Rulers, bar-graphs and analytics, OH MY: Measuring PRetty Relationships

What is your organization’s main goal?

Let me guess. To maximize profits? Yep, thought so.

Simple, but it’s everyone’s goal. How do we do it, though? How do we do that when a million other companies sell our product? How do we do that when a million other companies provide our services first? How do we do that when all our competitors beat us to the million-dollar idea?

CONNECTION. Maintaining strong and healthy relationships with the people that make your money world go ‘round, that’s how. Therefore, a PR team is critical, folks.

Think about it, where do you spend most of your time and money? Chances are, your wallet is more likely to return where its owner is treated the best—where they feel important and desired. This isn’t news to you. Relationships matter. Our reputation is the money-maker.

How do you define a healthy relationship, though? Maybe you’re engaging on social media 25 hours a day. Maybe you’re throwing the most luxurious event in town. Maybe you’re getting weekly media coverage. Does that define successful relations?

A 1999 article written by James E. Grunig and Dr. Linda Childers Hon, outlines what they call the PR Relationship Measurement Scale. In this post, I will list and describe the six elements of their scale.

Additionally, to enhance perspective, I’ll pair two more sources with Grunig and Hon’s scale to look at this through the eyes of an organization we are all familiar with, Walmart. The first one I found is a 2011 article, written by Villanova student Margaux Kay LaPointe, summarizing a presentation on Walmart’s PR growth. The second article is from Forbes, and it is titled Can Walmart Attract Affluent Customers by Pamela N. Danziger.

The six elements of Grunig and Hon’s scale are as follows, and the Wal-Mart examples follow the definition in bold.

1.     Control Mutuality

Who holds power of influence? Is the control balanced? Grunig and Hon suggest that “stable relationships” exist when both the organization and public hold some control over the other.

This one is straightforward and obvious within Walmart’s organization. Of course, there is a balance. Walmart won’t exist without its consumers. Conversely, humans have necessities and limited time. They would go crazy without the ability to buy all of these under one roof.

2.     Trust

Does a willingness to open up to the other party exist? This element is made up of 3 components:

a)     Integrity- Is the organization fair and just to its public?

b)    Dependability- Will the organization DO what it says?

c)     Competence-Is the organization CAPABLE of doing what it says?

In the Wal-Mart article, the speaker highlighted company's customer relations management practices.

“To provide information and response, the company runs a hotline that answers media calls – about 500 to 700 calls each week" (LaPointe, 2011.)

Hello! What a great way to measure the three elements of trust. First, the company’s integrity is apparent by simply keeping the hotline open. Additionally, I know if I call that hotline, I’ll be waiting to see the follow up from that company, and then I'll be talking about it.

3.     Satisfaction

Is the relationship based on a mutual likeness? Are there POSITIVE expectations and are they enforced? Another suggestion by Grunig and Hon is that a “satisfying relationship” is one which the benefits outweigh the costs.

The Forbes article highlighted a great example of this.

"At some point, Walmart became big and societal expectations changed. And we missed the memo”…But it wasn’t just societal changes that Walmart missed, but demographic shifts as well” (Danziger, 2018)

So, Walmart missed it. However, to enforce the demanded expectations, Walmart constantly modifies and adapts to consumers with services like curbside pickup, two-day delivery, self-checkout and more.

 4.     Commitment

Does each side see the worth behind the relationship? There are two dimensions to commitment:

a)    Continuance commitment

b)    Affective commitment

I found two things that align with this element from LaPointe’s article.

“Walmart saves families $2,500 per year…and “three quarters of store management teams started as hourly associates.”

Of course, consumers see the worth in a super grocer like Walmart, but does WALMART see the worth in US? Walmart’s investment in their communities and employees show us they do.

5.     Exchange Relationship

This is the type of relationship in which one side benefits the other ONLY because the other has already proven to be beneficial, or it plans to do so.

The Forbes article says Walmart’s “core customer base is shrinking.” In this case, it was forced to market to more wealthy customers (Danziger, 2018.) This is a move toward an Exchange Relationship. This is different from the sixth element, as strengthening this relationship was done because the wealthier consumers showed promising potential value to the company.

6.     Communal Relationship

For us PR pros, these relationships are much more important to maintain than exchange relationships. Communal relationships are those that occur when an organization and its public benefit each other because they are concerned about each other.

An example of this is Walmart’s proactive attitude in the wake of natural disasters. LaPointe reminds us of their efforts during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

They “sent 13 trucks of necessities within two days” (LaPointe, 2011.)

Need I say more? It’s clear why these efforts matter to us and our publics more.

 There you have it, fellow PR lovers. Simple, right?

No not really, but measuring our relationships is critical. We better get past the complexity of it FAST. Unfortunately, our worlds revolve around proving our brands. How can we do that without evidence of successful relationships? We can’t. So get your prepare your toolkits and get ready to MEASURE.

LET’S CHAT!

I’m curious. What do you think about the difference between exchange relationships and communal relationships? Do you agree with Grunig and Hon when they suggest Exchange Relationships are more critical? Do you think Communal Relationships are important at all? Do you have examples? Drop a comment (or two) and enlighten me, because I’m torn.