Yes, and that is because (to my mind).. in order for you to promote something.. you have to work mostly upon the eyes and ears. Because what you have to provide to your stakeholders is good image and words of praise about the object, service or business you're representing. So, yes, you have to impress.
OK, how do you do that? This is my favourite part, because I've remembered some morals that go perfectly with it. Let's see if it works!
"It is said that if you know your enemies and know yourself, you will not be imperiled in a hundred battles; if you do not know your enemies but do know yourself, you will win one and lose one; if you do not know your enemies nor yourself, you will be imperiled in every single battle.".
The quote belongs to Sun Tzu, a famous Chinese General and military strategist of the 6th century BC. His book, named "The art of war" has been an immensely influential Chinese book on military strategy. Extrapolating into the world of PR, the meaning is that information is the crucial factor of this practice. Of course, we're not talking about enemies, but stakeholders and/or competition. Self-knowldege is another key factor, because you have to verify your own capabilities, your company's, and the third party factors that influence your work. Hence, since the 6th century BC until today, the people have changed (or so we like to believe), but some of the ideas are mainly of the same importance.
The next quote is a rather anonymous at origin ( I for one haven't been able to find the rivers of it) : "There is no failure, only feedback". This is one of my personal favourites. And it is quite simple: everything that happens is a result of your actions. So, the catch? The repercussions of what you do are lessons in life. Don't pass over them unconsciously, but improve yourself! In Public Relations, it can be applied just as well, because, let's face it, it's not going to be peachy and perfect constantly, right? We're only human. The list of other morals related to this one is rather long, but I personally think that the idea has been understood more than enough.
"Every complaint is a gift/opportunity". This is at first glance a "to be avoided" fact, but in most cases, we have to admit that it is eventually a good and important factor. Having complaints means at first that people are interested in your services. It would have been very peculiar and also tragic if nobody would have given you any kind of feedback, it would have meant that you're not sought after. Secondly, complaints can be used as a strategic tool for you to improve your customer's loyalty, your image and therefore, you only have to gain from that. So let's get to my next and, I promise, last one (for this post at least).
When a secretary of George Washington, excusing himself for being late, said that his watch was too slow, the reply of Washington was, "You must get a new watch, or I must get a new secretary". Obviously, punctuality is critical. It defines one's character and, why not, it can be a conclusive factor for other people sometimes. It can make the difference between a trustworthy person and a sloppy and careless one.
I think that it's quite enough for today's post, I hate being boring! Before I finish, I really feel the need of thanking Prof. Alexandru Lucinescu once again for introducing me to this domain of activity. I owe this man my future career. So, I guess that's it. Thank you for reading this!
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