The most crucial question in PR

Do you ever misinterpret what is required? I wonder, if, like me, you sometimes get the wrong end of the stick?

Last week I was at a Women in Logistics event in Clitheroe. One of the speakers, a dynamic MD of a massive European freight company, was telling us, in no uncertain terms about her demand for remarkability. All her suppliers had to exceed her high targets.

In her presentation, she mentioned that she’d had real problems with her communications, and she was in the process of looking for a new supplier. “Aha!” I thought. “I’m in communications, I give a remarkable service. I’ll speak to her”.

What I should have asked, at the time of the presentation was “what do you mean by communications”? Because it turns out, she was having a problem with her telephones. Er, not my area of expertise at all.

Which reminds me of the story on the legendary John Peel’s BBC Radio 4 Saturday morning programme, many years ago, which had me in tucks. It went something like this:

Little boy: “Daddy, where did I come from?”

Dad (having prepared himself for this day): “Well… Mummy and Daddy love each other very much…” and he continued to explain the mechanics of making a baby.

Little boy: “Oh. I thought I came from Preston”.

So my top tip is this: Ask clarification questions at the time something is raised. It will save you time, energy and possibly embarrassment later.