Are you afraid of change?

If like me, you’re a fan of Mary Queen of Shops, you’ll have loved tonight’s episode. The show saw retail expert, Mary Portas, travel up north to rescue a 115-year old greengrocers that was starting to look a little past its sell by date.

Within seconds she highlighted half a dozen different things that needed sorting out – trays of food that were half-empty, veg that was clearly past its best, and signage that provided no real information. Not to mention the shop, which looked like it was stuck in the last century.

However Mary’s comments weren’t designed to upset the three scouse sisters that run the shop in Merseyside. She was simply flagging what their customers, or rather potential customers, were thinking. Mary worked closely with the Liverpudlian ladies to demonstrate that their consumer’s tastes had evolved and that it was time that their business did too.

She taught the three shopkeepers to think outside the box, which ironically led to the greengrocer’s launching a locally-sourced fruit and veg box delivery service. This offered their customers the convenience that they craved and the local produce that they were looking for, while at the same time helping the women to boost their revenue by reaching new customers.

Once Mary had worked her magic, the store looked absolutely terrific. The shop was packed full of customers and you could tell that the shopkeepers had fire in their bellies, ready and waiting to take on the supermarkets that had gobbled up so much of their trade.

The comparison with PR is crystal clear. Consultancies that haven’t recognised that the media landscape has changed dramatically in the last few years or don’t see why they should stop doing what they’ve always done and integrate online PR into their client work, will be left behind, struggling to provide what their customers require.

The same is true for the clients that we as PR professionals represent. Companies that don’t start engaging with online audiences soon, alongside their traditional targets, may find that their competitors do. Allowing the businesses that you compete with to get a head start online is quite simply a recipe for disaster. But unfortunately, it’s a recipe that many organisations in the UK seem to be following.

At the end of the day you don’t have to be retail royalty, like Mary, to manage a successful business long-term. You’ve just got to have faith in what you’re doing and never ever stop reviewing and improving your company. To put it bluntly, you shouldn’t be afraid of change, you should be afraid of not changing. When you sit back and rest on your laurels, that’s when the really scary stuff starts to happen.