The Little Touches that Make a BIG Difference
It was a big day in the Lyons’ household on Monday 12 September.
My little girl started school.
Mum was nervous, I was anxious, but the little ‘un was unphased.
Seeing her take her first little steps into the classroom at a place she’ll end up spending the next seven years made me feel lucky.
Lucky that I’m self-employed and can fit my schedule around my family’s needs to be there on these special days.
Lucky that she’s a confident and curious little spirit who loves anything new.
Lucky that she’s healthy and happy. I was also lucky enough to get a great PR reminder.
We picked her up from school three hours later (phasing in so I’m told).
All good – she runs out smiling. “How was it? I ask. “Did you have fun?”
“Yes, now can I have a treat like you promised?”
Well a deal is a deal so mum’s taking her to the toy store in town later. (£10 budget – blame Brexit I’ve told my missus).
But as we chatted in the playground she showed us a ‘kurtificate’ her new teacher gave her. It was a ‘Well Done on your first morning at school’ with her name on it and a lovely photo of my daughter holding a paper frame and smiling her head off.
It was signed by her teacher and the teaching assistant. It’s a real keepsake.
Here’s the PR point.
All the kids in the other classes starting for the first day got certificates. But not all certificates are created equal.
A friend of ours whose child is in a different class was in the playground collecting her little cherub and showed us her certificate. It was nice but there was no photo of her little one which led her to comment ‘oh look your teacher has made the effort to take and include a photo.’
Another friend whose son is in my daughter’s class and has three older children at the school said: “This is lovely, we’ve had these certificates before with my other kids but never with a photo.”
My daughter’s teacher and her assistant had produced the certificates in keeping with the way the school welcome new pupils. BUT they worked a little harder to add the finishing touch of a photo.
On the face of it – it’s a small thing and yet the impact was from what we saw and indeed felt very big.
The teacher and assistant have created goodwill already by doing a nice thing slightly different from others. They are now being perceived as hard working and ‘really lovely’ (my wife’s words).
I see it with agencies I work with. When you commit to PR don’t do it half-heartedly, or as an afterthought. If you’re going to do it – do it as best you can even if that means a bit more work.
Think about the little things your agency can do that your rivals across the road can’t or won’t.
It often boils down to who is willing to work a little harder and who is disciplined enough to have a good idea and deliver it well.
An example is an agency I work with sponsors lots of local sports clubs and ALWAYS attends their presentation evenings. It would be so easy to sit behind the desk, write the cheque and think job done.
But by making that little extra effort they get to meet local home owners and landlords in a neutral environment where they are already perceived as being the good guys because they:
- A) Sponsor the club. B) Made the effort to attend.
Thanks for reading and here’s to your next instruction.
Jerry
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