PR: Let's Cut to the Chase

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Robert A. Kelly © 2004.

PR: Let’s Cut to the Chase

If your key – that’s KEY – outside audiences don’t exhibit
the kind of behaviors that lead to results like these, you need
to take a closer look at your public relations effort.

Results like fresh proposals for strategic alliances and
joint ventures; rising membership applications, customers
starting to make repeat purchases creating bounces in show
room visits; prospects starting to do business with you;
community leaders beginning to seek you out; new
approaches by capital givers and specifying sources, not to
mention politicians and legislators viewing you as a key
member of the business, non-profit or association communities.

Do you agree that you need behavior change among your
most important outside audiences that leads directly to
achieving your managerial objectives? And that you then
need to persuade those key external stakeholders with the
greatest impacts on your organization to your way of
thinking, and help move them to take actions that allow
your department, division or subsidiary to succeed?

In other words, you may need public relations activity
that can deliver results far beyond publicity tactics. And
a public relations premise like this one can show the way:
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.

But how should you, as a manager, position your public
relations to do this? First, you had best be sure every member
of your PR team agrees that it’s awfully important to know
how your outside audiences perceive your operations,
products or services. Stay at it until you’re certain they
REALLY accept the reality that perceptions almost
always lead to behaviors that can damage your operation.

Then it’s time to start working the PR blueprint by
monitoring and gathering perceptions through 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?

Here’s some good fortune! Your PR folks are already in the
perception and behavior business, so they can be of real
use for this opinion monitoring project. Yes, 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 the same: identify untruths, false assumptions,
unfounded rumors, inaccuracies, and misconceptions.

The question now is this: which of the above aberrations 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?

You can assure you’ll achieve your public relations goal by
selecting the right strategy from the three choices available
to you. In brief, 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.

Just what will your message emphasize when you address
your key stakeholder audience to help persuade them to
your way of thinking?

That’s why you must select your best writer to prepare the
message because s/he must put together some very special,
corrective language. Persuasive and believable words that
are not only compelling, but clear and factual so they can
shift perception/opinion towards your point of view and
lead to the behaviors you have in mind.

Lucky for all of us, the next step is easy. Pick 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.

It’s useful to remember 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.

Folks will soon be looking 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.

Should the program start to slow, you can always accelerate
matters by putting on more communications tactics as well as
increasing their frequencies.

Yes, this is the chase we cut to – an aggressive blueprint that
leaves you little choice but to deal promptly and effectively
with those perceptions by doing what is necessary to reach
and move your key external stakeholders to action. In that
way, you create the behavior change you need leading directly
to achieving your managerial objectives.

end