In many ways, agency search and selection, such as choosing a PR firm, is a lot like selecting a life partner.
The key, we show, lies in selecting a firm you have confidence in to operate with good judgement as your proxy
Trust, like in any good relationship, is key to healthy client-agency partnerships. When it comes to selecting a PR agency, the process of achieving a decision is very different, of course.
Less wham-bam
While many couples take years to make a decision on whom to spend their life with, PR agencies are most often selected over the course of weeks or months, affording clients less opportunity to see their potential partners ‘in action’ and potential life partners would have.
Of course, given the nature of the professional working relationship, we would never suggest that the selection of a PR firm should be stretched to years, but we do think it is possible to inform your decision with the insights afforded by others’ years of experience in working with the firm.
So, when selecting a PR agency, we would suggest that the process not be rushed, but be as thorough as possible as this will be one of your firm’s most intimate of professional relationships.
What to look for
A PR firm should know both the good and bad of their client firms’ operations, they must be completely in the know regarding the challenges and opportunities facing their client firms in order to properly prepare for both potential crisis and success.
Given our experience in agency search and selection, and of helping client firms select the best possible PR agency for them, we suggest that client firms:
- Slow down. Resist the temptation to rush
- Be direct. Specifically ask to deal only with those senior and junior staff who would work on your account, if awarded
- Investigate their personal judgment. Do your homework on those individuals who will work on your business, check LinkedIn (do they have recommendations?), Facebook, Twitter and Google them. Do they represent themselves, as well as the firms they work for, with good judgement?
- Check their references. Check the references from clients they provide, but also others within undisclosed client (or other) firms you have access to within your network.
- Interact by phone as well as live. Some firms thrive online, or live, but are dreadfully dull by phone (or vice versa). Ensure that your firm adopts a selection process which will allow you to see how each firm interacts across all communication channels. Are they consistent and thorough? Do they show evidence of proper information-sharing internally following discussions and interactions with you?
- Pay special attention to the niceties and their style in interacting with others. Do they provide a map and directions to their offices, or leave you to find their address on their website? Do they provide conference reports to recap their key takeaways and ensure joint understanding, or do their staff seem uninformed? Do they take note of points raised during pitch meetings and forward materials which would build on their conversation during later interactions, or do they hesitate to ask questions and thrive on casual chit chat?
In the case of selecting a PR agency, we feel strongly that the formal answers an agency provides throughout the course of a pitch while everyone is ‘looking’ won’t necessarily lead clients to the ‘right’ answer. Instead, client firms must look at what the agencies (and their people as a individuals) say and do when all eyes aren’t looking.
