(This week, PR News editors Phil Hall and Courtney M. Barnes discuss the effects of an agency's decision to intentionally halt a successful PR push.)
PHIL: I know a guy who runs a PR agency - I'll call him Mr. Ugh - and one day he found himself in a remarkable situation. One of his clients, a rather sleepy company
that rarely generated attention, suddenly became a source of endless PR opportunities. Part of that situation came from a mid-level executive in the company who loved to be
quoted in the press and part of the situation came from a dynamic account staff who managed to get this PR-loving executive in front of the microphones. But do you know how Mr.
Ugh reacted to this sudden burst of PR activity? He actually ordered a temporary freeze to the PR push for that account. His reasoning: The client (and this is an exact quote)
"is not paying me enough to justify this level of activity." As an outsider listening to that story, Courtney, how do you react?
COURTNEY: In one sense, I'm shocked that any PR practitioner would turn away business because it's too good. A sleepy-cum-active campaign should be a dream come true,
but this does illustrate the all-too-prevalent problem of PR agencies unfairly billing their clients. While there are ways to contend with billing discrepancies (see PR
News, 11.09.05), these solutions don't really address problems that arise when a change in activity prompts a financial coup. How should a client react to the news that his
account is being frozen because it's too active? I'm assuming it involves finding another agency, but more important, what should a PR professional do when he or she feels the
publicity push and the payment don't match up?
PHIL: Obviously, no client enjoys hearing that his or her account is subject to a "go slow" policy, especially if there is the opportunity for substantial media
coverage. A pal of mine who heads the marketing department for a growing software company terminated his PR agency's contract when he discovered they were intentionally not
pursuing the trade journals he specifically targeted (he wound up doing the work himself and scored the hits therein). For the PR professional, however, there are three questions
that need to be asked. First, who's side are you on? If you are intentionally slamming the brakes on a successful campaign, you are not (by any stretch of the imagination)
helping the client who contracted your services. Second, did you undersell yourself when you first set up your billing with the client? If so, don't take it out on the client by
halting the PR progress. And third, did it occur to you that you may be losing future business generated by the client's recommendations? When I ran my own PR business, about
90% of my new clients came from recommendations via existing clients who were very happy with their results.
COURTNEY: The crux of the matter is billing. How do you decide what the cost of your services will be before the PR campaign gets under way? It's difficult to predict
the momentum a particular effort will gain and the subsequent energy it will take to maintain it. But as a senior PR manager, it is your job to answer these tough questions at
the beginning of a professional relationship and stand by your decisions. Did the client's account accelerate much faster than anticipated? Take that as a plus, even if you
realize you've underestimated costs; you will reap the benefits of the business you get from your client's success and their recommendations. And if the underestimation is
substantial, it's important to be forthcoming. Address the issue with the client, and come to the table with a breakdown of the costs and straightforward numbers. Just as
transparency is essential with corporate PR, it is imperative with client relations as well. Nothing good can come of a client finding out the wrong way that their campaign has
been stalled.
(Comments? Questions? Share your opinions with the editors: [email protected] and [email protected].)