Media training for retailers – five common pitfalls to avoid when doing media interviews
There’s growing interest in our Media Training for retail brands. And this is hardly surprising. The media loves to talk to retailers. Whether they’re writing about the state of the economy, covering new consumer trends or looking at issues around employment, journalists always want to hear from retailers.
But the media is also interested when things go wrong for retailers. In our crisis communications training for retail brands, we look at a wide variety of issues. This might relate to problems with the supply chain or to bad customer service. It might be about staff being treated unfairly. Good or bad, there are plenty of stories about the retail business that journalists are keen to cover.
Media training workshops
Our media training workshops for retailers demonstrate how company spokespeople can work closely with their PR consultancies or in house media relations team to deliver better interviews. As well as advising on what they should do and speaking to journalists we also provide them with advice on what to avoid.
With that in mind, here are five common pitfalls that retail spokespeople sometimes fall into when doing media interviews.
1. They don’t think about the audience
As we say in our media training for retail brands, “it’s all about the audience”. This means that if you’re doing a media interview you need to think carefully about who you’re speaking to. Is it Retail Week or Marketing magazine? Is it the Financial Times or the Daily Mail? Is it BBC Breakfast or BBC Business? It might also be a regional outlet such as the Yorkshire Post or BBC Radio Bristol.
If it’s regional, you’ll have to make a mention of that part of the country. If it’s a consumer title, then references to SKUs and marketing spend will mean nothing. The messages you put across and the language you use to express them will all depend on your audience. Media interviews go wrong when the interviewee isn’t thinking about who they’re talking to.
2. They don’t use stories
Stories, case studies examples and even little anecdotes are essential in media interviews. In our media training courses for retailers, we help the participants to identify stories that they can use to both illustrate and prove their points.
You might, for instance, be telling us that your supply chain and processes are sustainable. That’s fine, but a journalist will immediately ask you to prove this claim. A story or example works well here. The same is true if you’re talking about apprenticeships and staff training. One of the great things about stories is that they include human beings. A case study or even a little anecdote about one of your team will bring your comments to life and will be more likely to get you quoted in a positive way in the report.
3. They don’t get their key message out at the start of the interview
All of our media trainers are working journalists, operating under strict non-disclosure agreements, of course. This means that they can tell you how frustrating it is when an interviewee buries the most important message or the most relevant and interesting point.
This means that at best the journalist has to waste time and energy digging for it. At worst they miss it altogether. Not only is this bad for the journalist but it’s also frustrating for the PR consultancy or media relations team. They’ve worked hard to identify and develop this key message and now it hasn’t been reported – because the interviewee hasn’t introduced it early and flagged it up.
In our media training workshops for retail brands, we carry out a range of authentic, role play media interviews. Our media trainer slash journalists do these exactly as they would in their day jobs. We then review them to see whether the key message came across. If it doesn’t will help the cause participant to express it more quickly and clearly in the next set of interviews. This shows how media training can actually help journalists as well as interviewees.
4. They don’t think about the negative questions that they might be asked
In our media training courses for retailers, we stress that journalists are always looking for a story and that we don’t care if it’s good or bad for the company that we’re covering. You might have some relevant and interesting key messages as well as some great stories and examples to back them up.
But if there is something else happening with your company or in the retail world, it’s very likely that the journalist will ask about it. Ideally, your PR consultancy or press office will have alerted you to this issue and will give you a line to take on it. You can then handle the difficult question quickly and effectively before moving back to your key messages.
5. They don’t take the initiative during media interviews.
The participants in our media training for retail brands often have a light bulb moment during the course when they realised that they, rather than the journalist, can take the initiative during the interview.
Not only that, but very often the journalist is happy for them to do this. As one of our media trainer slash journalists said recently in a media training course for retailers, “The person we’re speaking to will almost always be an expert and will know more than we do. That’s why we’re happy for them to set out their stall at the start of the interview and tell us what they want to tell us. This is so much easier than having us extract it from them.
The other risk of not taking the initiative and giving answers that are too short is that the journalist ends up casting around for a story. In a live broadcast interview, it’s even more likely that, in order to fill time, the interviewer will throw something negative or left field at you. That’s why getting onto the front foot during an interview and setting the agenda is always advisable.
Retailers will continue to find themselves approached by journalists for interviews and comment. Obviously, there are always risks involved. But there are huge benefits in raising the profile of your brand, becoming a thought leader and gaining positive media coverage.
Media training courses for retailers
The best way to ensure that your media interviews go well is to do Media Training beforehand. Come and talk to us about our bespoke, effective and affordable Media Training for retailers. We would very much like to help you. You can follow us on LinkedIn here.
