Managers: A Key to Your Survival

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Robert A. Kelly © 2004.

Managers: A Key to Your Survival

Most business, non-profit and association managers live
to tell about it only IF they achieve their operating
objectives. Very little wriggle room there.

But among such managers are those who fail to do
anything about the behaviors of those outside audiences
that most affect their business, non-profit or association.

On top of that omission, they risk their careers by
choosing to pursue their operating objectives without
using the fundamental premise of public relations. Thus,
they fail to produce external stakeholder behavior change
leading directly to achieving those very same managerial
objectives.

Then, despite the wonder of it all, they end up failing to
persuade those important outside folks to their way of
thinking and, finally, fail to move them to take actions
that help their department, division or subsidiary succeed.

Wow! Why would any clear thinking manager operate
that way? I don’t know why. What I DO know is that
they can start turning things around in a New York
minute!

Best advice? Start with that fundamental premise of
public relations mentioned above, because it’s the action
blueprint you need to reach your objectives. 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 accomplished.

There’s no end to the number and variety of results this
process can achieve -- politicians and legislators starting
to view you as a key member of the business, non-profit
or association communities; prospects starting to do
business with you; community leaders beginning to seek
you out; fresh proposals for strategic alliances and joint
ventures; growing numbers of membership applications;
customers starting to make repeat purchases; a welcome
jump in sales floor visits; and even capital givers or
specifying sources beginning to look your way.

Enlist the PR folks assigned to your unit and spend some
time with them nailing down those outside audiences
whose behaviors help or hurt you in achieving your
objectives. Then list them according to how severely
they impact your operation. For starters, select the
audience in first place on your list.

I would guess that you have very little current input as to how
most members of that key outside audience perceive your
organization. Of course, these data would be available to you
if you had been regularly sampling those perceptions.

If the budget isn’t there to defray the cost of professional
survey work, your PR team will have to monitor those
perceptions by interacting with members of that outside
audience. Ask questions like “Have you ever had contact
with anyone from our organization?” And, “Was it a
satisfactory experience?” And, “Are you familiar with our
services or products?”

Your team must watch closely for negative statements,
especially evasive or hesitant replies. Stay alert for false
assumptions, untruths, misconceptions, inaccuracies and
potentially hurtful rumors. When you find such damaging
perceptions, they will need to be corrected, because
experience shows they usually lead to negative behaviors.

The trick is to do something about such negativity before
it morphs into injurious behavior. Which means you now
pick the specific perception to be altered. Not surprisingly,
that becomes your public relations goal.

Now, the reality is that a PR goal without a strategy to show
you how to get there is like a meatball without a cheesy
center. That’s why you must select one of three strategies
especially designed to create perception or opinion where
there may be none, or change existing perception, or
reinforce it. The challenge here is to insure that the goal
and its strategy match each other. You wouldn’t want to
select “change existing perception” when current
perception is just right, suggesting a “reinforce” strategy.

Good writing required here. Somebody has to prepare a
really compelling message carefully designed to alter
your key target audience’s perception, as required by your
public relations goal.

Be careful here. Combine your corrective message with
another newsworthy announcement of a new product,
service or employee, which may lend credibility by not
giving too much emphasis to the correction.

As you might suspect, the message also must have several
values. For example, clarity. Also, your facts must be truthful
and your position on the inaccuracy must be persuasive,
logically explained and believable if it is to hold the attention
of members of that target audience, and actually move
perception your way.

Now things get more relaxing. Namely, choosing the
actual tactics you will use to carry your persuasive new
thoughts to the attention of that external audience.

And there is no shortage of such tactics. For instance,
radio and newspaper interviews, personal contacts,
newsletters, letters-to-the-editor, brochures, press releases
and speeches. Or, you might settle on group briefings, special
events or facility tours, always making sure those tactics you
select have a record of reaching the same audiences as those
that make up your target stakeholders.

Sorry, but you will be queried about progress and will have to
once again monitor perceptions among your target audience
members. And with a line of questioning similar to that used
during your earlier monitoring session. The difference now
is that you must stay on the lookout for indications that
audience perceptions are beginning to move in your direction.

But this is our lucky day. We can always expedite matters and
speed up the process by employing additional communications
tactics, AND by increasing their frequencies.

My experience has been that business, non-profit and
association managers survive very nicely, thank you, when
they sharpen their focus on the very groups of outside people
who play a major role in just how successful a manager
they will be – their key external stakeholders.

end

Bob Kelly counsels, writes and speaks to business, non-profit and
association managers about using the fundamental premise of public
relations 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 press
secretary, The White House. He holds a bachelor of science degree
from Columbia University, major in public relations.
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