Try this: as a business, non-profit, public entity or association manager, plan for and create the kind of external stakeholder behavior change that leads directly to achieving your managerial objectives. And do so by persuading your key outside audiences to your way of thinking, then move them to take actions that allow your department, group, division or subsidiary to succeed.
Interestingly, what you've done, is combine a sound public relations strategy with effective communications tactics leading directly to the bottom line – perception altered, behavior modified, employer/client satisfied.
But of course it's not automatic!
Instead, the mother of all PR plans is required. A plan that will get each of their team members and organizational colleagues working towards the same external stakeholder behaviors.
Here is such a plan designed to keep a manager's public relations effort "on message:" 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 usually accomplished.
Again interestingly, results can begin appearing quite early in this process. For instance, capital givers or specifying sources looking your way; prospects starting to work with you; customers making repeat purchases; improved relations with government agencies and legislative bodies; a rebound in showroom visits; membership applications on the rise; new thoughtleader and special event contacts; new proposals for strategic alliances and joint ventures; fresh community service and sponsorship opportunities; and even stronger relationships with the educational, labor, financial and healthcare communities.
The extent to which you use your PR staff will bear heavily on your success as a manager. Will you use your regular public relations staff? People assigned to you from above ? Or will it be PR agency staff? Nevertheless, they must be committed to you as the senior project manager, and to the PR blueprint starting with key audience perception monitoring.
Here, invest some real time satisfying yourself that team members really believe that it's crucially 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.
Reviewing the PR blueprint with staff is a good idea. In particular 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 exchange? How much do you know about our services or products and employees? Have you experienced problems with our people or procedures?
Professional survey counsel is always available to you, albeit expensive, for the perception monitoring phases of your program. 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.
The most serious distortions you discovered during your key audience perception monitoring require that you do something about them.This will be your new public relations goal might calling for straightening out that dangerous misconception, or correcting that gross inaccuracy, or stopping that potentially fatal rumor.
Any hope for success in achieving your new PR goal will demand a solid strategy backing up that new goal. One that clearly indicates to you and the PR staff how to proceed. But remember that there are just 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. The wrong strategy pick will taste like liver-stuffed ravioli. So, be certain the new strategy fits well with your new public relations goal. It goes without saying that you don't want to select "change" when the facts dictate a reinforce" strategy.
Here, a powerful corrective message to be aimed at members of your target audience is the order of the day. Persuading an audience to your way of thinking is not easy. Those PR folks of yours must come up with 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.
Let your people regularly reevaluate the message to decide if it is up to snuff and really persuasive. Then select the communications tactics most likely to carry that message to the attention of your target audience. There are scores of available tactics. From speeches, facility tours, emails and brochures to consumer briefings, media interviews, newsletters, personal meetings and many others. But be sure that those you pick are known to reach folks just like your audience members.
Because the credibility of the message itself can actually depend on the perception of its delivery method, you may decide to kick off the corrective message by unveiling the message before smaller gatherings rather than using higher-profile tactics such as news releases.
A followup perception monitoring session with members of your external audience is advisable. PR people should plan another visit to the field where you can gather comparative data for use in producing progress reports. You'll want to use many of the same questions used in the first benchmark session. Only this time, you will be watching very carefully for signs that the bad news perception is being altered in your direction.
There will be periods in which momentum slows, so be prepared to accelerate matters with more communications tactics and increased frequencies.
At this juncture, you've progressed beyond tactics like special events, brochures, broadcast plugs and press releases to achieve the very best public relations has to offer.
And it's REALLY interesting when you pull off this PR hat trick – combining a sound public relations strategy with effective communications tactics leading directly to the bottom line – perception altered, behavior modified, employer/client satisfied.
Please feel free to publish this article in your ezine, newsletter, offline publication or website. Only requirement: you must use the Robert A. Kelly byline and resource box. Word count is 1195 including guidelines and box. Robert A. Kelly © 2006.
Bob Kelly counsels and writes for business, non-profit, public entity and association managers about using the fundamental premise of public relations to achieve their operating objectives. He has authored 250 articles on the subject which are listed at EzineArticles.com, click Expert Author, click Robert A. Kelly. He has been DPR, Pepsi-Cola Co.; AGM-PR, Texaco Inc.; VP-PR, Olin Corp.; VP-PR, Newport News Shipbuilding & Drydock Co.; director of communications, U.S. Department of the Interior, and deputy assistant press secretary, The White House. He holds a bachelor of science degree from Columbia University, major in public relations. mailto:bobkelly@TNI.net Visit:http://www.PRCommentary.com
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