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A Managerial PR System You Will Love

by Robert A Kelly

Inevitably, a managerial PR system will help you create the kind of external stakeholder behavior change that leads directly to achieving your managerial objectives.

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Robert A. Kelly © 2006.

A Managerial PR System You Will Love

It's a happy day indeed when business, non-profit, government
agency or association managers end their preoccupation with
(and reliance upon) the simple mechanics of press releases,
broadcast plugs and special events. What they've decided is,
they no longer wish to be denied the best public relations has
to offer, preferring instead the quality public relations results
they believe they deserve.

Thus they begin construction of a workable managerial
PR system by putting in place 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 units they
manage.

Inevitably, the new plan helps create the kind of external
stakeholder behavior change that leads directly to
achieving their managerial objectives; in this case by
persuading those key outside folks to the manager's way
of thinking by helping move audience members to take
actions that help the manager's unit succeed.

It rapidly becomes apparent to these managers that 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.

But what about PR's underlying premise? As a manager,
see if you can live with it. 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.

With such an approach to public relations, an awful lot of
warm and fuzzy end-products can appear: 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; community leaders begin to seek you out; new
proposals for strategic alliances and joint ventures start
showing up; and membership applications start to rise.

Of course, whether the PR people assigned to your unit come
from an agency, parent company or are direct hires, they are
already in the perception and behavior business. So look
first to them to manage your data gathering activity. But
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.

Also spend some quality time with your PR people analyzing
your plans for monitoring and gathering perceptions by
questioning members of your most important outside
audiences. Suggest queries along these lines: 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?

Be aware that using a professional survey firm to do the
opinion gathering work, can be an expensive alternative 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.

This is when the establishment of a clearcut and
realistic PR goal is necessary, one that calls for action
on the most serious problem areas you uncovered
during your key audience perception monitoring.
You may decide to straighten out that dangerous
misconception, bring to an end that potentially painful
rumor, or correct that awful inaccuracy.

Part and parcel of your public relations goal is the
right, action-oriented strategy that shows how to get to
where you're going. Actually, you have just three
strategic 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 mushroom
gravy on your sardines. So be sure your new strategy
fits well with your new public relations goal. You
certainly don't want to select "change" when the
facts dictate a strategy of reinforcement.

Because you're going to have to prepare a persuasive
message that will help move your key audience to
your way of thinking, ask the best writer on your team
to get ready 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.

Carefully selected communications tactics will carry
your message to the attention of your target audience,
and there are many such tactics available. 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.

Another reason to stay alert to the means you use to
communicate a message is that its credibility is fragile
and always suspect. Thus, you may wish initially to
unveil your corrective message before smaller meetings
rather than using higher profile news releases.

Demonstrating how far you've come compared to the
starting point will highlight progress made. First,
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.

It's also possible that momentum could flag suggesting
that adding more communications tactics, and/or
increasing their frequencies, will adequately address
that problem.

In brief, this is a management public relations system
with a remarkable prognosis: as a manager, it will move
you beyond preoccupation with communications tactics,
freeing you to use the right PR system to alter the
perceptions of your most important outside audiences,
leading directly to achieving your managerial objectives.

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
200 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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