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Prokopius: Thanks to communication, I am more transparent for my partners

Mazars Czech Republic, one of the most important consulting companies on the market, decided to place their bets on on communication. Milan Prokopius, as its new key representative, had to learn how to integrate communication into his daily agenda and to support the whole team to adapt their way of thinking to the new reality. Even if the company has improved its public image, Prokopius is aware that communication itself is only one part of the business and the company’s activities must be fully consistent. The opportunities are still before us, he stated. (Author: Cristina Muntean)

What is the role of communication in your managing position?
Communication is the key to any firm’s development and in the creation of its image and reputation. You can efficiently present the company vision, the approach to business partners and your way of thinking if the mix of the media and other communication channels as well as the selection of topics is right, and you can gain a serious lead in establishing business relationships. As a company representative, this makes me more transparent for my partners. It´s important to not underestimate communication, it must be perceived as an absolutely fundamental part of any business strategy. In the long run, the absence of corporate and individual communication says a lot about the firm and its people.

Mazars only decided to go on the market and communicate openly since 2010. Thus you also needed to go through a personal transformation of your means of communication with your public. How did you experience this transformation?
Well, you know, it’s not so much a transformation of how open our communication but rather a transformation of our approach. Up until 2010 we were focusing primarily on direct communication with our clients and business partners. If the media was interested in our activities and opinions, we reacted and communicated our views to them openly, but we were not directly seeking out active communication. In 2010 our strategy changed completely, in part thanks to the global expansion of the company and the changes in the Czech office’s top management team. Analysing our business position, client portfolio, as well as the scope of our advisory services we confirmed that the Mazars brand is strong in all these areas and that we are in a position to try a proactive approach to communication.
The transformation was not immediate, of course. We progressed step by step. Our decision to organically combine marketing and communication really paid off; we see it as an integral part of our business development.
We have been closely following the effectiveness of the communication and the selection of the right communication channels and media since the very beginning. The basic rule we strictly insist on is the direct linkup of our business and marcom priorities: any issue that is not given priority on all management levels is not granted the resources, finances, time, energy or creativity. We have identified strong issues that we are following over the long term, such as tax reform, pension reform, the future of the audit profession – and we have personalities within our team who are able to engage the media and successfully present their opinions on these issues´ conceptual solutions to the public. Our experience has been positive. We are more visible, our stories are covered more often by the media, our clients and competition know about us. Communication opens the door to business. That’s been the desired, clearly-defined goal of our communication activities since the beginning of the transformation. And that’s also the direction we are taking now.

What were the main challenges of this change of perspective?
To change the approach within the company itself. To comprehend and accept that if the communication, regardless of its actual content, is defined as one of the corporate priorities, I have to dedicate sufficient time to it. Communication can’t be put off because we are doing something “more important.” My personal experience shows that the current need of communication always conflicts with other priorities. It concerns a long-term transition within the company, our people have to accept [the concept of active communication] as an additional method of corporate and individual presentation, a business opportunity, and definitely not as further obligation they have to fulfil. The results can really be seen. Every item not communicated, every lost opportunity to address clients, the public or the media, means a lost chance to move forward, open another door, strengthen our reputation.
And there is also another very personal dimension to this substantial change. I am a professional auditor, someone who works mainly with structured tables and figures and who considers communication to be a targeted, essential and not always pleasant way to obtain and share information. This was no longer a sustainable model when I became a managing partner of Mazars in the Czech Republic in 2010 and overtook the responsibility for the company operations and results of some 150 people. Absolutely the toughest change for me was to surpass myself, my deep-rooted behaviours and to be the first to embrace the active communication concept. And today I am glad that it all happened this way.

How was your experience with your first media interactions? What would you recommend to other leaders who are considering getting more engaged with the Czech media?
My experience has happily been very positive – it’s been managed so I had enough time for precise preparation and it showed in both the results and feedback. What would I recommend? Think it over. The cooperation with media can be compared to a carrousel ride: if you decide to take a ride, you can’t jump off easily. Every contact, even if doesn’t appear to be successful because it is not published, generates new actions and new media and business opportunities. I think it absolutely fundamental to figure out which media are the key ones for you and where you are trying to go. To understand what the media needs, to be able to offer them a good theme and establish long-term cooperation. To respect the media as a partner and to respect their independence. To respect their deadlines and needs, to be flexible. Do not underestimate preparation! Media training is not a waste of time, but is certainly worthwhile. It is important to get a couple of good photos and experience a photo shooting session. And invest in a communication expert for your company to explain everything and make all this easier for you!

What do you do so that you always have something to communicate? How do you prepare for media interactions or other important communication situations?
As I said before, knowing how to pick the right topics is one of the most important decisions. Packaging the topic and “selling it” to the media are the tasks for my communication team afterwards. I know now it’s necessary to promote and sell the topics, to feel what the media are interested in. It’s even more difficult in the consultancy business since at first glance we are talking about very technical issues that are probably boring to the general public. The popularity of tax advisors and auditors is, in the eyes of the public, is on level with insurance agents and funeral undertakers: we trade in unhappiness, pain and misery. If I want to communicate I have to be able to accept this fact and not fight it, but push the limits of perception elsewhere: for example, no one outside our professional community will probably be interested in the subtle nuances of corporate income tax rates in different European countries. But if I take the situation of the Czech entrepreneur and propose a comparative analysis of his current and future status, adding my own opinion on who will profit from the suggested [tax reform] measures, I can make it a sexy topic. And the media might be interested in my story because I offer a different angle on a position instead of mainstream statements, and I can deliver concise and structured arguments and – most of all – make it easy for the reader to understand. Technical topics are always presented by experts in Mazars; our communication team comes up with proposals on different angles of a given issue. The communicators are our “translators” of media and readership needs…
I believe in preparation prior to every communication opportunity – and improvisation only within its scope. I want to have all available information, data, background papers; I need to understand what the particular medium expects. And I have to figure out or make a kind of personal brief about what sort of outcome we expect: if we want to present a new expert, our point of view on a certain issue, support our brand image or react to a previous communication. And of course, the preparation is adapted to these expectations.
I find media training necessary for anybody who decides to communicate to any extent since you can find out a lot about yourself, about your impact on others, about your reactions in critical situations, and about how to keep attention focused. I learned how to make public presentations off the top of my head, and not only in my native language. As a typical auditor, I also need to obtain an “acceptable degree of certainty” so that I can put my name to the views that are presented because I know they conform to reality, even if my point of view might go against the flow. To be concise, you must know what to say, why and to whom and also how to cope with potential feedback.

What impact did or does the openness of communication have on your business? What would you recommend to Czech companies in terms of measuring the impact of open communication on their business development efforts?
The Mazars experience shows that our brand got an “image” thanks to open communication; we stopped being perceived as a bland, colourless company known only to a very limited circle of business partners. We now present ourselves as experts and advisors with something to say. Our recent results demonstrate that our ideas and the interesting people behind them have opened the door to potential clients. Sometimes it’s due to curiosity; sometimes because we agree in advance on our stances on certain problems and on their possible solutions.
You can not succinctly measure the effect of your communication. But if you include all its aspects, starting with the web content and design, through the availability of the top management for an unknown contact person, the layout of the written proposals to the client service that is delivered, and if all these aspects work well together, then media communication is just the last touch in consistent corporate presentation. We found that communication itself does not make the deals. You can’t have unrealistic expectations that one full-page interview in a prestigious weekly will bring assignments worth x CZK. But it can bring interesting contacts that can generate business if handled correctly. You cannot build up a reputation of being a high quality expert without being known for your opinions. And good references are essential to business, especially in our profession.

What are your plans for the near future in terms of communication?
To continue what we are already doing, for certain. We are following the big issues in both the Czech and international economies, including tax reform, legislation changes, foreign investment trends, labour market developments, the competitiveness of the Czech economy – and we are following and commenting on their impact for companies and entrepreneurs. We will continue to come up with unconventional points of view on conventional topics. We will focus more on the presentation of studies and research that we are performing both in the Czech Republic and within the Mazars Group. And I will also work on communication with my sons, both of them are in elementary school now: they are a very demanding target audience with high requirements on the value of the information and the persuasiveness in which it is presented!