How PR Helps Fiercely Competitive Managers

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Robert A. Kelly © 2004.

How PR Helps Fiercely Competitive Managers

Fiercely combative business, non-profit and association
managers use every PR weapon they can lay their hands
on. Which means they employ strategic, rapid-fire print
and broadcast tactics every day of their business lives.

Still, many realize they need more than that to win the
long-range battle. Fact is, they need a public relations
budget that can deliver results far beyond publicity
tactics.

The fierce and the smart know they need real behavior
change among their most important outside audiences
that leads directly to achieving their managerial
objectives.

So they make sure they persuade those key outside
folks with the greatest impacts on their organizations
to their way of thinking, then move them to take
actions that help their department, division or subsidiary
succeed.

The really fierce use a public relations blueprint
something like this one: 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.

If that’s you, over time your results probably look like
these: fresh proposals for strategic alliances and joint
ventures; prospects starting to do business with you;
welcome bounces in show room visits; membership
applications on the rise; customers starting to make
repeat purchases; community leaders beginning to seek
you out; 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.

But the fierce ones don’t go it alone. They make certain
every member of the PR team agrees that it’s crucially
important to know how your outside audiences perceive
your operations, products or services. Dig deep to ensure
they REALLY accept the reality that perceptions almost
always lead to behaviors that can damage your operation.

Now it’s time to activate the PR blueprint and monitor
and gather perceptions by questioning members of your
most important outside audience. Ask 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?

Lucky for all of us, your PR folks are already in the
perception and behavior business, so they can be of real
use for this opinion monitoring project. Professional survey
firms can be brought in to handle the opinion monitoring
chore, but that can cost you a lot of money. So 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 .

Which of the above abberations is serious enough that it
should become your corrective public relations goal?
Clarify the misconception? Spike that rumor? Correct
the false assumption? Fix those inaccuracies? Or yet
another offensive perception that could lead to negative
results?

With your public relations goal established, you can assure
you’ll achieve it 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 naturally compliments your
new public relations goal.

So what will your message emphasize when you 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.

Keep in mind that HOW one communicates often affects the
credibility of the message, so 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 will
lead to 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.

Remember that you can always accelerate the program by
adding more communications tactics as well as increasing
their frequencies.

This bears repeating – yes, fiercely combative business,
non-profit and association managers use every PR weapon they
can lay their hands on, and that includes strategic, rapid-fire
print and broadcast tactics.

But those same competitive managers also know they need
an aggressive blueprint such as this one that will deliver
behavior change among their most important outside audiences
leading directly to achieving their managerial objectives.

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