Am I alone in wondering where all of this is going to end? And, no, I don't mean Libya, Japan, Congo and all the other horrors, which.. don't even get me started. I am talking about the role of the SME in the Czech business environment (and maybe elsewhere!).
The last few weeks I have been reeling from the behaviour of some of the biggest companies that we are working for, might be working for (if we are prepared to do it for free....) or that my friends and others are working for.... Some examples:
a) A [huge] company that we worked for once before and are just starting for again, who informed us that their payment terms are 90 days as of 1st January this year. Says who? If we don't agree, then they will go elsewhere. If we do agree, then we are going to incur some quite hefty costs on their behalf and then act as their bank for three months (if, indeed, they do actually pay within the three months). That was last week.
b) A [nother huge] company that after lots of negotiation promised us payment terms of 30 days, sent all the necessary paperwork before we even started and now, 90 days later, we are still waiting....also last week
c) Being terminated with one week's notice from a long standing contract with a three month termination clause (negotiated by the client), for no particular reason other than that they had decided to 'do things differently'.
d) Another agency in Prague calling up one of our clients and asking for a meeting with a view to pitching.. and getting it!! Because, we know, and they know, and the client knows, that if they offer to do it cheaper than us.. well off we will go.
I can't even go on, as some of the companies I am thinking of will read this and think I am being disloyal. Hey ho. The point is, though, that those of us in the service business are all fighting for a very small piece of cake in order to feed a lot of quite hungry mouths. So the SMEs are having to get ruthless and undercut each other .. and the big boys can sit there and say 'ha... we know you want our business... so make us an offer. And, by the way, if you are cheap enough, we will even let you act as our banker'.
I am lucky enough to have been doing this for a long time and to be able to cope if I have to wait for three months to get paid, get terminated at the drop of a hat, and so on. But what hope the young entrepreneur? Or, really, the SME generally. Soon the only companies operating here will be the big Czech state-owned companies, the companies owned by a few very wealthy Czechs and those international companies that see the need to have an office in the CR, but don't treat it as a major place for business. Is that so different from the communist days? I don't think so.
Time to start an uprising I think. Where's my gun...
Jo
PS: I am speaking at a seminar on 'entrepreneurship in the Czech Republic' tomorrow evening... I think I have warmed up nicely...
Tuesday, 22 March 2011
Monday, 21 February 2011
Has email ended the need for people to communicate?!!!
Now, anyone that has just read my previously loaded up blog, will see that another problem with emails and computers is that sometimes your fingers can be quicker than your brain, and you send things off without meaning to! As was the case previously! So... below is the corrected blog for the day!
I was telling a friend of mine this morning about the first day that a previous young receptionist came to work for us - this was a long time ago, when we needed to have a receptionist! I had been out more or less the whole time, and when I got in in the evening she had a shell-shocked look on her face as she had had 56 telephone calls for me, all of which had been neatly logged and detailed. I said that she had done very well and shouldn't look so worried, to which she responded that she was fine, she was just concerned how I would ever respond to all of these calls!
Of course I did manage to return most of the calls, even though, generally, I don't really like the phone. But in those days, the phone was our main method of communication, and even though it could sometimes take a while to get hold of someone, once you did, you could crack pretty much everything in one call. What has happened now, with emails replacing the need to pick up the phone and talk? Has communication, as we knew it, just come to a standstill?
My friend responded that nowadays she could quite easily work one week on and one week off. One week of sending various things to her boss and the following week at home, while she waited for him to get around to responding to her! Oh.. how that rang a bell with me!!! How many times have we gone completely nuts waiting for a client to respond to something that we have prepared 'because it is urgent' and then not had any form of response for days (and then, when the response comes, we have to move at huge speed, again, because the deadline is near!)?
In our office, I ask that everyone answer every email that they receive during the course of the same day; even if it is just to say 'we don't know, but will come back to you tomorrow'. And then we DO come back tomorrow. How much business is being lost through people firing off emails and then having to chase them a million times to get an answer? How much time is being wasted by someone having to send email after an email to the same person, just to get an answer? And how many ideas are being missed by everyone sending each other emails (even in an office where people sit directly opposite each other) when a quick discussion might just throw up something interesting.
I am considering having email free days in our office, and forcing everyone to get on the phone and sort things out... and I suspect they will save a lot of time in the meantime. Of course, I am not really serious... but it might be a good test.
I wonder what other old timers think? Any comments on this will be gratefully received. On the phone!
Jo
I was telling a friend of mine this morning about the first day that a previous young receptionist came to work for us - this was a long time ago, when we needed to have a receptionist! I had been out more or less the whole time, and when I got in in the evening she had a shell-shocked look on her face as she had had 56 telephone calls for me, all of which had been neatly logged and detailed. I said that she had done very well and shouldn't look so worried, to which she responded that she was fine, she was just concerned how I would ever respond to all of these calls!
Of course I did manage to return most of the calls, even though, generally, I don't really like the phone. But in those days, the phone was our main method of communication, and even though it could sometimes take a while to get hold of someone, once you did, you could crack pretty much everything in one call. What has happened now, with emails replacing the need to pick up the phone and talk? Has communication, as we knew it, just come to a standstill?
My friend responded that nowadays she could quite easily work one week on and one week off. One week of sending various things to her boss and the following week at home, while she waited for him to get around to responding to her! Oh.. how that rang a bell with me!!! How many times have we gone completely nuts waiting for a client to respond to something that we have prepared 'because it is urgent' and then not had any form of response for days (and then, when the response comes, we have to move at huge speed, again, because the deadline is near!)?
In our office, I ask that everyone answer every email that they receive during the course of the same day; even if it is just to say 'we don't know, but will come back to you tomorrow'. And then we DO come back tomorrow. How much business is being lost through people firing off emails and then having to chase them a million times to get an answer? How much time is being wasted by someone having to send email after an email to the same person, just to get an answer? And how many ideas are being missed by everyone sending each other emails (even in an office where people sit directly opposite each other) when a quick discussion might just throw up something interesting.
I am considering having email free days in our office, and forcing everyone to get on the phone and sort things out... and I suspect they will save a lot of time in the meantime. Of course, I am not really serious... but it might be a good test.
I wonder what other old timers think? Any comments on this will be gratefully received. On the phone!
Jo
Monday, 10 January 2011
Paranoia
Well. We didn't win the European Excellence Awards award. It must have been fixed or the jury was got at, since we should have done.... and we didn't win that project that we were hoping to win just before Christmas. Must have been fixed in advance....
Actually, I am joking. We didn't win at the Awards, but someone else did. And we didn't get the new project because another agency did a better pitch. End of. The problem with living over here is that so many things are not quite straightforward and on many occasions, unfortunately, it is easy to think that results have been fixed, contracts have been given because of money under the counter, people have been chosen or overlooked because of something underhand, rather than just accepting that that is how it is. Paranoia is still part of the Czech way of life, and it seems that if we work over here for long enough, we all run the risk of it rubbing off on us!
Last week, a member of an association that I am involved in resigned as he felt that he had been overlooked for a promotional opportunity. There are more than 100 members, any one of which could have been chosen, and the decision made on that particular promotion was made in a matter of a few seconds. But he felt that something underhand had gone on, so resigned on principle. Then, also last week, one of my friends began a market research campaign where the first three to fill in a questionnaire and return it would win a prize. The questionnaire was on his own website, sent in the mail and posted on Linkedin. Within minutes, comments were sent into Linkedin that questioned my friend's company's willingness to actually give the prize (and the integrity of the company at the same time) that suggested that the prize, if it existed, would be given to the bosses's 'friends' and that warned everyone else from taking part......
Then today, to cap it all, I was asked how much we had paid to get a particularly effective piece of coverage into one of the main media for a client, something that I, personally, had been working on for months.... and the worrying thing was that it wasn't asked in an accusatory way, but matter of fact; i.e. you must have paid... because that is what is done.
It seems to me that if someone asks this sort of question or makes this sort of statement, it may well be because that is how they, themselves, would behave in the same circumstances. And since I am of the belief that, whatever we do, we have to be able to sleep at night (and I, personally, wouldn't be able to sleep if I did anything that wasn't, in my own rule book, correct), then I wonder how well some of these people manage... or perhaps they don't.
Time for a nap.
Jo
Actually, I am joking. We didn't win at the Awards, but someone else did. And we didn't get the new project because another agency did a better pitch. End of. The problem with living over here is that so many things are not quite straightforward and on many occasions, unfortunately, it is easy to think that results have been fixed, contracts have been given because of money under the counter, people have been chosen or overlooked because of something underhand, rather than just accepting that that is how it is. Paranoia is still part of the Czech way of life, and it seems that if we work over here for long enough, we all run the risk of it rubbing off on us!
Last week, a member of an association that I am involved in resigned as he felt that he had been overlooked for a promotional opportunity. There are more than 100 members, any one of which could have been chosen, and the decision made on that particular promotion was made in a matter of a few seconds. But he felt that something underhand had gone on, so resigned on principle. Then, also last week, one of my friends began a market research campaign where the first three to fill in a questionnaire and return it would win a prize. The questionnaire was on his own website, sent in the mail and posted on Linkedin. Within minutes, comments were sent into Linkedin that questioned my friend's company's willingness to actually give the prize (and the integrity of the company at the same time) that suggested that the prize, if it existed, would be given to the bosses's 'friends' and that warned everyone else from taking part......
Then today, to cap it all, I was asked how much we had paid to get a particularly effective piece of coverage into one of the main media for a client, something that I, personally, had been working on for months.... and the worrying thing was that it wasn't asked in an accusatory way, but matter of fact; i.e. you must have paid... because that is what is done.
It seems to me that if someone asks this sort of question or makes this sort of statement, it may well be because that is how they, themselves, would behave in the same circumstances. And since I am of the belief that, whatever we do, we have to be able to sleep at night (and I, personally, wouldn't be able to sleep if I did anything that wasn't, in my own rule book, correct), then I wonder how well some of these people manage... or perhaps they don't.
Time for a nap.
Jo
Tuesday, 7 December 2010
A BIG week!
This is a BIG week for us at JWA. We should hear the result of three different pitches during the course of the next few days, we have signed up two new clients for 2011 in the last two days, on Thursday evening we will all be attending (and I will be moderating) the annual IBF Christmas party, and during the course of the evening we will find out whether we have won an award at the European Excellence Awards for PR - we have been shortlisted for our work with Prague International Marathon.
I could say that we are all very excited, but with five tons of snow landing on us every day, most of us having colds and coughs, and work coming out of our ears, it is not immediately noticeable! We are so disappointed not to be able to get to the award ceremony - all the marketing media are tipping us to win in our category (ahh... maybe I am getting excited)... but we just can't make it work - we had thought to have a car outside the Mandarin Hotel where the IBF event is being held, having it whiz us to Zofin for the award ceremony, wait for us to collect the trophy (hah) and then bring us back to the Mandarin, but logistically... high heeled sandals, long dresses and fifteen feet of snow on the ground... it doesn't really work.
Whatever happens, there is sure to be another blog by the end of the week. And now, back to the subject that is causing us all the biggest amount of stress (well, maybe not Andrej and Mark!) - what to WEAR!
More soon.
Jo
I could say that we are all very excited, but with five tons of snow landing on us every day, most of us having colds and coughs, and work coming out of our ears, it is not immediately noticeable! We are so disappointed not to be able to get to the award ceremony - all the marketing media are tipping us to win in our category (ahh... maybe I am getting excited)... but we just can't make it work - we had thought to have a car outside the Mandarin Hotel where the IBF event is being held, having it whiz us to Zofin for the award ceremony, wait for us to collect the trophy (hah) and then bring us back to the Mandarin, but logistically... high heeled sandals, long dresses and fifteen feet of snow on the ground... it doesn't really work.
Whatever happens, there is sure to be another blog by the end of the week. And now, back to the subject that is causing us all the biggest amount of stress (well, maybe not Andrej and Mark!) - what to WEAR!
More soon.
Jo
Friday, 19 November 2010
PR and Risk Taking
Last night, sadly, I found myself watching a programme called the 'X Factor' - a UK TV 'talent show' that enables a few chosen singers to get on stage and do their stuff, with the hope that the exposure might just lead them to making it as a rock star... .. and sometimes one or two of them win through and become, as we would have called it in my day, 'one hit wonders'... OK, just occasionally someone really talented does make it, but generally, to someone like me, who grew up with Elton, Queen, and other superstars, it all seems a bit of a farce. But one thing did catch my attention yesterday; when one of the judges applauded one of the contestants for 'really going for it, and taking a risk' - in her view, risk taking was one of the qualities that a potential 'star' would really need in order to make it.
Risk taking is close to my heart. One of the things that I spend some of my time doing is 'mentoring' young, potential entrepreneurs, and we have a fairly constant discussion about their ability to 'take a risk' - actually, in most cases, their inability to take a risk. For many, particularly those that have fallen into being an 'entrepreneur' just recently because, at the moment, they just can't get a job, taking a risk is beyond their comprehension, and our conversations normally ends up with my saying that if they can't get their heads around it, then they really need to work harder on getting a job.....and give up on the idea of living the life of an entrepreneur which is, on a more or less daily basis, a risky old business.
Risk taking is, of course, a fairly large part of PR; many of our clients worry about sending out a press release, holding an interview or placing an article in case there is a possibility that something 'bad' might be written. What they really want is to send a press release/article or speak an interview that, without a shadow of a doubt, will be published word for word.. and, if that is not guaranteed, then they wont do it. Unfortunately, as we always tell them, there IS a risk in doing PR and it is usually impossible to ensure that what is written is exactly how they would want it. But, if they are not prepared to take a bit of a risk, then they probably shouldn't do it in the first place.
On the other hand, we do have the 'gung ho' clients that, show them a microphone/tape recorder/whatever, and before you know it, Christmas comes early for the lucky journalist that is there to hear it... and we have to deal with the fall out! Media training is one answer. The other is to avoid those particular people being in front of the journalist in the first place, and for us to act as a barrier - i.e. to be the person/companies' spokesperson. Easier said than done.
If all else fails, though, I really do believe that 'there is no such thing as bad publicity'. OK, it can seem bad at the time... but in the long run, very few people remember what was said about you/your company... they just know that they have heard of you - and that is usually quite a positive thing!
Jo
Risk taking is close to my heart. One of the things that I spend some of my time doing is 'mentoring' young, potential entrepreneurs, and we have a fairly constant discussion about their ability to 'take a risk' - actually, in most cases, their inability to take a risk. For many, particularly those that have fallen into being an 'entrepreneur' just recently because, at the moment, they just can't get a job, taking a risk is beyond their comprehension, and our conversations normally ends up with my saying that if they can't get their heads around it, then they really need to work harder on getting a job.....and give up on the idea of living the life of an entrepreneur which is, on a more or less daily basis, a risky old business.
Risk taking is, of course, a fairly large part of PR; many of our clients worry about sending out a press release, holding an interview or placing an article in case there is a possibility that something 'bad' might be written. What they really want is to send a press release/article or speak an interview that, without a shadow of a doubt, will be published word for word.. and, if that is not guaranteed, then they wont do it. Unfortunately, as we always tell them, there IS a risk in doing PR and it is usually impossible to ensure that what is written is exactly how they would want it. But, if they are not prepared to take a bit of a risk, then they probably shouldn't do it in the first place.
On the other hand, we do have the 'gung ho' clients that, show them a microphone/tape recorder/whatever, and before you know it, Christmas comes early for the lucky journalist that is there to hear it... and we have to deal with the fall out! Media training is one answer. The other is to avoid those particular people being in front of the journalist in the first place, and for us to act as a barrier - i.e. to be the person/companies' spokesperson. Easier said than done.
If all else fails, though, I really do believe that 'there is no such thing as bad publicity'. OK, it can seem bad at the time... but in the long run, very few people remember what was said about you/your company... they just know that they have heard of you - and that is usually quite a positive thing!
Jo
Tuesday, 9 November 2010
Winners never Quit!
I have had so many things that I have wanted to write a blog about in the past few weeks, that the end result has been.. nothing! Part of the reason for this is that the ideas whirl around in my head but, at the moment, there is no time to put them on paper! Which leads me to the question - why, if there is a financial crisis and we are all hunting for new work, are we all just so busy!!
It seems to me that the main reason, certainly here at our agency and at a lot of our friend's companies, is that we have all laid off people in the past year or so, with the end result being that, whilst we may have less work, we have less people to do it. A fairly constant discussion at JWA at the moment, where we are definitely seeing quite an upsurge in new business, is 'do we manage ourselves, or do we take on new people'.... but it is not so long ago that we were forking out a lot of redundancy money to people that could, now, be doing the new work. I must say, speaking as the boss, I really feel that I want to see sweat running down people's faces before I make that decision.
This is definitely one of the problems that the last two years of crisis has left a lot of companies with, so what is the answer? Sitting in the Czech Republic, where employers' taxes are so high (one of my redundant ladies said to me last year that she couldn't see what difference it would make to me each month to simply save her salary of x [her take home pay], when the reality was, of course, that I was saving her take home pay, plus the taxes she had already paid, plus a great big wodge of employers' taxes on top - in total nearly double the amount that she thought) it would definitely help if the Government could see fit to reduce our taxes and, therefore, encourage us to employ more people again. But without going into a rant about clients wanting so much for so little (that might be a future blog!), I am a little bit at a loss to know what else we can do, other than battle on.
On that note; an expression I heard recently and that I think will become my own personal slogan (but might not be such a good one for the company!): 'Winners never Quit. Quitters Never Win.' Kind of a good one, I think!
Jo
It seems to me that the main reason, certainly here at our agency and at a lot of our friend's companies, is that we have all laid off people in the past year or so, with the end result being that, whilst we may have less work, we have less people to do it. A fairly constant discussion at JWA at the moment, where we are definitely seeing quite an upsurge in new business, is 'do we manage ourselves, or do we take on new people'.... but it is not so long ago that we were forking out a lot of redundancy money to people that could, now, be doing the new work. I must say, speaking as the boss, I really feel that I want to see sweat running down people's faces before I make that decision.
This is definitely one of the problems that the last two years of crisis has left a lot of companies with, so what is the answer? Sitting in the Czech Republic, where employers' taxes are so high (one of my redundant ladies said to me last year that she couldn't see what difference it would make to me each month to simply save her salary of x [her take home pay], when the reality was, of course, that I was saving her take home pay, plus the taxes she had already paid, plus a great big wodge of employers' taxes on top - in total nearly double the amount that she thought) it would definitely help if the Government could see fit to reduce our taxes and, therefore, encourage us to employ more people again. But without going into a rant about clients wanting so much for so little (that might be a future blog!), I am a little bit at a loss to know what else we can do, other than battle on.
On that note; an expression I heard recently and that I think will become my own personal slogan (but might not be such a good one for the company!): 'Winners never Quit. Quitters Never Win.' Kind of a good one, I think!
Jo
Tuesday, 12 October 2010
The David Beckham Technique
The last few weeks have been completely manic at JWA as we have been involved in two very big sporting events; the first, the annual Tesco Grand Prix, which is part of our client, PIM’s, running circuit, and then, just last weekend, a NHL ice hockey event, where we were working for the TV channel, ESPN, who were covering it … those two events, combined with a lot of other regular things going on, have meant that I have had little time for blogging…. Just as I feared when I started this, keeping up the momentum was always going to be difficult!
I did, however, have a few ideas during the last few weeks that I thought were worthy of a blog or two….. One was something that I read in someone else’s blog some time ago; their agency had carried out a survey to see which words used in the title of a press release were likely to generate the most coverage, and the result was ‘David Beckham’ – i.e. if you can find some way to incorporate his name into your press release, you have a good chance of getting a journalist to jump on it! Something like: ‘The effect of the new xxxx is likely to have the same sort of impact as David Beckham on the England football team’… of course, nothing to do with the man himself, but effective nonetheless!
Funnily enough, we had proof of this ourselves earlier this year when our PIM client said to one journalist (not completely seriously!) ‘now we have had Petr Nedved taking part in one of our races, we might just surprise everyone and invite David Beckham next year’ – and, sure enough, we had headlines all over the place the next day! Actually, before we had Petr Nedved confirmed to run in one of the races, we had a long discussion as to whether we should mention that he might be taking part. The more cautious amongst us didn’t want to say it until it was definite. My view was that the headlines we would get from mentioning it (on the basis that he was definitely considering it) were worth having… even if, in the end, he didn’t run. I won, and the coverage was immense… and then, when he did run, we got it all over again!
We had another ‘David Beckham’ moment during the NHL weekend. In the Czech Republic, mention ‘ice hockey’, ‘NHL’ or, even better, ‘David Krejci’ and the media will go nuts!
Now, I might seem to be rambling, but there is a real morale here. PR agencies are often judged by how much coverage they are able to generate for a client (often when the press release has not even been written by them and sometimes when there is little of interest to attract the journalists). But, actually, getting a lot of media coverage about a subject that is really close to the journalists’ heart is easy! The real skill is getting a little bit of coverage about something that is really not that newsworthy.. and this is where the ‘David Beckham’ technique comes in useful…. Try it!
Along similar lines, I have been watching the effect that a ‘celebrity’ can have on otherwise normal people… and the effect that those people have on the celebrity. Worthy of another blog I think.
Jo
I did, however, have a few ideas during the last few weeks that I thought were worthy of a blog or two….. One was something that I read in someone else’s blog some time ago; their agency had carried out a survey to see which words used in the title of a press release were likely to generate the most coverage, and the result was ‘David Beckham’ – i.e. if you can find some way to incorporate his name into your press release, you have a good chance of getting a journalist to jump on it! Something like: ‘The effect of the new xxxx is likely to have the same sort of impact as David Beckham on the England football team’… of course, nothing to do with the man himself, but effective nonetheless!
Funnily enough, we had proof of this ourselves earlier this year when our PIM client said to one journalist (not completely seriously!) ‘now we have had Petr Nedved taking part in one of our races, we might just surprise everyone and invite David Beckham next year’ – and, sure enough, we had headlines all over the place the next day! Actually, before we had Petr Nedved confirmed to run in one of the races, we had a long discussion as to whether we should mention that he might be taking part. The more cautious amongst us didn’t want to say it until it was definite. My view was that the headlines we would get from mentioning it (on the basis that he was definitely considering it) were worth having… even if, in the end, he didn’t run. I won, and the coverage was immense… and then, when he did run, we got it all over again!
We had another ‘David Beckham’ moment during the NHL weekend. In the Czech Republic, mention ‘ice hockey’, ‘NHL’ or, even better, ‘David Krejci’ and the media will go nuts!
Now, I might seem to be rambling, but there is a real morale here. PR agencies are often judged by how much coverage they are able to generate for a client (often when the press release has not even been written by them and sometimes when there is little of interest to attract the journalists). But, actually, getting a lot of media coverage about a subject that is really close to the journalists’ heart is easy! The real skill is getting a little bit of coverage about something that is really not that newsworthy.. and this is where the ‘David Beckham’ technique comes in useful…. Try it!
Along similar lines, I have been watching the effect that a ‘celebrity’ can have on otherwise normal people… and the effect that those people have on the celebrity. Worthy of another blog I think.
Jo
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