Good Questions:
Can you share with us some examples of campaigns or plans that have, in your opinion, been successful at reaching your target audience, delivering the message and getting them to activate? Please explain why your team believes this was a success.
Can you share with us some examples of campaigns or plans that have, in your opinion, been unsuccessful at reaching your target audience, delivering the message and getting them to activate? Please explain why your team believes they were not a success.
How does the company and/or department believe it is perceived within the community and the public?
Bad Questions:
How would you solve this problem?
What would you like to repeat?
Why did you stop working with other companies?
Why aren’t you successful?
Answering the Right Questions
When the client, company, or department asks questions of the campaigns team, it is important for the team to be honest and ethical, which means not overselling or promising to deliver what you are unable to do. Since it is difficult to gauge what types of questions you might be asked, you have to prepare the team for any type of question that might arise.
Good Answers:
The campaign plan our team prepares includes a calendar of when to deploy the tactics and the evaluations and measurements to ensure that each of the tactics provided are successful.
The PR campaign for your client, company, or department is aimed at the target audience and has messaging tailored specifically to this audience.
The execution of the campaign is in the hands of both the client, company, or department and the campaign team. In teamwork, both sides have to contribute to make the campaign a success.
Bad Answers:
The campaign team did our part, now it’s up to you so; if it fails, it’s your fault.
The content is good; maybe the audience just doesn’t get it or like the client, company, or department.
WORKSHEET 2A: Client Meeting
Getting Organized:
Date and Time:
Location:
Attendees:
Agenda:
Questions for the Client, Company, or Department:
What are some of the questions you think need to be answered (refer to the list of good questions above)? Right one question per line and number each question.
Ex: 1. How have you measured success on your campaigns in the past?
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What are some of the observations your team has made about the client? What body language does the client exhibit? Are there moments when the client seems more interested or engaged than others? Some body language to consider: eye contact, facial expressions, arms crossed, head nods and so on.
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Other Questions to Consider:
What are some of the reasons the client, company, or department has engaged successfully with the audience in the past?___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
What are some meaningful words or phrases the audiences responds to?___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Does the client, company, or department understand their situation analysis?___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Does the client, company, or department already speak to the target audience?___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Historically, how has the client, company, or department handled a crisis?___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Does the company have a solid plan for handling conflict before it becomes a crisis?___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________