Excerpt from speech by Paula Lovell

All too often, public relations professionals are left out of the loop when a company makes critical decisions. This is unfortunate. There are hundreds of examples where communication with the public has either made or damaged a company’s reputation and had a long-standing effect on business (consider the Tylenol scare in the 1980s or the Exxon Valdez incident).

Often CEOs and other decision-makers feel that communication should be considered AFTER decisions have been made, or - worse- after the mistakes have been made.

If you’re a PR professional, follow these 10 tips to get the attention of your CEO:

1. Research – Nobody can argue with good research, and, as communications professionals, we sometimes don’t use it enough. Impress your CEO with hard data about employees, competitors and communications issues related to your company and its industry.

2. Know the Business Plan- If you can’t make it to the strategic planning table, at least ask for the strategic business plan. Read it and make sure all of your communications activities relate to the plan. Document your efforts, and every six months submit a report to your CEO, whether or not he or she asks for it. Focus your report on the communications activities that have helped to further the objectives spelled out in the business plan.

3. Understand the Company’s Financial Health- If you can’t read a balance sheet, take an accounting course. Go back to school or get a friend to teach you. Don’t try to talk shop with a CEO if you can’t understand the company’s financial picture.

4. Get Sales Numbers- Obtain sales numbers BEFORE you launch into any campaign. It always seems impossible to get them later. This will help you document improvements in sales related to your campaign.

5. Measure Press Coverage in a meaningful way- Collecting the positive clips you generate isn’t enough. Graph the dates of the clips against any bump in sales.

6. Put out Feelers- It is the job of the PR person to anticipate public reaction. Keep the CEO abreast of national trends affecting the company or its customers. Find these trends before the CEO does.

7. Read the Wall Street Journal every day- Your CEO does.

8. Read,  read, read- Keep up with the local newspaper, all the trades in your industry, the trades of your customers’ industries, the New York Times, and USA Today at a minimum. How else can you anticipate trends?

9. Do your own Tour of Duty- CEOs are not the only people who can serve their companies through community relations. Reach out to your local business community. As you gain more respect with businesses, civic organizations, your CEO will become more relaxed about you being part of the management team.

10. Choose your title wisely- Before you take the job, negotiate your title, status and (most importantly) the amount of access you have to the CEO. It’s difficult to re-negotiate later.