You may place a high value on annual planning, but that's no guarantee that your clients are of the same mindset.
A survey of 82 members of the Public Relations Society of America's Counselors Academy (based on querying at its annual conference in New Orleans in April) shows that 45 percent of agencies conduct planning for 70 percent of their clients, while 43 percent plan for less than 30 percent of their clients.
The conclusions, released by Ira Thomas Associates, Youngstown, Ohio, concludes that there are several key reasons why annual planning isn't a priority:
- clients don't understand the value of planning;
- clients view planning as an expense rather than a long-term investment with benefits that may not be reaped until later; and
- companies tend to be tactically driven and more project-oriented.
Yet interestingly, agencies queried aren't following in their clients' footsteps. Nearly 70 percent of agencies said they have some type of formal planning process and 78 percent said they want to do more planning for clients. Survey findings:
- 66 percent of those questioned conduct or outsource primary research for less than 30 percent of their clients; 17 percent conduct or outsource primary research for 90 to 100 percent of their clients;
- 71 percent said they bill for planning services, while 26 percent don't bill for planning counsel (this depends on the situation, however); and
- 79 percent bill for planning at the same rates they bill for other services,, but 22 percent bill at higher premiums.
(Ira Thomas, 330/793-3000)
"While it's encouraging to see that the majority of agencies value planning and want to do more of it, it's obvious that we have a ways to go to convince our clients of its value."
- Beth Hallisy managing partner, Ira Thomas