By Melissa Simon of Geranium Lake Flowers
Have you found it hard to work remotely with your PR clients? It’s a hard adjustment; however, for our client, Geranium Lake Flowers, we have been remotely working with them since the start. From this experience, we have learned how to navigate our clients’ relationships and have found what works best for our team while working remotely. Since we had a bit of a head start about how to work remotely with clients, I have listed a couple of tools and skills that have been beneficial to our team.
Communication
Communication is key and making sure you and your client are on the same page is even more important. Clients want results and content that are on target with their goals. If you and your team can deliver results, clients don’t mind that they are working with a PR firm remotely.
To communicate effectively, your team needs to find a platform that works for you and your client. Whether that is Slack, email, Zoom, Facetime or phone calls, knowing what works for you and your client will help you communicate with one another. We have learned that weekly calls with our client were most effective. It allowed us to talk about upcoming projects they wanted us to work on and also gave us time to strategize methods to deliver positive messaging to our audience.
And of course, we were able to email the client when we had questions or concerns with upcoming projects we were working on. But having these scheduled conversations helped us to keep our client involved with our work.
Technology
During this time, technology is more important than ever! Our team has used a couple of online tools to help us stay on track with current projects. These tools allow our client to have access to all our content before it’s put out in the media. These products give our client the ability able to keep up with projects we are putting out and also gives them the ability to change things if needed.
- Google Drive:
- Using Google Drive has allowed our team to create content on our own time while also meeting deadlines set by our client. We can review and edit content all at the same time in the pleasure of our homes. This tool makes it easy to keep all your projects organized while also having the ability to share it within your teams and clients.
- Buffer:
- This is an online social media tool that allows our team to plan, schedule and create social media content in a meaningful way that can effectively target your audience. Our team used this for Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. What’s nice about this tool is that it allows our client to go in and approve the content before it is posted. This prevents a lot of potential communication errors, and it helps us to ensure that our messages are reaching the intended audience.
Minimize Distractions While Working at Home
Working from home can be very distracting, but I have found it helpful to create a workspace within my own home that keeps me motivated and on track with our client’s wants and needs. Creating a separate and comfortable space for work can allow you to get in the work mindset. This has helped me separate my relaxation time from my work time.
When it comes to visual calls such a Zoom or Facetime with our client, I have also found that using a space free from distractions allows you to focus and communicate with your client effectively.
Most importantly Be Prepared and Professional
Even though you’re not communicating with your client face to face all the time, you still need to be prepared and professional when communicating with them. Make sure you and your team have all the necessary information when headed into a call with your client and have a notebook, pen, and any technical equipment necessary for the call. Also, be able to access any documents you may need while on the call. This will allow you to communicate with them effectively, and it shows them that you care about the company and the work you are creating for them!
Working remotely is difficult. It’s even harder now as teams also have to work apart from one another. However, taking these steps to further your client’s relationship with your team will help you to be successful, regardless of the distance between you all.