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PR Advice You Didn't Ask For
Although, as a business, non-profit or
association manager, you may be glad this came your way.
Especially
if your current public relations effort is delivering more publicity plugs
than real behavior change among your most important outside audiences.
Change that could lead directly to achieving your managerial
objectives.
I'm talking about persuading those key outside folks to your
way of thinking, then moving them to take actions that help your
department, division or subsidiary succeed.
There's even a blueprint to
help you do it. People act on their own perception of the facts before them,
which leads to predictable behaviors about which something can be done.
When we create, change or reinforce that opinion by reaching, persuading
and moving-to-desired-action the very people whose behaviors affect the
organization the most, the public relations mission is
accomplished.
What kind of results can you expect? Consider these:
membership applications on the rise; customers starting to make repeat
purchases; fresh proposals for strategic alliances and joint ventures;
community leaders beginning to seek you out; welcome bounces in show room
visits; prospects starting to do business with you; higher employee
retention rates, capital givers or specifying sources beginning to look
your way, and even politicians and legislators starting to view you as a key
member of the business, non-profit or association communities.
An
obvious first step involves getting the public relations people assigned to
your unit on board. Make certain the whole team buys into why it's so
important to know how your outside audiences perceive your operations,
products or services. Be sure they accept the reality that perceptions
almost always lead to behaviors that can hurt your unit.
Review how
you plan to monitor and gather perceptions by questioning members of your
most important outside audiences. Questions like these: how much do you know
about our organization? Have you had prior contact with us and were you
pleased with the interchange? How much do you know about our services or
products and employees? Have you experienced problems with our people or
procedures?
Since your PR people are in the perception and behavior
business to begin with, they can be of real use for this opinion
monitoring project. Professional survey firms are always available, but that
can be a budget buster. Whether it's your people or a survey firm who asks
the questions, your objective is to identify untruths, false
assumptions, unfounded rumors, inaccuracies, and misconceptions
.
Then you must carefully select which of the above becomes your
corrective public relations goal -- clarify the misconception, spike that
rumor, correct the false assumption or fix certain other
inaccuracies.
You can achieve your goal by picking the right strategy
from the three choices available to you. Change existing perception,
create perception where there may be none, or reinforce it. But be sure your
new strategy fits comfortably with your new public relations
goal.
But what will you say when you have the opportunity to address
your key stakeholder audience to help persuade them to your way of
thinking?
Select your best writer to prepare the message because s/he
must put together some very special, corrective language. Words that are
not only compelling, persuasive and believable, but clear and factual if
they are to shift perception/opinion towards your point of view and lead to
the behaviors you have in mind.
Happily, the next step is easy. You
select communications
tactics to carry your message to the attention of your
target
audience. Making certain that the tactics you select have a record
of reaching folks like your audience members, you can pick from dozens
that are available. From speeches, facility tours, emails and brochures to
consumer briefings, media
interviews, newsletters, personal meetings and
many others.
Since how one communicates often affects the credibility of
the message, you may wish to deliver it in small getogethers
like
meetings and presentations rather than through a higher-
profile media
announcement.
You'll soon feel pressure for signs of progress. And that
means
a second perception monitoring session with members of your
external audience. Employing many of the same questions used
in the
first benchmark session, you will now be watching carefully for signs that
the offending perception is being altered
in your direction.
Luckily,
matters can be accelerated by adding more communications tactics as well as
increasing their frequencies.
This workable public relations blueprint
will help you persuade your most important outside stakeholders to your
way of thinking, then move them to behave in a way that leads to
the
success of your department, division or subsidiary.
So, while you may not
have asked for this public relations
advice, I hope you will agree that the
people you deal with
behave like everyone else – they act upon their
perceptions
of the facts they hear about you and your operation. Leaving
you little choice but to deal promptly and effectively with those
perceptions by doing what is necessary to reach and move your key external
audiences to action.
end
Bob Kelly counsels, writes and speaks to
business, non-profit and association managers about using the fundamental
premise of public relations to achieve their operating objectives. He has
been DPR, Pepsi-Cola Co.; AGM-PR, Texaco Inc.; VP-PR, Olin Corp.; VP-PR,
Newport News Shipbuilding & Drydock Co.; director of
communi-cations, U.S. Department of the Interior, and deputy assistant press
secretary, The White House. He holds a bachelor of science degree from
Columbia University, major in public relations.
mailto:bobkelly@TNI.net
Visit:http://www.prcommentary.com
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