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 960 including guidelines and resource box. Robert A. Kelly © 2004. Want This Kind of PR?
PR that really does something positive about
behaviors of those outside audiences that most affect your business, non-profit or association?
PR that uses its fundamental premise to deliver external stakeholder behavior change – kind that leads directly to achieving your managerial objectives?
PR that persuades those important outside folks to your way of thinking, then moves them to take actions that help your department, division or subsidiary succeed?
Get organized and you could be looking at results like these: prospects starting to do business with you; membership applications on rise; customers starting to make repeat purchases; fresh proposals for strategic alliances and joint ventures; community leaders beginning to seek you out; welcome bounces in show room visits; higher employee retention rates, capital givers or specifying sources beginning to look your way, and even politicians and legislators starting to view you as a key member of business, non-profit or association communities.
And fundamental premise of public relations will show you way: 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.
As a manager, if you’re serious about making your public relations dollars earn their keep, you had better take time to actually list those outside audiences of yours who behave in ways that help or hinder you in achieving your objectives. Then prioritize them by impact severity. Now, let’s work on target audience in first place on that list.
I’ll wager that you don’t have access to data that tells you how most members of that key outside audience perceive your organization. You would, however, have these data if you had been regularly sampling those perceptions.
But without a hefty budget to hire professional survey people, you and your colleagues will have to monitor those perceptions yourselves. Interact with members of that outside audience by asking questions like “Have you ever had contact with anyone from our organization? Was it a satisfactory experience? Are you familiar with our services or products?” Stay alert to negative statements, especially evasive or hesitant replies. Watch carefully for false assumptions, untruths, misconceptions, inaccuracies and potentially damaging rumors. Any of which will need to be corrected, because experience shows they usually lead to negative behaviors.
