Trust me, I’m a communicator

by sue on March 20, 2006

Once again, professional communicators have scored near the bottom of the heap in Canada’s "Who Do You Trust?" sweepstakes.   Produced by Léger Marketing for The Canadian Press,  the survey, done in February and released today, polled a representative sample of 1,500 Canadians to determine the degree to which they trust members of 22 professions. 

Politicians hung on to their usual spot at the bottom of that list, with just 14% of the population trusting them.  Joining them in the low trust zone are the folks in auto sales, with just 19%. 

Thumbs_down_v_smallFourth from the bottom, barely squeaking past trade unionists in their battle  for the hearts and minds of Canadians, are PR practitioners.  Only 40% of those polled trust them.  Journalists aren’t far behind, trusted by less than half the population.   

I don’t pretend to be surprised by this; however, I am saddened.  It’s not because I’ve actually practised both these professions and, despite that, want you and the rest of the world to love and trust me.  It’s that both these professions are making a great deal of noise about professionalism,  integrity, honesty, ethics, and all that wonderful stuff – and it just doesn’t seem to be working. 

Never before have so many Canadian universities and colleges been offering under- and post-graduate programs in journalism, communication and public relations.  It is almost impossible to get a job in any communication-related industry without such a degree or diploma. 

In addition, organizations such as International Association of Business Communicators (IABC), the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) and the Canadian Public Relations Society (CPRS) are enthusiastically pushing professional accreditation.  (I can’t speak for the APR, but I know as a one-time testee and, now, a tester, that the ABC is not a cake-walk.  It outranks MBA Finance in the, "Yikes, you have to be smart for this!" department.)

These professional associations, like the Canadian Association of Journalists (CAJ), also have codes of ethical standards that guide their members. In most academic programs and the professional association certifications, the study of ethics is offered, if not mandatory.

So if we’re all so smart and filled with integrity, why don’t the people trust communicators?

  • Is the word not getting out? 
  • Is the message just not believable? 
  • Are we so busy telling everyone else’s
    story that we don’t have the energy or time to tell our own?
  • Are we
    failing to use our hard-won, well-honed skills and, therefore, failing at our own game?
  • Is it time we did some advocacy for the communication profession?

I say, "Yes," to all. 

And I’ll plead, "Guilty," to the sins of omission.  As a professional communicator, I’ve quit jobs (in both TV and PR) over sleazy practices, yet rather than take a loud and public stand, I quietly walked away.  As a member of IABC, I’ve been calling for the organization to do a better job of marketing the profession, yet I haven’t been screaming from the rafters, "Hire a communicator!" (Frankly, I haven’t even been screaming, "Hire me!")

So, the series begins. "How do communicators earn the public trust?"

Feel free to share your ideas  by posting  comments. 

{ 2 comments }

Incommunicado

by sue on July 8, 2005

Greetings from Florence. Alitalia has created a brilliant opportunity to write something about BAD customer communication. “What do you expect?” I hear you ask, “It’s an airline.” OK, I’ve been a spoiled princess where airlines have been concerned. Alitalia is making up for all that.

The fact that Alitalia has an area on its web site for dealing with lost luggage should have been a clue that things could go wrong. The more distressing thing is – it doesn’t work. I dutifully entered the number they gave me at the lost luggage counter at the airport, and the system doesn’t recognize me or the bag. If you call the office, you hear a tape recording telling you that all claims must be in writing and there is absolutely no point in trying to talk to anyone. Yes, let’s just cut off all communication with anyone who might actually be able to tell me that someone is actually searching for this bag.

When a customer has a problem with your product or service, it’s important that they get some sort of acknowledgement that someone notices or cares. Actually being seen to be doing something to resolve the problem is even better. Best of all? Solving the problem!

I don’t know whether this is something Alitalia doesn’t know, or if it’s employees and managers just can’t deal with all the yelling. But shutting off communication won’t stop the yelling. It makes us yell more. We just yell more publicly and to anyone who’ll listen.

Yelling was something they were really trying to avoid when they cancelled the London – Milan and London-Rome flights yesterday morning due to a scheduled short-term strike by – well – nobody could tell us. Hundreds of people were inconvenienced – and the situation was made worse by the fact that the airline would provide no information. No info about rescheduling. No info about what would happen if we missed connections. No info about why the flight was cancelled.

When someone in the line with a wireless-connected laptop tried to get to the Alitalia web site to see if they could get some info on rebooking, we learned about the shocking bombings in the London Underground. Already stressed, the crowd’s anxiety levels increased.

A group travelling to Africa was clearly going to miss its very necessary connection. As they became more agitated and anxious, they became louder. The official became more steadfast in his refusal to give them any information that might suggest anyone knew or cared about their situation. I actually heard him threaten to call police and have the next person who yelled at him arrested.

This was all going on in a communication situation complicated by language and cultural differences and the shock of the bombings. A little sensitivity was completely in order, and none was demonstrated.

Sure, Alitalia is, like so many airlines, experiencing serious financial and operational difficulties. But information doesn’t cost anything. Neither does being nice. Going incommunicado is not a survival strategy.

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