PR: A Potent Force for Success

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Robert A. Kelly © 2004.

PR: A Potent Force For Success

What’s REALLY potent for a business, non-profit or
association manager is public relations’ ability to alter
individual perception leading to changed behaviors.
And then, to persuade those key outside folks to the
manager’s way of thinking, and help move them to take
actions that allow their department, division or subsidiary
to succeed.

Potent because public relations does something positive for
managers about the behaviors of the very outside audiences
of theirs that MOST affect their operation.

And ESPECIALLY appropriate when such potency helps create
the kind of external stakeholder behavior change that leads
directly to achieving those manager’s managerial objectives.

But how potent is it when business, non-profit and association
managers are handed the precise public relations blueprint they
need designed to get all their team members and organizational
colleagues working towards the same external stakeholder
behaviors? Wouldn’t that insure that their PR thrust stays
focused?

Talking about a PR blueprint plan 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.

Yes, potent’s a pretty darn good word when results like these
start to crop up: a rebound in showroom visits; capital givers
or specifying sources looking your way; new proposals for
strategic alliances and joint ventures; membership applications
on the rise; new feedback channels; community service and
sponsorship opportunities; enhanced activist group relations;
new thoughtleader and special event contacts; improved
relations with government agencies and legislative bodies;
prospects starting to work with you; customers making repeat
purchases; promotional contest overtures, and even stronger
relationships with the educational, labor, financial and
healthcare communities.

It must be a prime concern to you as to who carries out
this PR plan for you. Just who is going to do the work
anyway? Will it be a regular public relations staff? Or
people sent to you by a higher authority? Or possibly a
PR agency crew? Regardless of where they come from, they
must be committed to you as the senior project manager,
to the PR blueprint and its implementation, starting with
key audience perception monitoring.

Something to keep your eye on. Simply because a practitioner
describes him/herself as a public relations specialist doesn’t
mean they’ve bought into the whole the program. Assure
yourself that your team members really believe deeply why
it’s SO important to know how your most important outside
audiences perceive your operations, products or services.
Be certain they buy the reality that perceptions almost always
lead to behaviors that can help or hurt your unit.

Now spend some time reviewing the PR blueprint with your
PR team, especially your plan for monitoring and gathering
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?

Now you can use professional survey counsel for the perception
monitoring phases of your program if your budget will allow.
But remember that your PR people are also in the perception and
behavior business and can pursue the same objective: identify
untruths, false assumptions, unfounded rumors, inaccuracies, misconceptions and any other negative perception that might
translate into hurtful behaviors.

It’s goal-setting time. Here, you do something about the most
serious distortions you discovered during your key audience
perception monitoring. In other words, establish your public
relations goal. And that could be to straighten out that
dangerous misconception, or correct that gross inaccuracy, or
stop that potentially fatal rumor dead in its tracks.

For success, you need a solid strategy, one that clearly
shows you how to proceed. To keep things simple, note that
there are only three strategic options available to you when it
comes to handling a perception and opinion challenge. Change
existing perception, create perception where there may be none,
or reinforce it. Of course, the wrong strategy pick will taste like
week-old cole slaw, so be certain the new strategy fits well
with your new public relations goal. Naturally, you don’t want
to select “change” when the facts dictate a “reinforce” strategy.

Now you need to hit members of your target audience with
a powerful message. But persuading an audience to your
way of thinking is hard work. Which is why your PR folks
must create some very special, corrective language. Words
that are not only compelling, persuasive and believable, but
clear and factual. Only in this way will you be able to correct
a perception by shifting opinion towards your point of view,
leading to the behaviors you are targeting.

Check out your message with your communications specialists
to make certain its impact and persuasiveness measure up. Then,
sharpen it before selecting the communications tactics most
likely to carry your message to the attention of your target
audience. 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. But be sure that the tactics you pick are
known to reach folks just like your audience members.

It’s well-known that the credibility of a message can depend
on its delivery method. So you might consider unveiling it
in presentations before smaller gatherings rather than using
higher-profile tactics such as news releases.

People will soon request progress reports, which will alert
you and your PR team to get back out in the field and start
work on a second perception monitoring session with
members of your external audience. You’ll want to use many
of the same questions used in the first benchmark session.
Difference this time is that you will be watching very carefully
for signs that the bad news perception is being altered in your
direction.

Should program momentum slow, try speeding things up
with more communications tactics and increased frequencies.

By now you know this secret about potent public relations:
the right PR can alter individual perception and lead to changed
behaviors which, in turn, lead directly to achieving your
managerial objectives.

end