The best PR: Delivering excellent service

I am happy to be with you today in your 12th National Public Relations Congress, and to join my colleagues in this Forum, in order to share my experience and insights on an interesting subject, and even learn from the ensuing exchange of ideas.

Let me begin by saying that the title of the Forum does not hide its obvious bias for your profession – "Regulated Industry: How Public Relations Can Help It Thrive or Survive." I admire your conviction in advancing such a claim, and it would be highly presumptuous for a non-PR specialist like me to challenge such a statement.

I happen to have experienced what a positive force communication is in the private and public spheres — and thus I am convinced about the value of public relations.

I want to begin with this statement of our personal view:

The real measure of public relations is the quality of service rendered to the public.

Under the regulator’s watchful eyes. This may sound like a motherhood statement, for it applies to any business. And you are right. But, I daresay that the above statement assumes crucial importance when you refer to companies whose operations are constantly under the eyes of a demanding public and a watchful industry regulator.

After all, the long-term existence, if not growth, of these firms depends on the shifts or drift of regulatory policy.

This is true for sectors in telecommunications, electric utilities, water supply, transport companies, railways — and, yes, tollways.

I wish to focus my discussion on my present job — building, and then managing, the most modern tollway operations in the country: the 84-kilometer North Luzon Expressway — or NLEX, for short.

Ubiquitous hand of regulation. We began to feel the ubiquitous hand of regulation on our corporate existence even when we were yet hammering out the Supplemental Toll Operations Agreement (or STOA) with the government.

The STOA provisions — which, mind you, are many inches thick – stipulated a set formula for pricing, defined standards for construction, operations and maintenance, and provided strict guidelines on safety, among others.

The agreement also fixed conditions for road maintenance, and even established the minimum level of capital expenditure to keep the large infrastructure in tip top condition – in its original quality.

Restless government, restive sectors. At first glance, the existence of a regulator — armed with regulatory policies and enforcement powers — seems predictable enough. But, it becomes unpredictable and complex if you live in a democracy — like we all do — under a government that is all-too-sensitive to many voices of consent and dissent from a multitude of sectors and interests.

And, if you are a company that is delivering a very basic service like operating an expressway and providing allied services, you are potentially at the receiving end of various — and contrasting — responses from diverse publics.

Whether you like it or not, your company could be, the object of love or hate. Your policies and decisions are either received with acceptance or resistance, and so your corporate existence could be the focus of long-term loyalty or long drawn-out opposition.

What complicates matters is, between you and your stakeholders — is your regulatory body whose mandate is to make sure that you comply with the terms of agreement as an infrastructure builder and concessionaire.

That may sound simple enough, until you realize that the regulatory body reports to an administrative superior, is accountable to higher authorities in all three branches of government — and, yes, is ever sensitive to hints of complaints or stirrings of protests.

Here comes the rub, as Shakespeare would express a lament. When one or two sectors with a reasonable force of numbers are restive, a populist leader may pick up their so-called cause. And that may prompt a series of hearings in a local legislature, and then the issue is picked up by an enterprising media man in search of an earthshaking headline.

When left unchecked, the cause then picks up momentum and may yet bring the full weight of the judiciary, the national legislature or the Palace to wreak havoc on one’s operations with unimaginable and unwanted consequences.

Chief risks: Political. If you are not a regulated firm, no such peril with great magnitude will confront you, except when your company figures in a high profile poisoning incident or large-scale environmental damage.

By nature, the regulator — as an adjunct of government — reflects the sentiments of the sitting Chief Executive of the Republic. That’s why one of the chief risks of a regulated firm is political. Under regulation, a company finds itself in the proverbial classic squeeze from above and from below — and, at times — from all imaginable sides.

Political risks, in my experience and from my own definition, are uncertainties presented by changes in the political dispensation (if you know what I mean), all conceivable forms of community resistance, legislative inquiries, organized opposition by civil society, and a combination of such risks. I hasten to add, however, that the Government has remained faithful to the terms of our concession agreement. Which is probably why other groups of investors are now considering toenter, and in fact, entering this budding tollway industry.

Public relations: Company-wide initiative. The menacing presence or threatening emergence of political risks underscores the value of public relations as a company-wide initiative.

I am neither referring to simply enlarging the size of the public relations department, nor am I suggesting a high-budget PR campaign out to overpower the critics. Neither am I recommending a high profile drive to overwhelm the ranks of the opposition nor strike fear in their hearts.

I refer to a low key, well-thought-out and sustained public relations strategy that has the essential elements of winning hearts and minds. I refer to a communication program that is strong on building goodwill, expanding alliances, and — slowly but surely — forging a win-win formula.

And this strategy is addressed to every influencer in society — whether he or she is in government, in a chamber of commerce, in a church, in a non-government organization of whatever creed and color, in media of whatever political persuasion, in a trade association or consumer advocacy group of whatever inclination.

Low-key PR: Doing job well. Our kind of PR prefers forthright, honest and patient communication — enriched by a policy of listening to the heartbeat of the community, keyed to building and keeping our credibility. We are not after a quick and fleeting victory; we are establishing a durable and lasting relationship — because, after all, we intend to stay on our job as a company — at least for the next 25 years.

At the bedrock of this strategy is our emphasis on doing our job well. Good public relations, we believe, is living up to the level of service expected of us. We will, as we say in our internal discussions, be compliant with the terms of our agreement with the Regulator and other parties. But more than that, we want to do our job exceedingly well, so we intend to do more than comply. We want to do the unexpected. For we think the best public relations is going beyond the promised level of service. And how does this promote a harmonious regulator-regulated firm relationship? We believe that, if we continue to deliver excellent service, there will be no reason for our customers and our other stakeholders to complain. And so our regulator, the Toll Regulatory Board (TRB) will be all too happy to be spared from people banging on their doors presenting their protests or drowning their emails with complaints.

So far, we have successfully "connected" with our stakeholders. The opening of the NLEX last February was not marred by any serious negative incident. Motorists have weighed the toll fees against their resulting savings in fuel and other transport costs. As the first fruits of our constant dialogue, most of our stakeholders have chosen to view the big picture — and that larger picture is a fast-developing countryside driven by a modern expressway cutting across boundaries all the way to the north.

Common journey with stakeholders. Are we resting on our laurels? Definitely not. Our efforts at reaching out to people and communities continue. Our fidelity to providing excellent service is as constant as the rising of the sun every morning.

We have now shifted our strategy to building on our gains, to take root, and share a future with our stakeholders. That, to us, is public relations at its best. It is not one whirlwind romance that you look back to with lament as a short-lived affair.

It is a relationship built and nurtured day after day. And when you look back to where it began, you will be amazed that the partnership has truly deepened and has grown stronger. And there’s no longer a distinction between you and them – meaning, the stakeholders. You find yourselves journeying together on to a new path.

Let me end this talk with a quotation from Winston Churchill, stressing a relationship developed through time by low key but effective public relations within or outside a regulated environment:

"Everyday, you may make progress. Every step may be fruitful. Yet there will stretch out before you an ever-lengthening, ever ascending, ever-improving path. You know you will never get to the end of the journey. But this, far from discouraging, adds to the joy and glory of the climb."

Thank you.

(Speech delivered before the 12th National PR Congress held at the Edsa Shangri-La Hotel in Mandaluyong City on Sept. 23, 2005.)