The public relations bar, should such a proficiency measure ever come about, may well include a test of PR's fundamental premise: people act on their own perception of the 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 the very people whose behaviors affect the organization the most, the public relations mission is usually accomplished.

And the premise should be tested because it's of suchutility to many business, non-profit and associationmanagers in achieving their managerial objectives.They use the right public relations to alter individualperception leading to changed behaviors among theirkey outside audiences.

In other words, they do something positive about thebehaviors of those important external audiences, thenpersuade those key outsiders to their way of thinking,then move them to take actions that allow theirdepartment, group, division or subsidiary succeed.

What that approach does is let those managers avoidover concentration on tactics such as fun-to-managespecial events, press releases and brochures. Instead,they focus resources on the very external folks whomay hold their professional success as a manager intheir hands.

A variety of results can occur -- membership applicationson the rise; customers starting to make repeat purchases;fresh proposals for strategic alliances and joint ventures;community leaders beginning to seek you out; welcomebounces in show room visits; prospects starting to dobusiness with you; higher employee retention rates,capital givers or specifying sources beginning to lookyour way, and even politicians and legislators starting toview you as a key member of the business, non-profit orassociation communities.

Can you say your PR team really gets it? Will theyunderstand the blueprint outlined above and will they showcommitment to its implementation, starting with keyaudience perception monitoring? As luck would have it,your PR people are already in the perception and behaviorbusiness, so they should be of real use for this initialopinion monitoring project. Be certain that your publicrelations people really accept why it's SO important toknow how your most important outside audiences perceiveyour operations, products or services. Make sure theybelieve that perceptions almost always result in behaviorsthat can help or hurt your operation.

Sit down with them and review your public relations plan.Talk it over with them, especially your game plan formonitoring and gathering perceptions by questioningmembers of your most important outside audiences.Questions along these lines: how much do you knowabout our organization? Have you had prior contact withus and were you pleased with the interchange? Are youfamiliar with our services or products and employees?Have you experienced problems with our people orprocedures?

You may feel its best to use professional survey firmsto do the opinion monitoring work, but that can run intoreal money. So you may wish to use those PR folksof yours in that capacity since they're already in theperception and persuasion business. But, whether it'syour people or a survey firm asking the questions, theobjective remains the same: identify untruths, falseassumptions, unfounded rumors, inaccuracies,misconceptions and any other negative perception thatmight translate into hurtful behaviors.

Since you need a PR goal that does something about the most serious distortions you discover during your keyaudience perception monitoring, you must now answerthese questions. Is the purpose of this drill to straightenout that dangerous misconception? Correct that grossinaccuracy? Stop that potentially painful rumor cold?Or something else?

With your PR goal in hand, you now must pursue the rightstrategy to tell you how to proceed, or you won't reach thatgoal at all. But keep in mind that there are just three strategicoptions available when it comes to doing something aboutperception and opinion. Change existing perception, createperception where there may be none, or reinforce it. Thewrong strategy pick will taste like beef bouillion on yourCanoli, so be sure your new strategy fits well with your newpublic relations goal. You wouldn't want to select "change"when the facts dictate a strategy of reinforcement.

Next product on the assembly line is a well-craftedmessage to be sent to members of your target audience. It'sdifficult to create an actionable message that will helppersuade any audience to your way of thinking. What youwant now is your strongest writers because s/he must buildsome very special, corrective language. Words that are notmerely compelling, persuasive and believable, but clear andfactual if they are to shift perception/opinion towards yourpoint of view and lead to the behaviors you have in mind.

Moving right along with the PR problem solving sequence, we find those communications tactics most likely to carryyour message to the attention of your target audience. Thereare scores that are available. From speeches, facility tours,emails and brochures to consumer briefings, media interviews,newsletters, personal meetings and many others. But youmust be certain that the tactics you pick are known to reachfolks like your audience members.

Should you wish to avoid too loud a voice with this kind of"corrective" message, you might unveil it during smallermeetings and presentations rather than using higher-profilenews releases, as the credibility of any message is fragile andalways at stake.

Around this time, someone will mention "progress reports,"which will be your signal to begin a second perception monitoringsession with members of your external audience. You'll wantto use many of the same questions used in the first benchmarksession. But now, you will be on red alert for signs that thebad news perception is being altered in your direction.

Should you notice a slackening pace, your program can beaccelerated simply by adding more communications tacticsas well as increasing their frequencies.

Passing the PR bar - should it ever become necessary ?will suggest that the people you deal with behave likeeveryone else - they act upon their perceptions of the factsthey hear about you and your operation. Which, in turn, willsuggest that you are constantly planning to do somethingpositive about the behaviors of those key external audiencesof yours, thus helping you achieve your managerial objectives.

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.

Robert A. Kelly © 2005

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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