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Here's a blinding glimpse of the
obvious. Good public relations can take your
company to new heights and leave your competition
eating your dust. But here's something that's a little
less obvious—how should you go about selecting a
public relations firm that can do the job for you?
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Before you get started, take some time and define the
role of PR within your organization and what you hope
to accomplish. Make a list of specific objectives
you'd like to achieve. That will help to drive the
search for a PR firm.
Recognize that you may not need a public relations
firm. Sometimes it makes more sense to hire an internal
person for PR or make use of a freelancer.
Use a freelancer or internal PR person
when:
- You can find someone who is talented and knows
your industry well.
- You know the person will be around for a while.
You don't want to invest a lot of time to get
them up to speed on your business and then find
they've decided to do something else for a living.
- Your PR needs are simple. You don't need help
with many specialized PR disciplines such as investor
relations and crisis management. You don't have
so much PR activity that one person couldn't possibly
handle it.
- Your PR budget is small and precludes your engaging
a PR firm. If you can't afford $5,000 per month,
you probably won't be able to secure a competent
agency.
Does size make a difference? Is big bad and small beautiful?
Does using a big agency mean getting a big invoice?
Do big agencies have lower service levels because
they have more clients and care less about each one?
Are small agencies unable to provide high service
levels because they don't have enough resources?
Here's our take on it. Size doesn't matter. Performance
matters. Ability matters. Knowledge of your industry
matters. Connections and relationships matter. Experience
matters. Dedication, devotion and passion matter.
In short, you want to pick an agency that gets
the job done.
Small agencies frequently outperform large agencies
because they've got something to prove, and entrepreneurial
passion goes a long way. In some cases, the small
firms specialize in very specific niche markets and
they know the terrain so well that nobody can compete
with them.
At the same time, big agencies can be the right solution
in many cases and can also deliver great results.
If international PR is required, a big agency may
be the right answer.
There is the issue of money though — big companies
have big overhead to cover. An industry rule of thumb
is that you can't engage a big international agency
unless you are going to spend at least $20,000 per
month on public relations.
First, go back to your specific objectives for PR.
That will translate directly into requirements for
the agency. For example, which do you need more --
specialist PR skills or specific knowledge of your
business sector? Understanding your needs will help
you to create a short list of agencies.
Build your short list of agencies by thinking about
companies you admire. Who has great PR? Then find
out who represents them. Try not to do this with your
competitors because most PR firms won't serve two
competing companies at the same time. That's a conflict
of interest.
Ask your friends and business colleagues who they think
highly of. Better yet, talk to journalists. They typically
loathe bad PR firms and love the good ones that make
their lives easier, and they are happy to help out
the good ones with a reference.
Once you've got the short list (or maybe you've narrowed
it down to one firm that you absolute know will do
a great job for you), pick up the phone and call them.
The service you get in that initial solicitation can
be quite telling. If they call you back promptly,
they probably call the media back promptly and that
can translate into good coverage. If they come in
and give a solid, polished presentation, that's a
good sign.
Share your objectives with them before you meet with
them. Then see how well they tailor their presentation
to you. The best firms are always thinking about you,
not about themselves. If they come in and generically
toot their horns about themselves but never give any
sign that they've researched your business and thought
about your objectives, that's a very bad sign.
If you are evaluating multiple agencies at the same
time, inform the agencies of their competition. They
often will give you some insights on their competition.
Take those insights with a grain of salt, and give
high marks to those agencies that take the high road
and don't disparage their competition.
Some other words of wisdom on soliciting
agency presentations include:
- Provide the agencies with relevant background
materials. If necessary, have the agencies sign
a non-disclosure agreement.
- Be sure to schedule the presentations within as
short a timeframe as possible so you can compare
and contrast them better.
- Let the agencies know who the decision-makers
are within your organziation and be sure they
attend all presentations.
- Ask them to present specific budgets. What will
they do for how much?
- Tell the agencies that you want to meet the people
who they guarantee will be working on your account.
Watch out for the “bait and switch”. The senior
guy amazes you in the pitch meeting but the newbie
just out of college ends up doing all the work
on your account.
Getting a sense for who will deliver the goods isn't
rocket science. After you've met with the PR firm,
you get a sense for their breadth of practice areas,
abilities, service levels, and professionalism.
In general, you want smart people working for you.
If a PR person doesn't think strategically and impress
you with their understanding of your business and
your industry, cross them off the list. The good ones
will raise issues or ideas that you haven't even thought
of yet.
Beyond that basic intelligence criteria, look for people
with passion, who work around the clock, and who can
communicate well (so well that you'd fall in love
with them if you were a journalist or an analyst).
This is a matter of personal preference. You may want
to formally evaluate and score the agencies against
a checklist or you may want to go with your gut after
thinking through a few key questions. Do their people
seem to be of high quality? Is there a good cultural
fit between the two organizations? Are you impressed
by them? Have they done good work for other clients?
Do they seem to have the right number of resources
available to service you well?
It helps to have multiple people within your organization
evaluate the agencies. That makes the assessment more
objective.
Ultimately, you want an agency that intimately understands
your business, industry, competition, workforce, customers
and the impact that technology and other important
trends might have on your success. You want someone
who has as much passion about your business as you
have!
Talk it through and make a decision.
Avoid analysis paralysis. The longer you don't have
a PR firm up and running, the more you risk missing
out on important business opportunities. Call the
winner and let them know you are going with them,
pending the preparation of a satisfactory agreement.
Once the paperwork is signed, call the unfortunate
folks that didn't get the business and give them the
bad news. Share with them your thinking but don't
reopen the door for further discussion.
Getting the most out of your PR firm often hinges on
the relationship you formally craft in the agreement.
It's tempting to ask for a month-to-month agreement.
In this way, you'll be able to jettison the PR firm
if they aren't delivering the goods. But the record
indicates that you'll get best results with a longer
term contract. That's because the PR firm knows you'll
be with them for a while and, frankly, that means
a lot to them. They'll invest more resources and more
effort if it's a long-term marriage rather than a
short-term blind date. They'll assign their best people
to your account on a dedicated basis.
Here's what we recommend. Commit to an initial period
of three or six months. That allows you to get to
know the PR firm and see them in action. At the end
of the initial period, give yourself the opportunity
to end the relationship. Then, do the right thing
and commit to a year-long contract so that you can
optimize your service levels. If you feel strongly
about it, negotiate some contingencies that allow
you to exit the relationship or consider a pay-for-performance
component that aligns the agency's incentives more
directly with your business objectives.
Invest time and energy in managing the PR firm for
best results. Good firms self-manage or create a forum
for you to manage them. Nonetheless, a key thing to
remember is that you need to call them and push them,
you need to chide them when results are bad and compliment
them when results are good. You need to communicate
well with them. Let them know as soon as possible
if a product launch is going to slip two months so
they don't spin their wheels. Call them when you have
a new idea for a story. The name of the game is communication
after all, and, as always, it's a two-way street.
Follow the approach outlined above and you'll find
a great PR agency. Remember though that a PR agency
can't make something out of nothing. Do things differently.
Create great products and services that are ground-breaking
and interesting. If you need help in this area, a
good PR firm will guide you strategically toward becoming
a company worthy of attention (assuming that attention
is something you are after). In the end, given the
right raw materials and choosing a good agency, you'll
see all your dreams come true!
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