When clients hire a public relations agency such as WordWrite, they have a right to a return on their investment.
It’s crucial for the agency and client to establish realistic expectations and clearly define how the client hopes to benefit from the relationship.
We always say that public relations is not something we do for clients. Rather, effective strategic communications and business development is what we do with clients. 
Meaningful collaboration therefore from the outset of the agency-client relationship ultimately will determine how successful that affiliation will be.
In our experience, business-to-business media relations should help you locate, increase and retain customers or clients and add to your bottom line. In this space, I’ll briefly outline what – at a minimum – clients have a right to expect from their PR agency.
If any of the following are absent, then effectiveness and results will suffer. Be sure to ask these questions and listen carefully to the answers before you hire a firm to assist in getting your story out to the audiences that need to see, hear and experience it.
1. Does the agency have a detailed process in place to capitalize on media opportunities?
It’s critical to establish a primary point of contact the agency can connect with when media reach out looking for the client’s insight. Based on what we see working with media on a daily basis, opportunities are lost when procedures aren’t in place to coordinate who at an organization is available and most qualified to respond to specific inquiries. Remember that a reporter’s deadline doesn’t mean he or she is waiting by the phone for a particular company’s response. That reporter has a number of capable sources to call on and usually whoever responds first will be used in the story. Everyone’s time is precious, but remember it often only takes five or 10 minutes to speak with a reporter. That short amount of time could result in new business opportunities or help close the deal with potential clients previously on the fence about committing.
2. Does the agency clearly spell out the importance and time-sensitive aspects of potential media opportunities?
For every media opportunity, the agency needs to have the insight and ability to immediately and clearly spell out the significance, time frame, and overall needs of the reporter. Is this a one-alarm, two-alarm or three-alarm fire? Mobilization and rapid response are critical. A strong agency team should be able to respond with an appropriate source from a company in a timeframe well within the reporter’s deadline. If no one is available or qualified to assist with the media inquiry, then the agency needs to let that reporter know. Relationships with media are like relationships with client. Trust and respect take time to build. Leaving a reporter hanging one way or the other is the quickest way for an agency and sometimes its clients to get removed from that media outlet’s contacts list. The agency must therefore have procedures in place to get your message out quickly.
3. Does the agency have the ability to execute and deliver results for the capabilities and services it claims to have?
This is a big one. Every PR firm claims to do media relations, social media and probably some version of website optimization or inbound marketing. The competence agencies have in these areas varies dramatically. Just like all doctors, lawyers and accountants aren’t created equal, PR agencies have strengths and weaknesses in their tactical proficiencies. Some agencies have deep, varied relationships with the media. At WordWrite, many of us are former reporters and we’ve been able to leverage those relationships into success for clients at both the local and the national level. Other agencies lack the sophistication necessary to effectively engage media. Many PR firms have dedicated social media and inbound marketing professionals, while others don’t give these services the focus and urgency necessary in today’s marketing environment. Still others might outsource those services altogether.
If a company has the resources to commit to hiring a public relations agency, it likely has the experts and talent in place to be of immense value to the media and – by extension – to existing and potential clients. Likewise, the PR agency must have the team in place to help an organization capitalize on its experience and insight as much as possible.
In a challenging economic environment in which marketing and business development dollars are at a premium, it’s essential companies make educated decisions on outside consultants. Really assess whether a PR agency can deliver on what it promises.
One blog doesn’t encompass all the questions you need to ask before hiring a PR firm, but these are among the most important. What challenges have you had working with outside vendors? Are there other important items you’d add to this list?
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Jeremy Church is an account supervisor for WordWrite Communications.He can be reached at jeremy.church@wordwritepr.com and on Twitter @churchjeremy.
