Communication Ammo, by Sean Williams

Dallas rolls out a PR strategy to help nab water, KD Paine suffers pathetically bad bank customer service, and a CEO says effective communication is an essential leadership competency.  Read on.

Read in today’s WSJ (subscription req’d) that Dallas, Tex., is trying to dam the Neches River in East Texas to build a reservoir, attempting to slake the voracious thirst of the ever-expanding Metroplex.  Oklahoma won’t sell them water, and a plan to dam the Sulphur River in rural Northeast Texas is getting a similarly chilly reception.  The public relations strategy for the city seems to be, “we’ve saved some water lately! We are the economic engine of Texas! But, we NEED the water!” Harrumph.  Well, guess what, Dallas? You’re trying to have a megacity in a region that cannot support it. Worse, your residents (many of whom have moved from the north) want big, green lawns and the same plantings they had in Wisconsin, Michigan or Ohio. THEY CAN’T HAVE THEM.  How about you get serious about conservation — stick with xeriscaping and native plants, and do more in-fill development rather than pave over the prairie?

Bank customer service has long been a near oxymoron. But my friend KD Paine Tweeted that Citizen’s Bank, a unit of Royal Bank of Scotland, has set a new low.  First, a simple matter of starting a credit card processing account has become an epic tragedy, with multiple villains. Yes, we can do that. Wait, no, we can’t. Well, maybe, let me pass the buck. No, can’t do it. Wait, maybe, let us look into it. For goodness sake.  She started two  hashtags on Twitter — #citizensbanksucks and #whybanksshouldfail — to chronicle the saga.  There’s also a comprehensive post at this blog. This isn’t a PR problem, it’s an operational problem that threatens to become a PR issue, PDQ.  Having spent a good portion of my career in banking, this all doesn’t surprise me in the slightest. What’s amusing to me is that the solution is so very simple — train customer service people to give great service, not quote rules and treat longtime customers as naughty children. Oh, make no mistake, some will behave like naughty children and will need a spanking, but mostly, all customers want is to do business right.  Lou Holtz, longtime football coach and speaker, summarized eloquently — Do right.  C’mon, Citizens Bank. Do Right.

Sunday’s NYT featured a discussion with Yum Brands CEO David Novak. Novak says a hallmark of great leadership is taking an interest in people. He says it’s essential to make connections with your team and give them constructive feedback.

The best way to give feedback is to start out with, “This is what I appreciate about you.” They might have great strategy, good vision, they’re good at execution, or whatever you think they’re really doing well. When you start out by talking to people about what they’re doing well, that makes them very receptive for feedback because at least you’re giving them credit for what they’ve done. Then I say, “And you can be even more effective if you do this.” I think that really works.

Note that the suggestions for change don’t start with the word, “but.” That’s commonly called “sandwich” criticism, and employees see right through it.

The interview, part of the weekly Corner Office feature, is very good – another example of a senior exec who understands the power of effective communication, especially interpersonal. If only more execs would take these lessons to heart!

What’s on your mind today?

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 15th, 2009 at 11:31 am and is filed under Measurement, News Analysis, Public Relations, Social Media, Strategy. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.