PR experts discuss what to do when a company angers its customers

ASHEVILLE - Employees of office supply chain Staples and Susan Roderick, head of beautification nonprofit Quality Forward, were outside the company's Merrimon Avenue store discussing possible landscaping a few weeks ago when a motorist hollered, "Your building is ugly!"

"I yelled back, 'Well, we're trying to make it better,' " Roderick said recently.

The incident encapsulates one of the suggestions public relations professionals make for companies that, as Staples has, do something that angers customers and the public.

Don't duck your head and hope the controversy will blow over, public relations experts say. Get your position out to the news media, the public and your employees and take action to set things right, they advise.

The Staples building at 65 Merrimon Ave., just north of Interstate 240, became a local symbol of runaway development last year as its large retaining wall on Merrimon rose during construction.

City Council discussed concerns about it, the Citizen-Times received a number of letters to the editor about the building and neighborhood activist Heather Rayburn even used it as way to increase turnout for candidates favoring more controls on growth. Rayburn stood in front of the building on Election Day holding a sign that read: "If this Staples building makes you mad - Vote".

Staples officials visited town last month to discuss concerns with community residents and, spokeswoman Mylissa Tsai said, are working on a response to those concerns now.

Valuing the brand

It is tempting for companies in Staples' position to just keep their mouth shut and hope the controversy goes away, PR experts said, but it is usually a bad idea.

"If the community has ill will toward the building, it's going to hurt their business overall. It's never going to be as successful as it can be," said Rick French, president and CEO of French/ West/Vaughn, a Raleigh-based public relations firm.

"People buy products and services from companies that they respect and trust," said Chuck Werle, principal with Asheville marketing firm Carolina Image Builders. "The ones that are concerned about their image, they're the ones that succeed."

"Your brand, your reputation is incredibly important and an incredibly valuable asset," said Elizabeth Sims, vice president of marketing and communications for The Biltmore Co. "A lot of companies put their brand as a line item on their balance sheet as an indication of worth."

A company's reputation isn't important just for customers, experts said. Employees' opinion of their company's actions will affect their morale and the quality of their work.

"Employees need to feel good about working for you, because if they don't, guess what, you're not going to be successful," Sims said.

Starting right

The easiest course is to defuse a controversy before it starts, says Dave Tomsky, director of public relations at WC&T, a local advertising agency.

"The most important thing is to do the right thing. If you do the right thing in the first place, then you don't have to worry about what the consequences are," Tomsky said. "It's a whole lot easier to prevent something from happening than it is doubling back and undoing what's already been done."

Tomsky was in charge of marketing and public relations for several years at the Grove Park Inn, including the period when the inn planned and built its $40 million spa.

The inn, Tomsky said, had previously rubbed some neighbors the wrong way during construction of the two modern wings of the main building. This time, the inn tried to let neighbors know about the project early on, solicited their input and even set up a hotline so people could call with concerns once construction began. The calls were answered within one business day, he said.

"At least they feel like they've been part of the process and they've been included and not treated with arrogance," he said.

The inn didn't mollify all its critics. Many neighbors protested more recently when the inn proposed several construction projects on its grounds, but the inn was still able to get City Council approval for much of what it wanted.

The broader lesson, Tomsky says, is that companies should consider public reaction early on when planning a project or launching a product. It helps to get public relations professionals involved who have some familiarity with the community, he said.

"Try to take into account the local social and political environment," he said. "The earlier you can be in touch with your neighbors, the better."

"It's very shortsighted (to think) that you don't need to deal with your neighbors until they become consumers," Tomsky said. "If you alienate your neighbors by failing to communicate with them, at some point in time they're going to be able to stop you."

Werle agreed. "If they were brought into the process early on ... they would feel, 'At least they're concerned about how we're feeling,'" he said.

Large companies - and small ones - don't always take the trouble. French said many national retailers have had problems in other communities similar to Staples' building in Asheville. Many place a high priority on having a consistent look for their buildings whether they are located in Asheville, N.C., or Ashland, Ore., or Ashtabula, Ohio.

"These kind of issues with community groups ... are happening with big box retailers all over the country," he said. "Generally (retailers) are trying to keep a brand identity ... that may or may not be in concert with the aesthetic values of the community."

Oops

Sooner or later, even companies mindful of public relations considerations will make someone mad. Experts advise companies to research the situation quickly, get the company's position before the public, apologize if warranted and begin a dialog with those on the other side of the issue.

Corporate executives and politicians sometimes worry that responding to criticism will give the story "legs," and just result in more bad publicity. But PR experts interviewed for this story say it's better for a company to defend its reputation.

"If you don't say anything ... people will think you're guilty," Werle said. "It's better to state your case."

Keeping quiet amounts to abandoning the battlefield to your critics, some experts said.

"You want to be sure that stories don't get written without your point of view ... and you don't want things to get out of hand," said Robert Lauterborn, a former public relations executive with General Electric and International Paper who now teaches advertising at the UNC-Chapel Hill School of Journalism and Mass Communication.

"There are multiple facets to an issue and it's important that the people who have a different perspective on an issue aren't the only people who are talking to a reporter," Lauterborn said.

Companies should admit it if they've made a mistake, several experts said.

"I think people respect that. They say, 'Well, I make mistakes, too,'" Werle said. It has even more impact if a top company official makes the statement and if the company releases relevant information at the same time, he said.

"Tell the whole truth. Information you withhold can come back to haunt you," he said.

Such an admission can help end the drip, drip, drip of negative stories, Tomsky said.

"The best thing to do with bad news is to get it out and get it over with." he said.

Words and action

From there, the next steps are to talk with those affected and put in a plan of action to deal with the problem if it is warranted, experts said.

"It's sort of basic human nature," Sims said. "If you have a disagreement with someone ... how do you fix that? Well, you have to sit down and talk with that person."

This can be a tricky stage. "You can't overreact to the vocal few," Tomsky said. "You can find out if how they feel is reflective of the majority. It's a balancing act."

Companies have to make those they are talking with understand the limits of what they can do, experts said, and be prepared for the possibility that they won't be able to satisfy their harshest critics.

"You can't acquiesce unilaterally to an advocacy group because their demands may or may not be reasonable," French said.

"Sometimes neighbors get emotional and irrational and see if they can push the big company as far as they can," Werle said.

Companies need to be thinking about steps that will be convincing to their customers and the general public even if activists find them lacking, Lauterborn said.

"You're always driven by the behavior of the people whose behavior you want to change," he said. "If you are (chemical company) Monsanto, it might be difficult to get an 'A' grade from the Sierra Club," but it might be possible to take steps to convince observers in the middle of the spectrum of opinion that you are being environmentally responsible.

"There are certain minds you aren't going to change so you do your best to take away their ammunition," said Lauterborn, who believes actions will ultimately tell the tale, not obvious attempts to sway public opinion. "Running a bunch of ads isn't going to solve the problem."

Once a controversy erupts, "It isn't about what (corporate officials) say, it's about what they do," he said. In the Staples case, "They really have to think about how do they behave in a way that will show them to be sensitive to the culture and the feelings of the people of Asheville."