Are corporate phone operators aware that PR departments exist? This question once again arose last week when PRWeek sought to contact IBM’s media relations minions.
Are corporate phone operators aware that PR departments exist? This
question once again arose last week when PRWeek sought to contact IBM’s
media relations minions.
When we called the company late last week to track down a press release
with a Texas dateline, a ’general services’ employee in Canada
answered.
Asking for ’corporate communications’ didn’t ring a bell, so we asked to
speak to whoever deals with the press.
’Do you have a media relations office?’ we ventured. ’Maybe, maybe not,’
the skeptical operator replied, eventually transferring us to a
voice-mail listing the number for an Austin-based media relations
operative.
In IBM’s defense, we had the needed press release via e-mail the next
morning.
But forgive us for asking, customer service is, ultimately, a PR
discipline, right?