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How PR Helps Managers Win

Written by: Bob Kelly

Article Overview: It's a bullseye when the right public relations alters individual perception leading to changed behaviors among key outside audiences.

How PR Helps Managers Win

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guidelines and box. Robert A. Kelly © 2006.

How PR Helps Managers Win

Anything that lets managers achieve their managerial
objectives is a winner.

It’s a bullseye when the right public relations alters
individual perception leading to changed behaviors
among key outside audiences.

How that comes about is the story of the day!

As a business, non-profit, public entity or association
manager, you’ve got to do something positive about the
behaviors of those important external audiences of
yours that most affect your operation. Especially so
when you persuade those key outside folks to your
way of thinking, then move them to take actions that
allow your department, group, division or subsidiary
to succeed.

As it turns out, the trail has been blazed before you
came along. Consider this: 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.

What that does is allow you to move beyond a
preoccupation with special events, brochures and press
releases, and attend to the perceptions and behaviors
of the very people who could hold your professional
success as a manager in their hands.

That kind of success can come in many shapes and
sizes. Consider these: welcome bounces in show room
visits; rising membership applications; community
leaders beginning to seek you out; prospects starting
to do business with you; customers making repeat
purchases; fresh proposals for strategic alliances and
joint ventures; and 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.

Here, division of labor rears its ugly head. Just who will
do this sort of work? An outside PR agency team? Folks
assigned to your operation? Your own public relations
people? But regardless where they come from, they need
to be committed to you and your PR plan beginning with
key audience perception monitoring.

As with any manager, you need to talk to your public relations
people in order to be certain that those assigned to you are
clear on why it’s vital to know how your most important
outside audiences perceive your operations, products or
services. They must accept the reality that perceptions almost
always lead to behaviors that can help or hurt your operation.

Review with them how you plan to proceed, especially how
you will monitor and gather perceptions by questioning
members of your most important outside audiences. For
instance, how much do you know about our chief executive?
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?

Public relations people follow the money too, so, if the
budget is available, don’t hesitate to use professional survey
firms in the perception monitoring phases of your program.
But keep in mind 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.

Establishing the right kind of PR goal will let you prevail
over the worst distortions you discovered during your key
audience perception monitoring. In fact, the new goal will
probably call for straightening out that dangerous
misconception, or correcting that gross inaccuracy, or
stopping that potentially fatal rumor dead in its tracks.

Selecting the right strategy is truly key. I talk here about a
strategy that tells you how to move forward. Please 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. Since the wrong strategy pick
will taste like peppermint sauce on your spare ribs, be certain
the new strategy fits comfortably with your new public
relations goal. You don’t want to select “change” when the
facts dictate a “reinforce” strategy.

Tough job or not, someone on your PR staff must write a
strong message and aim it at members of your target audience.
Because crafting action-forcing language to persuade an
audience to your way of thinking really is hard work, you
need your first-string varsity writer because s/he must create
some very special, corrective language. Words that are not
only compelling, persuasive and believable, but clear and
factual if they are to correct something and shift perception/
opinion towards your point of view leading to the behaviors
you are targeting.

One of the less complex jobs is selecting the communications
tactics most likely to carry your message to the attention of your
target audience. You can do this after you run the draft by your
PR people for impact and persuasiveness. There are dozens of
tactics available to you. 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.

By the way, since a message’s believability can depend on the
credibility of the means used to deliver it, you may decide to
unveil it before smaller meetings and presentations rather than
using higher-profile news releases.

When the subject of progress reports arises, please take it as a
signal that you and your PR team should begin a second
perception monitoring session with members of your external
audience. Many of the same questions used in the first
benchmark session can be used again. But this time, you will
be watching carefully for signs that the problem perception is
being altered in your direction.

Things can always slow down. If program momentum does slow,
you can always speed up matters by adding more
communications tactics, and increase their frequencies.

But the fact remains that the quickest way PR can help managers
is for the effort to persuade their most important outside
stakeholders to the manager’s way of thinking, then to move
those folks to behave in a way that leads to the success of the
manager’s operation.

end

Bob Kelly counsels, writes and speaks to business, non-profit and
association managers about using the fundamental premise of public
relations to achieve their operating objectives. He has authored 245
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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