A PR Surprise for Managers

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Robert A. Kelly © 2004.

A PR Surprise for Managers

For those business, non-profit and association managers
committed to PR tactics like radio and newspaper plugs,
it can come as a surprise to discover where public relations
value REALLY lies.

Truth is, your PR budget can deliver results far beyond
such limited publicity placements.

For example by embracing the kind of PR plan that
persuades those important outside audiences to your way
of thinking, and moving them to take actions that help
your department, division or subsidiary succeed.

Then by using the high-impact, fundamental premise of
public relations to deliver external stakeholder behavior
change – the kind that leads directly to achieving your
managerial objectives.

And finally by revving up the creative potential of your
assigned PR team or agency and involving them in a
way that positively impacts the behaviors of the very
outside audiences that MOST affect your unit.

Perhaps then you will find yourself with a basketful
of results such as prospects starting to do business
with you; community leaders beginning to seek you
out; newly arrived proposals for strategic alliances
and joint ventures; customers starting to make repeat
purchases; membership applications on the rise;
politicians and legislators beginning to think of you
as a key member of the business, non-profit or
association communities; welcome bounces in show
room visits; and even capital givers or specifying
sources starting to look your way.

Spend a moment here and read that fundamental
public relations blueprint referred to above: 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.

This lets you broaden your public relations field of
fire, putting its primary focus where it belongs, on
your unit’s key external stakeholder behaviors.

A caveat here: be sure that the public relations
personnel assigned to your unit really believe – deep
down -- why it’s SO important to know how your
most important outside audiences perceive your
operations, products or services. Be certain they accept
the reality that perceptions almost always lead to
behaviors that can help or hurt your unit.

Review with them your blueprint for monitoring and
gathering perceptions by questioning members of your
most important outside audiences. Questions like these:
How much do you know about our services or products
and employees? How much do you know about our chief
executive? Have you had prior contact with us and were
you pleased with the interchange? Have you experienced
problems with our people or procedures?

When you think of it, you’re fortunate that your PR
folks already are in the perception and behavior business
so they can jump right on the perception monitoring
assignment. If your budget can handle it, you can always
use a professional survey firm, but they can be very
expensive. Nevertheless, whether it’s your people or
a survey firm asking the questions, your objective is to
identify untruths if not outright lies, false assumptions,
unfounded rumors, inaccuracies, and misconceptions .

Now you must carefully select which of the above
aberrations qualifies as your corrective public relations
goal – for example, clarify the misconception, spike that
rumor, correct the false assumption or fix certain other
inaccuracies.

Now, if you pick the wrong strategy to show you how
to reach your goal, it will feel like you’re eating Roast
Turkey without the stuffing. Fact is, you can only achieve
your PR 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.
And take care that your new strategy is a natural fit with
that new public relations goal.

Sooner or later you will have to address your key
stakeholder audience in a way that will help persuade
them to your way of thinking. So assign the task to your
very best writer because s/he must put together some
very special, corrective language. Words, by the way,
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 targeted.

Here you take an easy step – select the communications
tactics needed to carry your message to the attention of
your target audience. Checking, of course, that the tactics
you select are known to reach folks like your audience
members. Dozens are available from speeches, facility
tours, emails and brochures to consumer briefings, media
interviews, newsletters, personal meetings and many others.

Because HOW one communicates often affects the
believability of the message, you may wish to deliver it
in smaller meetings or presentations rather than high-profile
media such as a news release..

Questions will arise as to indications of progress. That will
be your signal to schedule a second perception monitoring
session with members of your external audience. You will
use many of the same questions as in the first benchmark
session. But you will now be watching carefully for signs
that the offending perception is actually moving in your
direction.

A fortunate reality in the public relations business is that
these matters usually can be accelerated by adding more
communications tactics as well as increasing their frequencies.

Yes, as a manager, it may surprise you that a workable
public relations blueprint like this one 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.

But it’s no surprise 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
those key external audiences to action.

end