The Power of Public Relations

For many remodelers, public relations, or simply PR, is something they mentally file under the general category of marketing, if they give it much thought at all. It’s an afterthought, not a stand-alone function. And if it is an item in their budgets, it’s more often than not one of the first to be chopped when times get tough.

However, some remodelers beg to differ. Far from being the last thing on their minds, public relations tops their list of key business strategies.

That’s how Michael Sauri, owner of Arlington, Va.-based TriVistaUSA, sees it, putting PR ahead of marketing on his agenda. “I would say marketing gets kicked out and we use PR,” he says, explaining that a company like his, which strives to deliver unique, creative high-end design, is highly relationship driven. “Does a homeowner have a more intimate service relationship [than the relationship with a remodeler]?” he asks. “We’re in a home for a year.
“With a small remodeling company like ours, we really don’t do a marketing plan,” Sauri explains. “We’ve found advertising on a small community level pretty much ineffective; we’ve run some local neighborhood advertisements that haven’t done anything for us.”

Sauri comes to remodeling from a different background than a typical remodeler. At 17, he became a professional musician and has played with the likes of David Byrne, producer Rick Rubin and opera star Placido Domingo.

Remodeling, he says, is a lot like making a living as a musician. “Whether it’s in a recording studio or on a jobsite, you’re herding the same cats. You have to get [musicians and tradespeople] wrapped around a common vision,” he says.

The story of Sauri’s transition from rocker to remodeler, by the way, was featured in the Washington Post, an effort he credits to his PR person, Polly Elmore of PR Works LLC, Clifton, Va. As Sauri says, one of the reasons PR has been effective for TriVistaUSA is “because people get to know us before they even pick up the phone and call.”

Relationships

Many remodelers, however, have difficulty separating PR from marketing. No one should blame them; one Web site for PR professionals lists 31 definitions of public relations. However, a word that should resonate with remodelers—relationships—is often repeated in those definitions. Remodeling is about building relationships, and one of the goals of public relations is not very different: building connections to relevant “publics” and communicating to them on a regular and consistent basis.

“Public relations is an ongoing process consisting of a variety of communications methods designed to keep current clients and potential new clients informed so they develop a positive awareness of a business and its products and services” is the formal definition developed by David Lewis, president of Levinson Communications International, Morton Grove, Ill. One of Levinson Communications International’s clients is a major Chicago-area remodeler, an established company that has seen significant growth even during the recession.

Lewis keeps that definition close at hand for a reason. “When I talk to a business owner for the first time, he or she often says, ‘What do I need you for? I already have advertising.’ The obstacle for me is to explain the difference between advertising and public relations,” Lewis says. “I have to explain to people how we work with the editorial side of a newspaper or magazine as opposed to the advertising side.”

Selling a Concept

PR can be a tough sell. “They’re nuts-and-bolts guys, and you’re selling them a concept. It’s a tough thing to understand, but when you have it, and it’s working for you, you become very aware of its value,” Lewis says.

“I always tell people a successful business owner doesn’t keep his business a secret. A lot of people have a listing in the Yellow Pages and hang a shingle outside of their showroom and that’s the extent of their PR, marketing and advertising. You have to go beyond that, especially these days when there’s so much competition,” Lewis says.