When Does PR Help Managers Manage?
by Bob Kelly
Published on this site: March 6th, 2006 - See
more articles from this month
The quick answer is, PR helps managers manage when it
- 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
- 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.
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:[email protected]
Visit:www.PRCommentary.com
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