A poor org public image can cost an org 9/10ths of its income thus greatly curtailing pay and facilities. It can lead to trouble with the area. It can reduce the expansion of Dianetics and Scientology to near zero.
When important people enter an org and find its premises messy, themselves and their requirements neglected, the org not only loses their fee, it also loses the important friends who would actively protect it.
If an org and its staff displays a downstat image, public confidence in Dianetics and Scientology is shaken.
By showing a good org mock up we are living examples of what Dianetics and Scientology can do.
There are several zones which comprise the org image.
1. Premises, particularly the entrances and interview and service areas. These should be neat, not cluttered up with baggage, paper, tattered notices or unsightly things.
2. Public comm lines. Letters and mailings should be correctly addressed with the right name and not sent to several addresses for the same person. The appearance and tone of any mailings and communications should be good and not offend. “Friendly and agreeable responses” was the first order I ever gave to an org.
3. Staff. Appearance and attitude to the public.
4. Service Delivery, assurances of.
5. Publicizing values of service.
6. Publications, appearance and suitability of distribution.
7. Alliances with suitable groups and leaders, with due regard to local “ethnic” values. (Publicly admired values.)
8. Eradication of enemies on public lines with due regard to local ethnic values (publicly detested values).
9. Alignment of promotion with things publicly admired and against things publicly detested.
10. Advertising, effectiveness, suitability and lawfulness of.
11. Membership expansion.
12. Group expansion.
13. Expansion planning of facilities.
Contemporary “Public Relations Officer” duties in business firms are not as embracive as the above 13 points. These are loosely classified as follows (quoted from their texts).
“1. To keep management informed of public opinion, and of events and trends likely to affect its reputation.
“2. To advise management on the policies and actions it should adopt in order to gain and keep public good will; and on the likely effects, in terms of public opinion, of any policies and actions dictated by other factors.
“3. To apply public relations techniques to solve problems in which the company’s reputation is at stake and to maintain a continuing, positive programme of action to secure good will, presenting the company in all its aspects to all its audiences by every appropriate means of communication.
‘‘The executive side of the public relations man’s work includes the company’s relations with the press, radio and television; the production of many kinds of printed matter, including company reports, house magazines, wall charts, brochures and even books; films and film strips; exhibitions; the design of company stationery; the way a firm receives its visitors; a watching brief on the way it answers its telephone calls, writes its letters, handles complaints; its policy on donations to charity and an infinite variety of items beyond.”
We often hear that we should hire a public relations firm to do all these things. The catch is that these firms have a high personnel turnover and new men on the “accounts” have to be rebriefed continually.
We have in the past hired contemporary professional PRO men AND THEY LAID THE FOUNDATION OF OUR DIFFICULT TIMES WITH PRO ACTIONS.
In Dianetics and Scientology we have gone up against a totalitarian conspiracy using “mental health” to control populations. This was not a normal PRO atmosphere as encountered by business firms. It began with war where the enemy controlled all news media and governments.
We had to be very very good indeed to live through it at all. Our “public” does not understand this. They are accustomed to sleek untroubled firms selling them “Wheaties the Breakfast of Idiots” or “go Slow gasoline” or “You too can be insane”.
So in Dianetics and Scientology we have a job in PRO which far exceeds the usual company demands.
In ordinary PRO actions we have not done too badly in the past. For instance our people handling Congresses make the U.S. Democratic Party Convention PROs look like rank amateurs.
The enemy has used all available PRO and Intelligence techniques to hold us back, and as the enemy also controlled many key government figures, this has been a very rough time.
That we are alive at all and expanding shows we have not done too badly. The enemy is definitely losing.
The reason for this is INTEGRITY. By and large our people are sincere.
WORD OF MOUTH is a public relations comm line superior to press, radio, television or Mr. Big.
Radio, press and TV only seek to create “word of mouth”. This term means what people say to one another.
By standing for what people think is good and opposing what people think is bad greatly speeds WORD OF MOUTH.
We will go as far as Dianetics and Scientology work in the hands of auditors and no farther.
The enemy, lacking integrity, word of mouth and workable tech has not won despite total control of governments, press, radio, TV and all standard PRO media, plus financing in terms of billions.
Thus we see that there are three commodities above contemporary PRO concepts. These are:
A. INTEGRITY
B. WORD OF MOUTH
C. WORKABILITY AND USEFULNESS OF PRODUCT.
All the PRO advices and direction will not prevail if the above three things are not an integral part of “the company” PRO planning.
How much a product COSTS has some bearing on whether or not it is usee. But unstabilizing prices, we have learned (such as a small increase) is utterly deadly. And reducing prices does not actually increase sales in our experience. The exception is the granting of 50% scholarships and giving certain courses as Field Staff Member prizes. And here it does seem that the STATUS value outweighs the monetary saving appeal. Therefore STATUS INCREASE is a vital part of the product.
However, whether Dianetics and Scientology have been at war or not, the first 13 points are what we would consider routine PRO actions which, if neglected, would result in heavy income losses.
A staff idling in reception, offhand handling of callers, wrong address or names misspelled drive off customers. Aside from simply blocking sign-ups these points also REDUCE CUSTOMER STATUS.
As our organizations are built (due to tech concentration) on handling the individual, any PRO must be very alert to any point which would seem to the “customer” to diminish his status.
A PRO should himself look at the given points from the viewpoint of an important potential “customer”. Would the org environment and handling attract or drive off an important person (let us say, the Mayor) as a “customer”. If the answer is “yes” in any point, then the Org is losing up to 90% of its income through these PRO omissions.
If a staff is poorly paid or the premises are poorly furnished, cluttered or dirty then the error lies in either the 1st 13 or the above A, B, C points of PRO.
A PRO in advising actions to the EC (and he should have direct access to the Executive Council or Management) should be very wary of killing off the Org’s vitality with too much militant control. The PRO also has the staff as a public. If one wants to clear sandwich-eating staff off reception the best way is to start a campaign for a staff lounge, get it and then forbid staff to clutter up reception.
The PRO in accomplishing PRO points is of necessity a creature of ideas even in getting his routine PRO actions done.
The enemy we have had gets very high points on 1 to 13 (omitting 4, assurances of delivery and 7 and 8 Ethnic points). Dianetics and Scientology orgs get rather low points on 1 to 13 (excepting 4, 7 and 8 which they do well).
Dianetics and Scientology orgs do well on A, B and C. The enemy utterly collapses on these.
If Dianetics and Scientology orgs did well on all points (1 to 13 and A, B and C) the battle would be won in very little time.
If a PRO is not working to bring points 1 to 13 and A, B and C all into full operation in his area, he is not doing his job. If he is doing all these things he is a very very valuable PRO and should be given every possible assistance on his job.