Please feel free to publish this article and resource box in your ezine, newsletter, offline publication or website. A copy would be appreciated at bobkelly@TNI.net. Word count is 1105 including guidelines and resource box. Robert A. Kelly © 2004. Right PR Empowers a Manager
Business, non-profit and association managers are in a stronger position to succeed when they use their public relations resources in a way that alters individual perception leading to changed external stakeholder behavior.
A mouthful, but true.
Here’s
obvious core of this approach: persuade your most important outside audiences with greatest impacts on your organization to your way of thinking. Then move them to take actions that help your department, division or subsidiary prevail.
The right action plan – right blueprint – helps you to achieve that kind of success. And it does so by getting everyone working towards same external audience behaviors. For example: people act on their own perception of 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 very people whose behaviors affect organization most, public relations mission is accomplished.
And look at what might happen. A nice jumpup in show room traffic; local thoughtleaders seeking your opinion on key local issues; newly interested prospects calling you; growing numbers of membership applications; repeat purchase rate increasing; new inquiries about strategic alliances and joint ventures; capital givers or specifying sources making inquiries; and even politicians and legislators viewing you as a leading figure in business, non-profit or association communities.
Caveat: your PR people are already in perception and behavior business, so they should be of real use for your initial opinion monitoring project. But you must be certain your public relations people really believe – deep down -- why it’s SO important to know how your most important outside audiences perceive your operations, products or services. Make sure they accept reality that perceptions almost always lead to behaviors that can help or hurt your unit.
While reviewing your PR plan with them, talk about how you will monitor and gather perceptions by questioning members of your most important outside audiences. Questions like these: how much do you know about our organization? Have you had prior contact with us and were you pleased with interchange? Are you familiar with our services or products and employees? Have you experienced problems with our people or procedures?
While professional survey firms can always be hired to do opinion monitoring work, they also can cost big bucks. So, whether it’s your people or a survey firm asking questions, objective remains same: identify untruths, false assumptions, unfounded rumors, inaccuracies, misconceptions and any other negative perception that might translate into hurtful behaviors.
Clearly, you must do something about most serious distortions you discovered during your key audience perception monitoring. Will it be to straighten out that dangerous misconception? Correct that gross inaccuracy? Or, stop that potentially damaging rumor dead in its tracks?
