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The perception monitoring phases of your program obviously can be handled by professional survey people, IF
budget is available. But keep in mind that your PR people are also in perception and behavior business and can pursue same objective: identify untruths, false assumptions, unfounded rumors, inaccuracies, misconceptions and any other negative perception that might translate into hurtful behaviors.
Clearly, you will need a well-defined goal, one that responds to aberrations that appeared during your key audience perception monitoring. As a flexible goal, it could call for straightening out that dangerous misconception, or correcting that gross inaccuracy, or doing something about that damaging rumor.
Inevitably, a goal needs a strategy to show you how to get there. And here, you have three strategic choices for handling a perception or opinion challenge: create perception where there may be none, change perception, or reinforce it. Unfortunately, a bad strategy pick will taste like fudge sauce on your spareribs, so be sure new strategy fits well with your new public relations goal. For instance, you don’t want to select “change” when facts dictate a “reinforce” strategy.
Changing people’s minds to your way of thinking is a tough assignment, so your PR team must set down needed corrective language. Words that are compelling, persuasive and believable AND clear and factual. You must do this if you are to correct a perception by shifting opinion towards your point of view, leading to desired behaviors.
Sit down again with your communications specialists and review your message for impact and persuasiveness. Then, select communications tactics most likely to carry your words to attention of your target audience. You can pick from dozens that are available. From speeches, facility tours, emails and brochures to consumer briefings, media interviews, newsletters, personal meetings and many others. But be sure that tactics you pick are known to reach folks just like your audience members.
Because credibility of a message can occasionally depend on its delivery method, you might introduce it to smaller gatherings rather than using higher-profile tactics such as news releases or talk show appearances. One good thing about doing progress reports for clients or bosses is that they sound alert for you and your PR folks to return to field for a second perception monitoring session with members of your external audience. Using many of same questions used in first benchmark session, you must now stay alert for signs that bad news perception is being altered in your direction.
If impatience shows up, you can always accelerate things with more communications tactics and increased frequencies.
It should be an irresistable premise for any manager! Do something positive about behaviors of those outside audiences that MOST affect your organization. And do so by persuading those important external folks to your way of thinking, then move them to take actions that help your department, division or subsidiary succeed.
Wow!
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Bob Kelly counsels managers about using the fundamental premise of public relations to achieve their operating objectives. He has been DPR, Pepsi-Cola Co.; AGM-PR, Texaco Inc.; VP-PR, Olin Corp.; VP-PR, Newport News Shipbuilding & Drydock Co.; director of communi- cations, U.S. Department of the Interior, and deputy assistant press secretary, The White House. mailto:bobkelly@TNI.net Visit:http://www.prcommentary.com
