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Hub You - Managers: PR More Than Tix and Plugs?
Today I would like to explore some reasons why a prospective customer may not buy from you. Aside from the normal window shopper, or browser that is just bored and is just looking for the lack of something better to do at the moment. Of course we are looking at these as reasons that apply to your on-line business, however I am sure you will see how they could also apply to an off-line store/business as well. So let’s take a look.1. You are not establishing a feeling of safety when your customer wants to place an order. Keep in mind that this is the internet and you will need to have reminders in the form of seals from known on-line security systems that will put your customers at ease. Always, let me repeat that, ALWAYS have the statement posted that you will keep all their information confidential and that you would never sell, rent, or share their e-mail address with anyone.2. Your ad copy d
Then you must carefully select which of the above becomes your top priority, yet corrective public relations goal – is it the need to clarify that misconception, or spike that rumor or correct the false assumption or inaccuracy?
It never ceases to amaze me. Almost everyone peers into the future through a rear-view mirror. The future is imagined as a continuation of the past. I suppose there is a certain security in that; much like a padded cell. Hardly anyone practices creative envisioneering.To be an envisioneer, you must: first have the courage to look into the future with the recognition that there is nothing there yet, except that which you imagine; and then, the force of will to imagine a personal ideal; and then, the impertinence to believe in that imagined ideal as being more real than all that has come before or exists in this present moment. In short, you must be an idealist.Each of us is educated to be a realist, to deal with things as they are, to see the world as it is and to 'realistically' go about making our way within what already exists, to be a creature of event and circumstance. Those who decide to
To succeed, your public relations effort needs to do something really positive about the behaviors of those outside audiences that most affect your operation.
It needs to deliver external stakeholder behavior change – the kind that leads directly to achieving your managerial objectives.
And it needs to do so by persuading those important outside folks to your way of thinking, then move them to take actions that help your department, division or subsidiary succeed.
All three, hopefully long before anybody worries about theater tickets or radio plugs!
But how do you get to the point where all three of those dynamics actually contribute to your success as a manager?
I believe the fundamental premise of public relations is a good place to start, herewith: 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.
Get organized around that premise and you could get behavior changes like more membership applications; customers making repeat purchases; new proposals for strategic alliances and joint ventures; community leaders beginning to seek you out; welcome bounces in show room visits; prospects starting to sniff around; capital givers or specifying sources beginning to think about you, and even politicians and lawmakers who view you as a key member of the business, non-profit or association communities.
May sound painfully obvious, but you need the entire PR team assigned to your unit on board for this ride. They need to accept that fundamental premise of public relations.
A not so obvious first step? Make certain the whole team agrees – really agrees -- why it’s so important to know how your outside audiences perceive your operations, products or services. Be deep-down-sure they accept the reality that perceptions almost always lead to destructive behaviors that can damage your unit.
Carefully go over just how you plan to monitor and gather perceptions by questioning members of your most important outside audiences. Questions like these: how much do you know about our organization? Have you had prior contact with us and were you pleased with the interchange? How much do you know about our services or products and employees? Have you experienced problems with our people or procedures?
Your PR people can be of real use for this opinion monitoring project since they already labor in the perception and behavior vineyard. Yes, you can always bring in a professional survey firm, but that can be hard on the wallet. Whether it’s your people or a survey firm who asks the questions, the objective stands: identify untruths, false assumptions, unfounded rumors, inaccuracies, misconceptions and any other potentially hurtful perception and prepare to deal with it.
Then you must carefully select which of the above becomes your top priority, yet corrective public relations goal – is it the need to clarify that misconception, or spike that rumor or correct the false assumption or inaccuracy?
The ranks of Australia's skilled workers have been boosted by almost 78,000 in the past year in an effort to solve the country's skills shortage.It's the largest intake of skilled migrants since the late 1980s. Australian Immigration Minister Amanda Vanstone said the government had responded to the shortage by bringing record numbers of skilled migrants to the country. The Australian Government has made over 97,500 Skilled Visas available for 2005-06.In recent months over 150,000 jobs have been advertised weekly, and unemployment is at the lowest level in the last 10 years. Australian Government statistics confirm 89% of Skilled Independent Visa holders gain employment within the first six months.A total of 18,700 migrants took advantage of the state-specific and regional migration program, with 7,100 settling in Victoria and almost 5,000 calling South Australia home - an increase of a
I believe the fundamental premise of public relations is a good place to start, herewith: 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.
Get organized around that premise and you could get behavior changes like more membership applications; customers making repeat purchases; new proposals for strategic alliances and joint ventures; community leaders beginning to seek you out; welcome bounces in show room visits; prospects starting to sniff around; capital givers or specifying sources beginning to think about you, and even politicians and lawmakers who view you as a key member of the business, non-profit or association communities.
May sound painfully obvious, but you need the entire PR team assigned to your unit on board for this ride. They need to accept that fundamental premise of public relations.
A not so obvious first step? Make certain the whole team agrees – really agrees -- why it’s so important to know how your outside audiences perceive your operations, products or services. Be deep-down-sure they accept the reality that perceptions almost always lead to destructive behaviors that can damage your unit.
Carefully go over just how you plan to monitor and gather perceptions by questioning members of your most important outside audiences. Questions like these: how much do you know about our organization? Have you had prior contact with us and were you pleased with the interchange? How much do you know about our services or products and employees? Have you experienced problems with our people or procedures?
Your PR people can be of real use for this opinion monitoring project since they already labor in the perception and behavior vineyard. Yes, you can always bring in a professional survey firm, but that can be hard on the wallet. Whether it’s your people or a survey firm who asks the questions, the objective stands: identify untruths, false assumptions, unfounded rumors, inaccuracies, misconceptions and any other potentially hurtful perception and prepare to deal with it.
Then you must carefully select which of the above becomes your top priority, yet corrective public relations goal – is it the need to clarify that misconception, or spike that rumor or correct the false assumption or inaccuracy?
I frequently hear professionals say, “I don’t market my services; I rely on word-of-mouth to get business.” They don’t seem to realize these two statements are contradictory -— if they are getting plenty of referral business, they have marketed their services quite well! The issue is not a decision of whether or not to market your services, but is instead a decision of whether to assume responsibility for it and become more effective at it.Actions you might not realize are marketing decisions:• What you name your business• What information you print on your business card• How you let people know you are available• How your resume or company brochure looks• Who answers the telephone and how• How you dress for encounters with prospective clients• How you respond when someone asks what you do• How you treat not only clients and prospects but alsoures; community leaders beginning to seek you out; welcome bounces in show room visits; prospects starting to sniff around; capital givers or specifying sources beginning to think about you, and even politicians and lawmakers who view you as a key member of the business, non-profit or association communities.
May sound painfully obvious, but you need the entire PR team assigned to your unit on board for this ride. They need to accept that fundamental premise of public relations.
A not so obvious first step? Make certain the whole team agrees – really agrees -- why it’s so important to know how your outside audiences perceive your operations, products or services. Be deep-down-sure they accept the reality that perceptions almost always lead to destructive behaviors that can damage your unit.
Carefully go over just how you plan to monitor and gather perceptions by questioning members of your most important outside audiences. Questions like these: how much do you know about our organization? Have you had prior contact with us and were you pleased with the interchange? How much do you know about our services or products and employees? Have you experienced problems with our people or procedures?
Your PR people can be of real use for this opinion monitoring project since they already labor in the perception and behavior vineyard. Yes, you can always bring in a professional survey firm, but that can be hard on the wallet. Whether it’s your people or a survey firm who asks the questions, the objective stands: identify untruths, false assumptions, unfounded rumors, inaccuracies, misconceptions and any other potentially hurtful perception and prepare to deal with it.
Then you must carefully select which of the above becomes your top priority, yet corrective public relations goal – is it the need to clarify that misconception, or spike that rumor or correct the false assumption or inaccuracy?
In today’s competitive (sometimes cutthroat) marketplace, savvy business owners need to constantly look for ways to get and, more importantly, keep their customers. When used properly postcards offer a great opportunity to do both.1. Mail systematically to a targeted database of prospects. Most people who use postcard mailings as a way to acquire new customers mail to a list once and then stop. It’s far more effective (provided that your postcards have an enticing offer, and provided that you are mailing to a group of “ripe” prospects) to mail regularly to the same group of potential customers.Think about it this way. How many times have you received something in the mail or seen an ad on TV and thought, “that’s a good idea, I need to look into that.” Only to forget about it the next day and never take action. That’s just human nature. And that’s why it’s better to mail systematically a
Carefully go over just how you plan to monitor and gather perceptions by questioning members of your most important outside audiences. Questions like these: how much do you know about our organization? Have you had prior contact with us and were you pleased with the interchange? How much do you know about our services or products and employees? Have you experienced problems with our people or procedures?
Your PR people can be of real use for this opinion monitoring project since they already labor in the perception and behavior vineyard. Yes, you can always bring in a professional survey firm, but that can be hard on the wallet. Whether it’s your people or a survey firm who asks the questions, the objective stands: identify untruths, false assumptions, unfounded rumors, inaccuracies, misconceptions and any other potentially hurtful perception and prepare to deal with it.
Then you must carefully select which of the above becomes your top priority, yet corrective public relations goal – is it the need to clarify that misconception, or spike that rumor or correct the false assumption or inaccuracy?
If you’re looking for a conference or event giveaway that will be useful and effective in getting you the exposure that you need, conference bags and carrier bags for conference and event items might be the perfect answer. Several years ago, I attended a local event. The organizer escapes my mind, and I don’t recall even what the purpose of the event was. I do, however, remember one thing – the colorful and roomy white, red and blue carrier bag that was handed to me as soon as I entered. I remember the name of the bank that supplied it, I remember how useful it was to have it with me, and even though the bag was only heavy duty plastic, I remember using that bag for months after the conference whenever I needed something quick to carry with me. That’s quite a lot of mileage to get out of a printed bag that might have cost all of a few pence to buy.I bring the story up to illustrate a couple of import
Then you must carefully select which of the above becomes your top priority, yet corrective public relations goal – is it the need to clarify that misconception, or spike that rumor or correct the false assumption or inaccuracy? ! Success is just around the corner when you pick the right strategy from the three choices available to you. Change existing perception, create perception where there may be none, or reinforce it. And be certain your new strategy is a good fit with your new public relations goal.
So, just what will you say when you have the opportunity to address your key stakeholder audience? In other words, what will you say to help persuade them to your way of thinking?
Your best writer must be tasked with preparing such a message because you’ll obviously need some very special, corrective language. Not only compelling, persuasive and believable, but clear and factual if the language is to shift perception/opinion towards your point of view and lead to the planned behaviors.
At this point, you select communications tactics to carry your message to the attention of your target audience. But carefully insuring that the tactics you select have a record of reaching folks like your audience members. Fortunately, there are dozens that are available. From speeches, facility tours, emails and brochures to consumer briefings, media interviews, newsletters, personal meetings and many others.
As the credibility of your message is always at stake, you may wish to deliver it in small meetings or presentations rather than through higher-visibility media announcements.
In due course, you’ll f eel pressure for indications of progress. Which translates into another perception monitoring session with members of your key target audien
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