Yes, There is a PR Sweet Spot

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And here it is: public relations alters individual perceptionleading to changed behaviors among the key outsideaudiences of a business, non-profit or association manager.It happens when the manager applies positive actionsaffecting the behaviors of those important externalaudiences that most affect his or her operation.

That's the sweet ice cream. The whipped cream comes asthat manager persuades those key outside folks to his orher way of thinking. The cherry-on-top arrives whens/he moves those people to take actions that let his/herdepartment, group, division or subsidiary succeed.

A darn nice sweet spot, in this case described as an icecream sundae. But one that has a real basis for suchaction: people act on their own perception of the factsbefore them, which leads to predictable behaviors aboutwhich something can be done. When we create, changeor reinforce that opinion by reaching, persuading andmoving-to-desired-action the very people whosebehaviors affect the organization the most, the publicrelations mission is usually accomplished.

Imagine some of the possible results: fresh proposals forstrategic alliances and joint ventures; customers makingrepeat purchases; new approaches by capital givers andspecifying sources; community leaders beginning to seekyou out; prospects starting to do business with you;welcome bounces in show room visits; rising membershipapplications; not to mention politicians and legislatorsviewing you as a key member of the business, non-profitor association communities.

Getting your public relations people on board this particularapproach to PR will be your first concern. Are they on boardwhen it comes to knowing why it's so important to be certainhow your outside audiences perceive your operations,products or services? And be sure they accept the reality thatnegative perceptions almost always lead to behaviors thatcan damage your organization.

Tell them how you plan to monitor and gather perceptions byquestioning members of your most important outsideaudiences. Questions like these: how much do you knowabout our organization? Have you had prior contact with usand were you pleased with the interchange? How much doyou know about our services or products and employees?Have you experienced problems with our people or procedures?

Managers usually perk up when they realize that their PRpeople are already in the perception and behavior businessand can be of real use for the initial opinion monitoringproject. Professional survey firms are always available, ofcourse, but that can cost many dollars. But, whether it'syour people or a survey firm who handles the questioning,the objective remains the same: identify untruths, falseassumptions, unfounded rumors, inaccuracies,misconceptions or any other troublemaker perceptions.

Now, you identify which of the problems outlined abovewill become your corrective public relations goal. In otherwords, clarify the misconception, spike that rumor, correctthe false assumption or fix a variety of other possibleinaccuracies.

Now, you can meet that goal only when you establishthe right strategy from the three choices available to you.Change existing perception, create perception wherethere may be none, or reinforce it. Picking the wrongstrategy will taste like peanut butter in your cucumbersalad. So please be certain the new strategy fitscomfortably with your new public relations goal. Youwouldn't want to select "change" when the facts dictatea "reinforce" strategy.

Tough job ahead! Put together a persuasive messageaimed at members of your target audience. Yes, it'salways a challenge to put together action-forcinglanguage that will help persuade any audience to yourway of thinking.

You had best have your best writer on the assignment ass/he must produce that very special, corrective language.And s/he will need words that are not only compelling,persuasive and believable, but clear and factual if theyare to shift perception/opinion towards your point of viewand lead to the behaviors you desire.

The next chore could even be fun. For example, identifythe communications tactics you need to carry yourmessage to the attention of your target audience. As longas you are certain the tactics you select have a record ofreaching folks like your audience members, you canpick from dozens that are available. From speeches,facility tours, emails and brochures to consumer briefings,media interviews, newsletters, personal meetings andmany others.

Often overlooked is the fact that the credibility of themessage can be dependent on the credibility of its deliverymethod. Which means you may wish to deliver it in smallgetogether-like meetings and presentations rather thanthrough a higher-profile media announcement.

An off-handed request for a progress report should beviewed as an alert that you and your PR team need tothink about a second perception monitoring session withmembers of your external audience. You'll want to usemany of the same questions used in the first benchmarksession. But now, you will be watching very carefully forsigns that the bad news perception is being altered in yourdirection.

Should program momentum slow, think of it as a blessingbecause you now have the opportunity to add morecommunications tactics as well as increasing theirfrequencies.

Please remember that PR's sweet spot appears when themanager applies positive actions affecting the behaviors ofthose important external audiences that most affect his orher operation.

Now, stop doing public relations the hard way and embracethat sweet spot today!

Please feel free to publish this article and resource boxin your ezine, newsletter, offline publication or website.A copy would be appreciated at bobkelly@TNI.net.

Bob Kelly counsels, writes and speaks to business, non-profit andassociation managers about using the fundamental premise of publicrelations 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 presssecretary, The White House. He holds a bachelor of science degreefrom Columbia University, major in public relations.mailto:bobkelly@TNI.net

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Yes, There is a PR Sweet Spot