We all know that the little things can make a big difference, but knowing that and doing it consistently aren't the same thing. And sometimes it's easy to forget, as we get caught up in the hustle and the bustle of our always-on digital lives, that doing the small things and doing them consistently really can have an outsized impact. This came up recently for you, Abbie, in your business. What's on your mind?
Yeah, so KC an I, one of my coworkers and I just got back from a trip on behalf of a client. We were going into Kentucky for a new business or an event on behalf of one of our clients. And we decided while we were there, since one of the things we do for this client is media relations, that we should reach out to some of the local media in the market and introduce ourselves, as opposed to just sending emails and such.
And so we put together some press kits and handwritten notes and we drove around the state of Kentucky making personal visits. It's little more difficult to do that today as newsrooms aren't as open as they once were in terms of just being able to walk right in. A lot of folks working from home and such, but there is a human being in everyone's office if nothing more than to answer phones and take packages being delivered from those of us that are making the rounds.
But it got us kind of talking about the fact that, you know, so much of what we do in our daily lives is about positioning our clients as knowledge experts and as go-to resources. And part of the way we do that is elevating them to be top of mind. And first when someone thinks about needing a particular topicandthelittlegestureof justtakinganextra fewminutestostopbyandactuallydropsomeinformationofftoamediaoutletreallycanmake all thedifference.And weprovedit tobe all the difference.
And we proved it to be true because during those visits didgeta fewfollowupphonecalls in person conversations. We did get a few follow-up phone calls while we were still driving around, thanking us for taking the time to come by the office. And so that got us thinking about, well, yourselfapart.Andthey'rekindofcommonsense.Butnotallofusthinkabout doingthemonaregularbasis.
You've got a whole list of ideas and suggestions here and I want to go through them because there's some really good reminders and maybe even some people haven't thought of. But before we do that, when you proposed this topic, it reminded me of something I do in communication workshops -- business communication, interpersonal communication -- when I'm trying to get people to think differently about how they interact.
Sometimes the focus is on collaboration, sometimes the focus is on marketing, but in all cases we're talking about how human beings communicate. Right? So I have a section that I'll often put in where we start building a model of communication. Now, if you've studied communication, if you went to school for any of this, you will have seen something like this before. There's usually two heads facing each other in this kind of diagram, right? And I said, "let's just start to fill this in.
What is communication? What is a conversation?" And we usually end up somewhere along the lines of the classic sort of message, medium, channel, you know, the sender, the receiver, all these things from communication theory. But what's really interesting is when I ask people, "kay,great,nowisthis this complete? What's not here?" And thinkaboutwhatreallifeinteraction involvesandwhat'smissingfromthismodel.Andthey'll. this model. And someone will say, "oh, I known ! N"Okay,great.
So we can add that. Eye contact, body language, mirroring your posture, things of that nature, right? "Okay. What else is not here?" And they don't know where I'm going with this. So eventually haveto to tell them. What's missing is context. The historical context, the context of your relationship, the physical context, reallymattersincommunication, andhowyoucreateandnurture thatcontext isoftendoneoutside ofthemessage
itself.SowhereamIgoingwiththis?Well, whatyou'retalking aboutherearethingsthatmaintainacontextofconnection,appreciation,asort ofmutualunderstandingandknowing.Andthat'swhatfacilitatescommunication understanding and knowing. And that's what facilitates communication when it happens. thing
ofamessageinamedium,etcetera,etcetera.SoI love thisbecause whenthecontextisarealrelationshipandyoucreateandmaintainthatcontextthroughthekindsofactivitiesthatrealrelationshipsentail,you'rereallybringingahumannesstoyourprofession. Soforme,Ijustwanted toweighinandsay,Ilovethisbecauseit'ssomethingwedon'toftenthinkabout,butit'ssoimportant.
Well, and we're not thinking about it as, you know, in a way of, you know, to extend the relationship, to take it beyond a transactional thing to something more meaningful and a little bit more give and take. And you know, the obvious one to me is, is the very simple handwritten thank you note. The idea that you're going to handwrite anything these days seems a bit off to a lot of folks.
But, I remember when I was a little girl and my grandmother, for birthdays and such -- we were living in Arizona, she was living in Minneapolis, eventually in Florida -- she would send us a birthday card with a check in it. And we would endorse the check and deposit it in the bank, but not until we wrote the thank you note to tell her that we got it. And you know, "well, mom, if the check clears the bank, she's going to know that we got it."
And she said "yes, but that's not what you're trying to convey. You're trying to tell your grandma and grandpa that you appreciate that they remembered you, that they was very thoughtful, that they sent you something, and maybe you, you can share with them what you plan to do with this check, the money that they've sent you." So it became very much a routine and we weren't really allowed to spend that money till we acknowledged that we had received it.
And I use that example, and I share the value of a thank you note when I do informational interviews with up and coming professionals or those that are looking to re-career into public relations. We talked in a previous episode about mentorship and the idea of doing that, which is also, you know, doing one of the small things. But you know, if you're in, you're in competition for a job with, especially if you're coming fresh out of college with every other person that's graduating.
How you set yourself apart is as much about what you do in the interview and in the conversation, but really what you do after you've made that initial connection and to the extent that you can take an extra few minutes and write a thank you note, that isn't email. I'm not opposed to email, by the way, but something that's gonna set you apart is one that actually comes with a stamp and is in the mail because it isn't going to be a commonplace activity anymore to receive that.
And I believe that our colleagues, those of us in communications and public relations that rely on others to help us do our jobs, media outlets, journalists, reporters, et cetera, are also going to be appreciative of that extra step. Yes, I have a job to do. Yes, they have a job to do. But we all like to be appreciated and told how grateful we are for the nice story that you did or the coverage, whatever it might be. And so I remember, you know, I regularly encourage those thank you notes.
We have nice little stationary cards that we have with everybody with our logo on them. Right. Simple to be able to do that. But not everybody, you know, thinks about how that's received. I still have and will continue to have what I refer to as the happy file. And those are notes that I've received over the years, handrittenorin themail,even even if they were typed. Oh, I just dated myself. A typewritten letter.
But a printed letter versus a werealittle bitmorepersonalorsaidsomethingreallyniceorsharedaninsiderorsomething that Iimparted ontothemthattheyreallyfoundtobehelpfulandwas important tothem.AndifI'mhavingacrappyday,sometimesallIneed to doispullsomethingoutofthatfileandsay, huh,it'snotas badasI thoughtitwas. Therearestill somepeopleouttherethatcanappreciate what's as I thought it was.
There ofthingsinthebusiness worldthat,orin our personallivesthat wethinkof thatcanapply,youknow, in thebusinessworldtojust takeitonestepfurther, justdosomethingalittle bitdifferentlythatsetsyouapartfrom,youknow,theothersthat mightbe bydoing the same thing.Andagain,I thinkit's thesmall thingsthatmatterinthis.Youknow,asyousaid, intermsof context,it reallydoes makea difference.
And when that context is genuine appreciation, rather than trying to get an unfair advantage or manipulate someone, or trying to knowingly use the principle of reciprocity to create a sense of obligation from the other. Intent matters. And when the intention is genuine and open and the appreciation is real, that communicates. It really does come through. I just want to mention in this context, a wonderful book people may be familiar with Giftology by John Ruhlin.
The subtitle is, "The Art and Science of Using Gifts to Cut through the Noise, Increase Referrals, and Strengthen Retention." Some of that's a little bit on the tactical side. John tragically died at the young age of 44 just last year. But his thinking on this topic still resonates and has a big impact. So if you're interested in looking further into, well, how do I go about doing this? And what are some of the ways to think about gifting as a strategy for relationship building?
That's a great resource. owyoudo otherthingsaswell. well. What are some of the ... you've mentioned informational interviews, else? Yeah, so those have always been something that I, again, I've always done them, not necessarily thought about them other than just someone asked. You know, we regularly host students from the universities for, you know, their agency visits. They come, they have their list of questions.
We regularly, and we're in the midst of it right now because students are getting ready to finish their year-end reports before graduation and now they've got to interview five professionals before they graduate. But sure, I'll be happy to spend 15 minutes with you and tell you my career journey and my advice and what's a typical day, all the standard questions. But. And I do that, and I'm happy to do that, and I willingly do that.
A couple weeks ago, we were interacting with one of our clients who has just hired a new development director. And when she introduced herself to my coworker Alison, she said, "oh yes, I'm very familiar with HMA Public Relations. I did an informational interview with Abbie 32 years ago when I was first getting out of the ..." And Alison said, "wow, that's amazing." And I know this gal. We've stayed in touch.
I mean, it wasn't that there hadn't been communication, but a conversation that I had 32 years ago, which is probably the same conversation I've had with dozens and dozens and dozens of up and coming professionals since that time, made an impression and put this young woman, now a professional of 30 plus years, on a path. And the fact that she remembered it, acknowledged it, even to this day was like, well, hey, that's pretty amazing, right?
And in my mind I didn't oanythingoutoftheordinaryoranythingterribly terribly spectacular. But we all have the ability to andexpertiseandtothose thatareasking foritand tothosethatare, you it and to those that are wanting to hear from us. We are giving you to us. time and our energy, and that's valuable in us. And we hope that you appreciate it in the way that it's meant to be. Gifting is a tricky one, right? There are certainly ethical considerations They're also not allow to accept.
So it's both sides. Correct. And there are some nuances to that, you know, depending on the type of reporter they are. If they're a travel writer, they don't accept the airfare and the hotel accommodations, but they have to go. So there's some, you know, there's some things there.
But an acknowledgment in a way that is, you know, whether that's a physical gift, here is something, if it is a donation to a nonprofit that's meaningful to that individual to show your appreciation, or let's meet for coffee and you just pick up the tab, right? It's, it doesn't have to be a full and or expensive way to be able to do that. But I think about what we do in public relations and in communications and wonder if the same applies to other industries that might be serving clients.
You know, I am doing it for a lot of reasons. I want to maintain good relationships. I want show,certainlyshow myclientsthatIappreciatethem.Icertainly I certainly want to show appreciation to my thejournalism the journalism side. But are other industries doing the same thing? Are they acknowledging that there's an opportunity? thinkaboutthosethat aremyprovidersofservice. service.
So, you know, plannerwhoregularlysends regularly sends me, after a meeting or a conversation thatwehave, willsendanotethankingmefor will send a note thanking me for trusting her with my life savings and how important that is. At the holidays, they will always, they do it at Thanksgiving, they work with an organization and they buy pies for all of their clients and you can come by and pick out your favorite pumpkin or apple pie for the Thanksgiving holiday. Small gesture.
Probably a good percentage of the people don't bother to come by. Like, you know, that's just not something they're going to do. But the effort to make the offer goes a long way and shows me that she values my business and values what I'm trusting her with. And it matters.
And what it matters is I refer her now when people ask, do you have a recommendation for someone that does financi-n otmucho You know, that reminds me a lot of one of our earliest episodes, Episode 3 of this podcast, Copper State of Mind, when we talked about community relations and how giving back is good business. There's a lot of really great thoughts in that episode, published back in 20 21, about how doing good and doing well can really go together.
And it just has me think a lot about ways that organizations show that they care. The way that they demonstrate their values in action, or in some cases, how they leave people to guess what their values are because their actions don't speak. There's a gap, there's the silence there. They may be perfectly competent, havethechoicebetweenaserviceprovider whoknowsyouandappreciatesyouandcommunicatestoyouthattheyappreciateyou, and onewho'sjustasgoodat doingthe thingthey dobutnevershows their
appreciation,showsthattheycare.Of course,thegoodwillflowsin that they care. Of course the goodwill flows in one direction more than in the other. So as we wrap this up, what are your thoughts about this more generally? We've been very specific and tactical, like thank you notes and phone calls and following up and keeping in touch and all different kinds of ways. At a higher level of abstraction, what should business leaders think about?
Of course, those things, but about this idea of how the way they show up in the world, A hundred percent, there's a connection. And interesting that you would pull that episode out. If it was done in 20 21, we were not really interacting in a face to face environment. At that particular point, we were ahighlychargedpandemicaroundtheworld,andwewereacknowledgingpeople via screens
andsuch.Butyeah,absolutely,howabusinesspresents itselftoitspublic isa strongindicatorofhowtheyfeelandhowtheyinvestoutsideoftheprofit margin that they'retryingtodo.Allofusareinthebusinessandwanttomakemoney.Wewant toprovide for our teams.Wewant to. Clearly, evennonprofitsneedtomakemoney.They'rejustnotmotivatedbymakingmoney.Butwhatwedo andhowweextendthatto to make money.
They're andwhetherthatisin afullscalecommunityrelationsprogramwhere we arevolunteeringfor nonprofits, we'responsoringthings,we'remaking donations, we'rebuyingtables,dollarfor every sandwichpurchase,whateverthatlookslike.There's.Thatthere'stheinvestmentbeingmadeindemonstratingthatyouare agoodcompany,but youareagoodcommunitycitizen that looks like. That there's the investment being made thosethingsthatareimportantto
thecommunitythatyou'redoing.Theworkinandthat canbethroughallofthese otherthings,youknow, financialcontributions, volunteering,etcetera.Butweknow,and studieshaveshown and we'vethat consumerswanttodobusinesswithbusinesses thataredoinggood,that align withtheirvaluesandalign withthethingsthatareimportanttothem.Andtheonlyway weknow thatfroma studies have shown, that consumers behavior.Right?Soit'swheredotheyshowup?Where
aretheyinvesting?Whataretheydoing toshow you consumerthattheyarethetype ofcompanythat youwanttodobusinesswith?Now, largecorporationsarenotgoingtobesendingthank demonstration of that ehavior,right?So So it's where do they show up? Where are they investing?
What are they doing to show you, the consumer, that they are the type of company you want to do business that, yourowndescription,yourwayofshowingupandprovingtoyourcustomerbase,toyourclientbasethatyouarehumanbehindthebusinessandthatyouhavetakenthetimeandyouwanttotakethetimetoinvestinthosethingsthataregood them.
And whether you are a large organization, small, nonprofit, entrepreneur, however you fit into that, your own description, your way of showing up and proving to your customer base, to your client base, that you are human behind the business and that way becauseitwassomeaningfultoher.We to take the time to invest in those things that are good for the community, are good for your business. I believe go a long way. ndsoIcan can do an informational interview with someone 30 years ago.
Fast forwarding to is now a client of mine making decisions around the kind of work that we're going to be doing together. My hope is that she has paid it forward along the way because it was so meaningful to her.
We now have a different kind of relationship than we might have had because we're now coworkers and colleagues and proving that the, you know, the longevity of the relationship, the longevity of what we're doing does have an impact and that we've lived by those principles Thanks for listening to this episode of Copper State of Mind. If you enjoyed the conversation, please share it with a colleague who might also find this podcast valuable. It's easy to do.
Just click the "Share" button in the app you're listening to now to pass it along. You can also follow Copper State of Mind in Apple, Podcasts, Spotify, or any other podcast app. We publish new episodes every other Friday. Copper State of Mind is brought to you by HMA Public Relations, the oldest continuously operating PR firm in Arizona.
The show is recorded and produced by the team at Speed of Story, a B2B communications firm in Phoenix, and distributed by PHX.fm, the leading independent B2B podcast network in Arizona. For all of us here at Speed of Story and PHX.fm, I'm Adrian McIntyre. Thanks for listening and for sharing the show with others if you choose to do so. We hope you'll join us again for another episode of Copper State of Mind.