists. They are able to present a company or individual to the world in the best light. The role of a public relations department can be seen as a reputation protector.

The business world of today is extremely competitive. Companies need to have an edge that makes them stand out from the crowd, something that makes them more appealing and interesting to both the public and the media. The public are the buyers of the service and the media are responsible for selling it. Public relations provide a service for the company by helping to give the public and the media a better understanding of how the company works. Within a company, public relations can also come under the title of public information or customer relations. These departments assist customers if they have any problems with the company. They are usually the most helpful departments, as they exist to show the company at their best. People often have the perception of public relations as a group of people who spin everything. Spin can mean to turn around a bad situation to the company’s advantage. It is true that part of the purpose of public relations is to show the company in a positive light no matter what. There are certain PR experts that a company can turn to for this particular skill.

The public often think of PR as a glamorous job. Public relations people seem to have been tarred with the image of constant partying and networking to find new contacts. The reality is usually long hours and hard work for anyone involved in public relations.

There are certain skills necessary to work in the world of PR. These include a very high level of communication skills, written and verbal. The PR person must also be very adept at multitasking and time management. He or she may also have some form of media background or training in order to understand how the media and advertising work. Organizational and planning skills are also important in public relations.

The PR worker must also be able to cope very well under pressure. He or she must have the ability to cope with a barrage of questions from the media and the public. If a company comes under critical attack, it is the PR department who must take control of the situation. They must effectively answer the criticism and turn it around in order to protect the company’s reputation.

4. HISTORY OF ORIGIN

Knowing where, when and how something started is also often helpful in working out what it is. The following section briefly looks at the ways PR has been used in the past and how it has changed during the last century. Given the difficulty of defining public relations, it is not surprising that its history is full of confusion. Should we start with flags and Roman coins as early examples of corporate identity, or go back as far as cave paintings? What about the leaflets that circulated in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century, such as Tom Paine’s Rights of Man? The rise in literacy and printing presses in the nineteenth century led to many reforming campaigns concerning health, suffrage and education conducted by pamphlet and newspapers articles. Are these examples of early pressure group PR?

The science of Public Relation, converging human behavior and its theories