Now, you must select one of three choices available to you when you determine public relations strategy. In this example, you chose to CHANGE existing opinion rather than CREATE opinion where none exists, or REINFORCE an existing opinion, both of which not applicable to this case.

With your perception and behavior modification goals, and now strategy, established, progress will be measured in terms of altered behaviors – namely, a satisfactory reduction in employee departures, an equally satisfactory increase in company’s overall employee retention rate as well as reassured suppliers and communities-at-large. Such progress markers can be set down, and agreed upon, once negative perceptions are truly understood, thus establishing degree of behavioral change that realistically can be expected.

Who do we Talk to?

Identifying key audiences and prioritizing them – a crucial step in any public relations action planning – were identified early on in this example as employees, suppliers and community-at-large and its leaders, in that priority order.

What do we Say?

Well, we prepare persuasive messages designed to disarm rumor of a ”large customer loss.” Bringing important target audiences around to one’s way of thinking depends heavily on quality of message prepared for each of them.

The messages must disarm rumor with clear evidence such as a forthright pronouncement by chief executive officer, and even a town meeting, should discord reach high levels. It might be necessary to seek a credible third-party, public endorsement such as reassurance by “large customer” himself, or herself, that “we have no intention of switching suppliers as long as company continues to provide same superior quality, service and pricing it now does.” Regular assessments of how opinion is currently running among employees, suppliers and community leaders should be performed. Finally, action-producing incentives for individuals to feel reassured should be identified and built into each message.

Those incentives might include very strength of “large customer’s” forthright position on issue, possible plans for expansion that hold promise of more jobs and taxes, or even sponsorship of new employee sporting events coverage on local cable channels.

It’s Tactics Time

Now, you select most effective communications tactics available to you, and commence action.

How will your three target audiences – especially in various locations -- actually be reached? Choices include face-to-face meetings, email, hand-placed feature articles and broadcast appearances, special employee, supplier or community briefings, news releases, announcement luncheons, onsite media interviews, facility tours, promotional contests, brochures and a host of other carefully targeted communications tactics.

Special events are especially effective in reaching such audiences with message. They are newsworthy by definition and, if sufficient locations are involved, include activities such as financial roadshows, awards ceremonies, trade conventions, celebrity appearances and open houses.

A Communications Bullseye

Your public relations effort effort can be accelerated, even amplified by carefully selecting most efficient tactics among print or broadcast media, key podium presentations, special events or top-level personal contacts because, when these tools communicate with each target audience, they must score direct bullseyes.

Especially important to success of any action program is selection and perceived credibility of actual spokespeople who deliver messages. They must speak with authority and conviction if they are to be believed, and if meaningful media coverage is to be achieved.

How are we Doing?

Obviously, you’ll want to monitor progress, seeking signs of improvement in not only employee hiring and retention levels, but in overall employee morale levels as well as those of company’s suppliers and communities-at-large.

You should speak regularly with members of each target audience, monitor print and broadcast media for clear evidence of company’s messages or viewpoints, and conduct a variety of ongoing interactions with key customers, prospects and plant location influentials.

Indicators that messages are moving employee, supplier and community opinion in your organization’s direction will start appearing. Indicators like comments in community meetings, local newspaper editorials, e-mails from suppliers as well as public references by political figures and local celebrities. The End Game

By this time, your action program should begin to gain and hold kind of employee, supplier and community understanding that leads to desired shifts in behavior – namely, unsettling rumor has been disarmed and operations return to a normal pace.

You know you’ve arrived at public relations end game when changes in behaviors become truly apparent through increased pace of positive media reports, encouraging supplier and thought-leader comment, and increasingly upbeat employee and community chatter.

When you clearly meet original behavior modification goal set when it all began, public relations program can be deemed a success. Executed correctly – compared to doing little or nothing about rumor -- we’re talking about nothing less than organization’s ongoing health and, possibly, its survival.

In end, a sound strategy combined with effective tactics leads directly to bottom line – altered perceptions, modified behaviors, and a public relations homerun.

end

Bob Kelly, public relations consultant, was director of public relations for Pepsi-Cola Co.; AGM-Public Relations, Texaco Inc.; VP-Public Relations, Olin Corp.; VP-Public Relations, Newport News Shipbuilding & Drydock Co.; director of communications, U.S. Department of the Interior, and deputy assistant press secretary, The White House. mailto:bobkelly@TNI.net

0 If legislators are unaware of your opinions or don’t believe you, unwanted regulations result.

0 And, when you grow big enough to become a public company, if security analysts believe you can’t manage your company, they won’t recommend your company to investors.

Obviously, small businesses have limited resources to apply despite potentially damaging and unattended perceptions held by those audiences most important to success of their businesses.

Still, there are certain cost-effective activities you can undertake to reach them. And considering survival nature of this topic, while some expense is involved, you may wish to research nearby public relations professionals willing to partner with you during early days of your enterprize.

Together, you may move in this direction:

First, rank your external audiences as to importance. For example, #1 customers; #2 prospects; #3 employees; #4 local and trade media; #5 your local business community; #6 community leaders, and so forth.

Second, as time permits, interact with members of each audience and jot down their impressions of your business, especially problem areas.

Third, prepare tailored messages that not only provide details about your product and service quality and diversity, but addresses problems that surfaced during your conversations.

Fourth, consider most effective means for communicating each message to each audience. This may include simple meetings, briefings, news releases, news announcement luncheons, media interviews, facility tours, special promotional events, a brochure, and a variety of other communications tactics.

How will you know that your efforts are changing perceptions for better? Over time, you should notice increased awareness of your business, especially how it’s doing in marketplace; increased receptiveness to your messages by customers; a growing public perception of role your business plays in its industry and in community; and, of course, growing numbers of prospects.

Such results are tracked by speaking on a regular basis with people among each of your key audiences, by monitoring print and broadcast media for mentions of your messages or viewpoints, and by interaction with key customers and prospects.

Remember what is at stake – nothing less than survival of your business!

So, keep an eye on what’s most important, and remember that people in your community or marketing area behave like everyone else – they take actions based on their perception of facts they hear about you and your business.

And that means you must deal promptly and effectively with those perceptions by doing what is necessary to reach them and to persuade them to your way of thinking, thus moving them to take actions that lead to success of your business.

end

Bob Kelly, public relations consultant, was director of public relations for Pepsi-Cola Co.; AGM-Public Relations, Texaco Inc.; VP-Public Relations, Olin Corp.; VP-Public Relations, Newport News Shipbuilding & Drydock Co.; director of communications, U.S. Department of the Interior, and deputy assistant press secretary, The White House. mailto:bobkelly@TNI.net