LC_CHAPTER 12 : Leadership through effective external relations

This chapter provides guideline to help manage external relations in day-to day encounters and in crisis situations so you will get positive image. In the beginning developing external relations strategy, the books has introduced following steps they include: clarify your purpose and strategic objectives, for being a good company need to have managing the press and media, community involvement, establishing relationship with the financial analysts. Identifying major external stakeholders include many of the following: Media, community, customer, investors, analysts, board, partners, distributors, suppliers or vendors, trade associations, unions, interest groups, retirees, competitors, government agencies, and the public at large. Creating major to reach external audience successfully following criteria honest, clear, consistent, and meaningful. Selecting the right spokesperson, there are three major rules apply: they must be at the right level for the problem, they must project a positive ethos, and they should received media training. Establishing the most effective media or forum, to ensure reaching the identified stakeholders is another critical component of external relations. Determining the best timing, depending on the context, the timing of an external message can be critical. Monitoring the results, two of the most common methods used to obtain feedback from external stakeholders are focus groups and surveys.

With the framework in mind, you can take the following steps to create a strategy for external audiences:
1. Clarify your purpose and strategic objectives.
2. Identify your major audiences or stakeholders.
3. Create, refine, and test your major messages.
4. Select, limit, and coach your spokesperson(s).
5. Establish the most effective media or forum.
6. Determine the best timing.7. Monitor the results.

In building and maintaining a positive corporate image, there are six ways companies can build and maintain a positive corporate image: design campaigns to promote the company as a whole, carry out ambitious programs to champion product quality and customer service, maintain systems to screen employee activities for reputation side effects, demonstrate sensitivity to the environment, hire internal communication staff and retain public relations firms, demonstrate corporate citizenship.

Working with the new media there are three major issues need to follow: understanding the media rule and importance, deciding when to talk to the media, and preparing for and delivering a media interview in here also mention three little things they are preparation, is the key to an affective interview. Performance during the interview, you better very well prepared and be ready for it. Step to take after the interview.

Handing crisis communication, the following guidelines will help company response appropriately in crisis situation. Develop a general crisis communication plan and communicate it, once the crisis occurs, respond quickly; make sure you have the right people ready to respond and that they all respond with the same message, put yourself in the shoes of your audience, do not overlook the value of the web, revisit your crisis communication plan frequently, build in a way to monitor the coverage, perform a post crisis evaluation.

Although establishing positive relationships with external audiences prior to a crisis will help in all but the extreme situations, no amount of goodwill can guarantee the positive coverage that is necessary to avoid permanent damage to a company’s reputation.