Alan Gayle is a sales and marketing consultant specialising in the construction industry and working in the stone sector for more than a decade. In this column he offers advice on how to make an impact in the market. This month Alan reviews public relations.

As we continue our review of the key marketing subjects for small and medium sized companies in the stone industry, it’s time to take a look at public relations – PR for short.

PR is all about influencing the media to publish positive publicity for your company.

It’s also about damage limitation when something goes wrong, although for the purposes of this article I’m going to focus on the positive publicity aspect.

In this context ‘the media’ can include the local press, trade publications like this one, online press release websites and everything else in between.

While we might try to influence what gets published by providing press releases with photography and interesting quotes, this is not advertising and the final decision about what gets printed rests with the publishers, not you.

First of all, let’s answer the question: “Why should I bother with PR at all?”

The answer is straight forward: Because it will help to build your company’s reputation and, when a client is deciding whether to give you his business or a competitor, it will elevate your company so it stands out.

The point of PR is the same as for all your marketing – to increase your sales and raise your margins.

It’s all about confidence and trust; giving your potential customers the confidence that your company represents a safe and reliable option when compared with your competitors.

This is helped by familiarity. If a potential client recognises your company name and brand and associates it with quality and reliability, there’s a very good chance they will choose you rather than your unknown competitor. And that will hold true even if your prices are higher.

Why do so many households pay more for utilities from British Gas or British Telecom? Why do so many car drivers pay a premium for Michelin, Bridgestone or Pirelli tyres? Why do most contractors stick with Rockwool or Kingspan rather than cheaper alternatives? Why do the big property developers use the same 10 or 12 architects, QSs and main contractors time after time? It’s all down to minimising the perceived risk.

If your business model is based on cost leadership (ie always offering the lowest prices), be prepared for low margins, high volumes and zero customer loyalty. Some companies, such as Lidl, Aldi and Ryan Air, appear to be able to make a success of cost leadership, but they are the exception rather than the rule.

It’s a much better bet to use PR to get your prospects wanting to buy from you and raise your margins in the process.

Here are few KeyNOTES to remember on PR:

1. Know what you want to achieve from your PR.
2. Issue press releases to the publications that are read by your customers.
3. Read those publications yourself to find out what its journalists are looking for.
4. Resist the temptation for easy editorial in low grade publications.
5. Only send out newsworthy press releases – that is, something that will interest the readers of the publication.
6. Create an interesting headline but don’t get too cryptic and don’t be surprised if it gets changed by the publication.
7. Start with the news. Do not add it after you have related the company history. It is amazing how quickly a press release can be deleted when it begins: “It was in 1805 that So-&-So Ltd started making...”
8. Include a quote from your customer or client, and probably from yourself, that will interest your prospects.
9. Have good quality photography available.
10. Be patient and be persistent, both about getting published and getting noticed. Rome wasn’t built in a day, it will take a while for the market to buy into your ideas.

If you want a hand, email me at alan@keystonecm.co.uk and I will send you the template we use for our clients’ PR.

Alan Gayle has worked in sales and marketing roles in the construction industry since 1993. Following a successful career with some of the UK’s leading building product manufacturers, he has worked in the stone sector more than a decade. He now runs keystone Construction Marketing, a marketing agency specialising in the construction industry. The agency works with building contractors, subcontractors and building product suppliers to help them increase their sales and improve their margins.