"Right PR
Empowers a Manager."
By Robert A. Kelly
Business, non-profit and association managers
are in a stronger position to succeed when they use their public
relations resources in a way that alters individual perception
leading to changed external stakeholder behavior.
A mouthful, but true.
Here’s the obvious core of this approach:
persuade your most important outside audiences with the greatest
impacts on your organization to your way of thinking. Then move
them to take actions that help your department, division or subsidiary
prevail.
The right action plan – the right blueprint
– helps you to achieve that kind of success. And it does
so by getting everyone working towards the same external audience
behaviors. For example: 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.
And look at what might happen. A nice jumpup
in show room traffic; local thoughtleaders seeking your opinion
on key local issues; newly interested prospects calling you; growing
numbers of membership applications; the repeat purchase rate increasing;
new inquiries about strategic alliances and joint ventures; capital
givers or specifying sources making inquiries; and even politicians
and legislators viewing you as a leading figure in the business,
non-profit or association communities.
Caveat: your PR people are already in the perception
and behavior business, so they should be of real use for your
initial opinion monitoring project. But you must be certain your
public relations people really believe – deep down -- why
it’s SO important to know how your most important outside
audiences perceive your operations, products or services. Make
sure they accept the reality that perceptions almost always lead
to behaviors that can help or hurt your unit.
While reviewing your PR plan with them, talk
about how you will monitor and gather 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?
Are you familiar with our services or products and employees?
Have you experienced problems with our people or procedures?
While professional survey firms can always be
hired to do the opinion monitoring work, they also can cost big
bucks. So, whether it’s your people or a survey firm asking
the questions, the objective remains the same: identify untruths,
false assumptions, unfounded rumors, inaccuracies, misconceptions
and any other negative perception that might translate into hurtful
behaviors.
Clearly, you must do something about the most
serious distortions you discovered during your key audience perception
monitoring. Will it be to straighten out that dangerous misconception?
Correct that gross inaccuracy? Or, stop that potentially damaging
rumor dead in its tracks?
We all know you won’t get there at all
without the right strategy to tell you how to proceed. But remember
that there are just three strategic options available when it
comes to doing something about perception and opinion. Change
existing perception, create perception where there may be none,
or reinforce it. The wrong strategy pick will taste like sour
cream on your spaghetti, so be sure your new strategy fits well
with your new public relations goal. You wouldn’t want to
select “change” when the facts dictate a “reinforce”
strategy.
Now it’s time to put together a well-written
message and direct it to members of your target audience. It’s
always a challenge to create an actionable message that will help
persuade any audience to your way of thinking.
You need your best scribes for this one because
s/he must build some very special, corrective language. Words
that are not merely 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.
Once you’ve run draft copy by your PR team,
it’s on to the next selection process -- the communications
tactics most likely to carry your message to the attention of
your target audience. There are scores that are available. From
speeches, facility tours, emails and brochures to consumer briefings,
media interviews, newsletters, personal meetings and many others.
But you must be certain that the tactics you pick are known to
reach folks like your audience members,
Actually, you may wish to avoid “shouting
too loud” and unveil your message before smaller meetings
and presentations rather than using higher-profile news releases,
as the credibility of any message is fragile and always at stake.
It won’t be long before voices will be
raised about progress reports, which will be your signal for you
and your PR team to get going 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. Big difference this time is that you will be on red alert
for signs that the bad news perception is being altered in your
direction.
It seems lucky for us that such matters usually
can be accelerated simply by adding more communications tactics
as well as increasing their frequencies.
Yes, you as a business, non-profit or association
manager become empowered when 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. Pure and simple.
Put another way, when your key external stakeholders
start behaving suspiciously like everyone else – acting
upon their perceptions of the facts they hear about you and your
operation -- you really have little choice but to deal promptly
and effectively with those perceptions by doing what is necessary
to reach and move those important outside audiences to actions
you desire.
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