Managers, Start Your PR

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Robert A. Kelly © 2003.

Managers, Start Your PR

There’ll never be a better time for a manager working
for a business, non-profit or association to ask this
question: “Am I getting the public relations results I’m
paying for -- the really important external audience
behaviors I need to achieve my department, division or
subsidiary objectives?”

If the answer is no, better get busy and rebuild that public
relations engine.

Best place to look for an answer to your question is the
foundation on which your public relations effort is based.
Are the PR people assigned to your unit guided by solid
fundamentals rather than mechanics like special events
and communications tactics?

Do they really believe that people act on their own
perception of the facts before them, leading to
predictable behaviors about which something can be done?
And do they believe that 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?

Because that kind of foundation is just what you may need
to help persuade those important stakeholders to your way
of thinking. And leading directly to results such as new
waves of prospects, expanded community support, large,
new capital donations, higher employee retention numbers,
new engineering firms specifying your components, a boost
in membership applications, or a welcome increase in repeat
purchases.

I have noticed, however, a tendency for managers to set down
the rules of engagement, then let things bump along under
somebody else. That’s not going to work with your public
relations restart. You MUST get personally involved with
the PR professionals managing your public relations program
because they will be dealing with the very stakeholders whose
behaviors will help determine whether you succeed or fail in
your job. And that should be an incentive.

Here’s another reason to keep a keen eye on the effort. Chances
are that is that this kind of PR restart will be a dramatic departure
for your public relations staffers, thus requiring your oversight
of decisions affecting both thematics and tactical deployment.

For example, you must stay involved as they list those key
external audiences of yours whose behaviors affect your unit
the most. And again when they prioritize those audiences so
that your public relations restart planning begins with the
target audience YOU believe is #1.

The success of the program will depend on how efficiently you
and your PR staffers gather certain data. Namely, how members
of that key target audience, whose behaviors affect your unit’s
success or failure, really perceive you.

Your team must interact with members of that audience, and
monitor their perceptions of your organization by asking
questions like “Do you know anything about our organization?
Have you ever had contact with our people? Was it a satisfactory experience? How familiar are you with our services or products?,”
and so forth.

Make sure that you and your staff remain sensitive to hesitant
or evasive responses, and especially to negative comments. And
stay alert for misconceptions, untruths, false assumptions,
inaccuracies and rumors. These problem areas will need correction
because experience shows they lead to negative behaviors.

Now, your team must select what needs correction the most, thus establishing your public relations goal. For example, perception
alterations like correcting that damaging inaccuracy, straightening
out that unfortunate misconception, or neutralizing that hurtful
rumor.

But how will you reach that goal? In the same way you approach
any operating problem – select the right strategy, one that shows
you how to reach your public relations goal. However, when it
comes to opinion and perception problems, you have just three
strategy choices: create perception where there may be none,
reinforce an existing perception, or change the offending
opinion/perception. Just be certain the strategy you select is a
good fit with your PR goal. Obviously, you would not use the
“reinforce it” strategy option when your goal is to kill a
damaging rumor.

Now, some writing talent is needed to prepare the message you
will use to alter that key target audience’s perception. The
message must be clear and persuasive if it is to nudge perception
or opinion in your direction, and lead directly to the behaviors
you desire.

Much like the military when they call in artillery fire during
combat, you must employ your communications tactics in a
way that insures that your message reaches those members of
your target audience.

Fortunately, you have a wide choice of communications tactics
such as audience briefings, news releases, speeches, radio and
newspaper interviews, special events, personal contacts, and
many others. You do want to be sure that the tactics you select
have a proven track record for reaching people just like the
members of your target audience.

While a budget sufficient to employ professional survey counsel
would be very nice, the fact remains that you and your PR team
can once again monitor perceptions among members of your
target audience by asking the very same questions used during
the earlier monitoring session.

The difference now is that you will watch carefully for signs that
your message and communications tactics have moved audience
perception in your direction.

If things need to move faster, you always have the option of
adding new tactics to the fray as well as increasing their
frequencies. Also advisable, another check of your message for
impact and factual accuracy.

By this time, you will have created a public relations program
certain to reassure you that you are now getting the key
stakeholder behaviors you need to help achieve your department,
division or subsidiary objectives.

end