Good!

Still, if you’re not getting behavior changes you paid for, you’re wasting your money.

Here’s why I say that. People act on their perception of facts, and those perceptions lead to certain behaviors. But something can be done about those perceptions and behaviors that leads to achieving your organization’s objectives.

Which means you really CAN establish behavior change you want, up front, then insist on getting that result before you pronounce public relations effort a success.

In other words, way to increase your comfort level about your public relations investment, is to make certain that investment produces behavior modification you said you wanted at beginning of program.

That way, you KNOW you’re getting your money’s worth.

Just what, you may ask, does your public relations team have to do to achieve that result?

Here’s one approach.

Because public relations problems are usually defined by what people THINK about a set of facts, as opposed to actual truth of matter, it will be especially helpful if public relations program is built upon premise mentioned above and, for emphasis, again here:

1. People act on their perception of facts; 2. Those perceptions lead to certain behaviors; 3. Something can be done about those perceptions and behaviors that leads to achieving organization’s objectives.

Now, Rank Your External Audiences

Identifying key audiences and prioritizing them – a crucial step in any public relations action plan -- starts with a priority-ranking of those audiences with a clear interest in your organization, often described as “stakeholders” or “publics.” Included would be customers, prospects, employees, media, business community and local thought-leaders as well as any number of other interest groups.

Stay Aware

Those with public relations assignment must stay aware of negative or counterproductive behaviors among organization’s key stakeholders or “publics.”– customers, prospects, media, community activists, union leaders, competitors business community and others.

Interaction of one kind or another with key audiences will tell you how they feel – and how they perceive -- your organization, and in particular areas where problems may be brewing. This is informal polling, but essential to any public relations effort. If resources are available, a limited opinion poll of priority audience would be helpful.

There are many ways to gather such information. For example, regular monitoring of headquarters and field location media, staff activity reports, employee and community feedback, regulatory and other local, state and federal government activities involving your organization. High on any such intelligence list is Internet with its emails, ezines, chatrooms and search engines.

Identify Behavior Modification Problem or Challenge

Now is time to identify behavior modification problem such as declining sales in a specific product line. Or, is it an allegation of wrongdoing? Or a quality or performance issue? Has an elected official spoken negatively about your industry? Have you learned that a national activist group may target a unit of your organization? Or, is there clear evidence of negative behavior among a key audience?

Similarly, a behavior modification challenge might include creating positive, first time impressions of a new soft drink during a new market introduction. Or reinforcing reputation of a category leader whose sales have begun to slip.

Verify Accuracy and Severity of Problem

Is it true and how bad is it? Determine through field staff, key customers, media monitoring and, if budget is there, opinion sampling, just how serious problem is. If an allegation, is it true or false? If a drop-off in sales, gather and carefully evaluate likely reasons. If a quality issue, probe deeply for its real cause. After an exhaustive review of all evidence surrounding behavioral problem, establish conclusively its size and shape. Does it threaten employee or public safety, financial stability, reputation, organization’s mission, or sales? The answers to these questions help determine resources to be assembled.

The Public Relations Goal

Simply stated: goal is to begin process of altering public perception and, thus, behaviors, to a view consistent with that held by your organization.

The Public Relations Strategy