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When Does PR Help Managers Manage

Written by: Bob Kelly

Article Overview: This approach to public relations delivers the best PR has to offer, public relations designed to do something meaningful about the behaviors of those important outside audiences that most affect the unit you manage.

When Does PR Help Managers Manage

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When Does PR Help Managers Manage?

The quick answer is, PR helps managers manage when it
(1) moves business, non-profit, government agency and
association managers away from a preoccupation with
simple tactics like press releases, special events, broadcast
plugs and brochures. Then (2), moves them on to PR that
creates the kind of external stakeholder behavior change
that leads directly to achieving their managerial objectives.

But it does beget a question: how do those managers
shakeoff that tactical orientation?

A good first step might be to digest public relation’s
underlying premise: 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 sticks out there, is the reality that good public
relations planning really CAN alter individual perception
and result in changed behaviors among key outside audiences.

Obviously, that helps managers manage. Especially if you,
as that manager, decide once and for all that you want the best
public relations has to offer. Which is why you may be
interested in hearing more about a high-impact action plan
designed to do something meaningful about the behaviors
of those important outside audiences that MOST affect the
departmental, divisional or subsidiary unit you manage.

What you are doing here, is creating the kind of external
stakeholder behavior change that leads directly to achieving
those managerial objectives of yours; in this case by
persuading those key outside folks to your way of thinking
by helping move audience members to take actions that help
your unit succeed.

Thus, the good news implicit in PR’s underlying premise
is the reality that good public relations planning really
CAN alter individual perception and result in changed
behaviors among key outside audiences.

Consider PR’s underlying premise for a moment: 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.

Happily, the results you want, public relations can deliver:
for example, community leaders begin to seek you out;
customers begin to make repeat purchases; new prospects
actually start to do business with you; politicians and
legislators begin looking at you as a key member of the
business, non-profit or association communities; capital
givers or specifying sources begin to look your way;
welcome bounces in show room visits occur; new
proposals for strategic alliances and joint ventures start
showing up; and membership applications start to rise.

It’s especially important to analyze, along with your PR
people, your plans for monitoring and gathering
perceptions by questioning members of your most
important outside audiences. Suggest interview 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? Are you familiar with our services or
products and employees? Have you experienced problems
with our people or procedures?

Because your PR staff already operates in the world of
perception and behavior, you are ahead in the opinion
monitoring game. While looking first to them to manage
your data gathering activity, be certain that they really
accept why it’s SO important to know how your most
important outside audiences perceive your operations,
products or services. In a word or two, be sure they believe
that perceptions almost always result in behaviors that can
help or hurt your operation.

By the way, it can be very costly asking professional survey
firms to do the opinion gathering work, when compared to
using those PR folks of yours in that monitoring capacity.
But 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.

Because you need to take action on the most serious
problem areas you uncovered during your key audience
perception monitoring, you must set a clearcut and realistic
PR goal. It may be that you’ll decide to straighten out that
dangerous misconception, bring to an end that potentially
hurtful rumor, or correct that disastrous inaccuracy.

Of course, establishing the right action-oriented strategy
will tell you how to reach that goal. But be aware that you
have just three options available to you when it comes to
doing something about perception and opinion: change
existing perception, create perception where there may be
none, or reinforce it. Needless to say, the wrong strategy
pick will taste like butterscotch sauce on your pig’s feet.
So be sure your new strategy fits well with your new
public relations goal. Obviously, you don’t want to select
“change” when the facts dictate a strategy of reinforcement.

A persuasive message stands at the core of your new PR
thrust, and will be tasked with helping move your key
audience to your way of thinking. So ask the best writer
on your team to prepare a carefully-written message
targeted directly at your key external audience. The
writer must produce some really corrective language
that is 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.

Communications tactics will carry the ball, and your
message to the attention of your target audience. Many
are available ranging from speeches, facility tours,
emails and brochures to consumer briefings, media
interviews, newsletters, personal meetings and many
others. But be certain that the tactics you pick are
known to reach folks just like your audience members.

In the interest of not getting too far out front too early,
you may want to initially unveil your corrective message
before smaller meetings rather than using higher profile
news releases. And that’s because a message’s credibility
is always fragile and often suspect depending on the
method by which it is delivered.

As your program proceeds and succeeds, you’ll be
demonstrating, in the form of periodic progress reports,
how the monies spent on public relations can pay off.
But it’s also an alert to start a second perception
monitoring session with members of your external
audience. Here, you’ll use many of the same questions
used in the benchmark interviews. Only difference now
is, you will be on strict alert for signs that the bad news
perception is being altered in your direction.

Any program can suffer a slowdown for a variety of
reasons. Just keep in mind that adding more
communications tactics, and/or increasing their frequencies,
should adequately address that problem.

Clearly, this approach to public relations does deliver the
best PR has to offer, PR designed to do something
meaningful about the behaviors of those important outside
audiences that MOST affect the unit you manage.

end

Bob Kelly counsels and writes for business, non-profit and
association managers about using the fundamental premise of public
relations to achieve their operating objectives. He has published over
230 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:www.PRCommentary.com

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