The Communications Doctor Is In

 Helen Vollmer, President, Edelman Southwest

In a digital world, you still need old-fashioned people skills. I recently learned that many medical schools (Stanford, Virginia Tech, UCLA among them) are now including brief interviews (MMI or multiple mini interview) demonstrating social skills as part of their admission process. No longer are test scores and grades the sole barometers of who will be treating you in the future.

Questions asked are designed to assess how candidates think on their feet, how willing they are to participate in teams and how well they listen, empathize, as well as respond when someone disagrees with them. Why are these traits important? According to a recent New York Times article (nytimes.com/health) a survey by the Joint Commission found poor communication to be among the leading causes of medical errors, which cause as many as 98,000 deaths each year.

In short, it would seem that good communications skills are as critical in the medical field today as they are in the business world or in personal relationships.

In fact, from Harvard to Howard, most MBA schools now have specific communications courses integrated into curriculum. Several universities offer dual degree programs, such as John Hopkins’ MA Communication/MBA.

Digital communications skills and knowledge are now a huge part of how we engage with those around us. And that’s a good thing. But our abilities to effectively use hybrid, owned and social media should be complementary to, not a substitute for, the depth of understanding that comes from a handshake, a question in response to listening carefully, a well placed pause for emphasis, or a change in tone to indicate displeasure or approval.

I’m an advocate of “eyeball” meetings whenever it’s possible. You know what it’s like: being in the same room, watching a situation unfold with a bit of give and take. And then comes that moment of realization that you are moving down the same path together or you are still miles apart with differing points of view.

So as we all hone our digital communication skills, let’s not forget the importance of a good bedside manner or the value in a well-turned phrase that’s shared verbally. It’s what the doctor ordered. Take one eyeball meeting and two RSS feeds and call me in the morning.

Milking Your BFF For All It’s Worth

 By Helen Vollmer, President, Edelman Southwest

Elsie the Cow and her bovine husband, Elmer, of the Borden’s brand knew something that until now we humans didn’t. According to a new report on animal behavior that I read about (www.earthweek.com) this weekend, cows make best friends within a herd. Yep - cows have BFFs. And, apparently, if separated from their buddy, they become stressed and can produce less milk.

“When heifers have their preferred partner with them, their stress levels in terms of their heart rate are reduced compared with if they were with a random individual,” says doctoral student Krista McLennan of Britain’s Northampton University.

All of which begs the question: if this is true of cows, how much less productive are humans when separated by those they love or like a lot? From real warriors in the military to road warriors taking care of business, what is the impact of leaving your best friend behind? Holy cow! This could be huge in terms of making us all more effective and efficient in our jobs.

Clearly, we can’t all be joined at the hip all the time. But efficiency experts do tell us that working in an environment that is enjoyable with strong relationships and a feeling of mutual trust does boost morale and improve productivity. In fact, The Great Place to Work Institute (www.greatplacetowork.com) which annually conducts Fortune Magazine’s “100 Best” list believes that the defining characteristic of a great place to work is a culture based on trusting relationships. In a high trust environment, people cooperate and collaborate, leading to positive interactions and higher profits.

All this time, I thought those cows searching for shade under a big old oak tree were just hot. Now I know that it’s really their version of a conference room where they’re collaborating on how to take over the round up. Just proving that cows are a lot smarter than I ever gave them credit for and we humans have a lot to learn about how to reduce stress.

Is The Client Really That Into You?

Dating Can Sometimes Provide Guidance with Clients

by Judy Haveson, Vollmer Public Relations New York City

In today’s economy, the last thing on any business owner’s mind is getting rid of clients -- regardless of whether the client turns out to be a good fit.

Sometimes, client relationships can be compared to dating relationships: Do they get me? Are we on the same page? Do we want the same things? Is it all about money?

One of my favorite dating litmus tests was always, “if they treat you badly when you’re dating them imagine how they’ll treat you if you marry them.”  Unfortunately, the same can hold true for client/agency relationships.

No one wants to end a relationship, be it professional or personal, but sometimes you have to re-evaluate in order to determine if continuing is better for your end goal or not. In business, the best way to develop a good working relationship is to determine and agree up front on the ultimate outcome, as well as the process by which it will be achieved, before the contract is even signed. That way, everyone’s expectations can be managed, there will be fewer surprises, and you’ll always have something in writing.

Sounds easy, right? Too bad managing and meeting expectations isn’t always as easy as it seems. You’d like to assume that if it’s in writing and both parties have agreed, then it’s a pretty cut and dry process. But what if client expectations change and the reasons you and your client were originally a good match are no longer there? Sound like dating? This doesn’t mean you automatically throw in the towel and dump them -- or vice versa. The best case scenario is that the partnership you’ve developed with your client is transparent and open, allowing you to set new objectives, which will get you back on the same page, and focus on meeting new expectations.  

Here are some of Vollmer’s key tips on establishing and keeping good client relationships:

• Be realistic in what you’re capable of offering to a client.
• Define the working relationship and set client expectations up front.
• Don’t make it up as you go.
• Treat the client as if you were the client.
• Communicate, communicate, communicate -- and then communicate some more.
• Be the example.

If, after all of this, the relationship still isn’t working, then it might be time for a new direction. At least, you’ll know that you’ve been honest and given it every effort to work. The truth is that sometimes, no matter what you try, they’re just not into you. But you can always walk away friends.

Wherever You Roam, Take the Keys to Great Client Relationships

Joel Frey, Public Relations Manager, Travelocity
Vollmer Public Relations Client and Guest Blogger

Dallas. Houston. El Paso. San Francisco. Indianapolis. New York. No, this isn’t the latest wayward itinerary of our beloved Roaming Gnome. Rather, this is a list of cities where any given member of the Travelocity/Vollmer PR team will be working on a typical business day.

“So how does that work?” you might be thinking. “Surely, they can’t get much accomplished with their team so spread out.”

As someone who has worked on both sides of this equation – three years as a VPR account exec and six as PR manager at Travelocity – I can say, confidently, that it has worked and continues to work well. In fact, the Travelocity/VPR relationship has been going strong now for 14 years, dating back to a time when our brand was little more than a half-baked idea being thrown around the marketing department of our parent company, Sabre Holdings.

So how has our relationship with VPR weathered all of the peaks and valleys of the last 14 years? Undoubtedly, executing award-winning campaigns revolving solely around a lawn ornament and having the flexibility to schedule conference calls with team members spread across all four time zones are major factors. But, from my perspective, there are four bigger reasons why we have kept our relationship intact with VPR since 1995.

Candor -- Several years ago at one of our annual “eyeball” meetings, it was late in the day and we were all getting tired of each other. The conversation was lacking direction, the ideas were falling flat and after a while Helen made her feelings known. “This is bull****, guys!” she blurted out. We were stunned and not sure what to make of her outburst, but looking back on it today, I realize that there probably aren’t too many agency heads who would have the guts to say this to their largest client.

Patience -- This one works both ways. There are times when VPR has had to explain to us that a pitch might not quite be ready for primetime or that it wasn’t that good to begin with and we need to go back to the drawing board. Conversely, we’ve required patience from VPR when a hot product launch that has been in the works for months gets delayed or an executive we had lined up for a series of interviews had to back out at the last minute.

Fun -- As our team has become more spread out, the eyeball meetings have become part business meeting/part family reunion. We recently converged upon Dallas for a day of planning, brainstorming and, well, drinking. The dress code was Hawaiian. I was timekeeper and scheduled the meeting to end promptly at 4:00 to give everyone enough time to visit and catch up over a couple of cocktails before parting ways.

Trust -- I’ll close with what, in my humble opinion, is the most important element of building a long term relationship. For us it means that every day, regardless of the circumstances, when any one of us needs an extra hand, we all know that someone will be there to back us up.

It’s hard to place a value on such peace of mind.

Visit www.joelfrey.com for more information on Joel and his book "Two Sides of a Cypress Wall: The True Story of a Reluctant College Graduate."

The Most Important Partner Relationships

by Micah Reeves, Vollmer Public Relations Houston

Earlier this month, I was asked to write an article about our partner relationship with Microsoft. While that is a great topic, I find it difficult to write about it right now. While a relationship with Microsoft is important, it is not the most important to me at this time.

My relationship with my employer, Vollmer Public Relations, is having a much larger impact on my life at this time. You see, my father is undergoing surgery to replace part of his hip, which he broke a couple of weeks ago when he fell. Looking back over the past few years, it seems I have spent quite a bit of time in hospitals with various family members. I have had the joy of seeing my son’s first moments and the disappointments of cancer, stroke, food poisoning, and malpractice from treatment in a foreign country. Through everything that has happened, I have seen compassion from many people - especially the people I work with at Vollmer.

These days, it seems like most companies are mainly focused on the bottom line and forget how that line gets driven. People are the cogs that make businesses run and are essential to success, regardless of what a company is doing. The most valuable commodity for most companies is their employees. Even with this simple truth, many companies forget that people are human and have issues that affect their lives and work.

I believe that a direct correlation can be drawn between the productivity of an individual employee and the way that employee is treated by his or her employer. If a company supports its employees through their personal challenges in life, the company will receive more from the relationships with them. I am grateful to work for a company that recognizes this.

Working for Vollmer over the past nine years has shown me many things, and top amongst them is that we are a family. I have never worked for another company where the leadership of the company truly cared about their employees’ personal lives. Vollmer’s leaders commit to their employees, not only on the professional side, but on the personal side of their lives, as well. I don't know what the future holds for me, but I do know that I have a family at Vollmer, one I can count on for support. That is very comforting to know at times like these.

My father just came out of surgery and is doing great. It turns out that the fracture was caused by a tumor from the bone cancer. To everyone at Vollmer, I want to say “thank you” for everything you have done for me and my family through all of this. I couldn’t imagine working with a better group of people.