Maybe two heads are better than one, but which mouth gets fed first? And which gets the bigger bite? When PR firms team up to tackle a project, issues such as billing,
communication and workload all require delicate handling. Executed poorly, these issues can muddle ties between the firms or, worse, antagonize the client.
At tech firm RSA Security, corporate communications manager Amy Groden relies on PR firm McGrath/Power for support. If McGrath/Power needs help -- either in the form of
additional expertise or geographic reach -- Groden trusts the firm to line up a partner, handle billing matters and, basically, keep the whole business out of her face. "Our goal
is to make sure that we have the best PR team in place," she says. "We make it the agency's responsibility to make that happen."
It's a prevailing attitude among corporate communications execs: If their PR agencies are going to align themselves with other firms, corporate players want the partnerships to
be as seamless and transparent as possible.
Those who have had experience in this area say Job One is to talk early and often. "The most important thing is to cover the gray areas. If there is something we do, and our
partner also does that thing, we want to make sure it is understood who will be handling that. Of course, both of us could write a brochure, so we need to clarify who is going to
be doing that," says Cathy Dunkin, president-CEO of The Standing Partnership, a PR firm and a member agency of the Worldcom Public Relations Group, a nationwide consortium of
independent PR firms.
Kirk Sullivan has managed PR for Boxer Wachler Vision Institute, which tests medical devices. In that role he had to coordinate the PR effort of device makers, vendors and the
institute itself. When the partners have failed to talk, he spent as much time playing referee as doing PR. "The biggest effort that you put into doing this is to bring everybody
onto the same page," says Sullivan, who is now PR director for Sante Fe Springs, CA-based IQAir North America. "You have to establish from the get-go who is going to be
responsible for what aspects of the project. Who will put together the VNR? Who will write the press releases? Who will keep a log of who is pitching whom, so that you are not
covering the same ground? You just have to sit down and talk."
The financial aspects of a partnership often are easier to manage than the nuts and bolts of the actual work. Typically, there is a lead player who brings in a partner agency
as a subcontractor. The lead agency bills the client, then pays out the partner either hourly or on a project basis.
There are the occasional exceptions. Harry Bosk, for instance, will sometimes advance a subcontractor who is in a bind. As an independent practitioner and past president of The
Independent Public Relations Collaborative, a voluntary network of indie practitioners, Bosk will periodically dip into his cash reserve to pay a partner before being paid by the
client, "but typically the agreement I have with them is: When I get paid you get paid."
Others take a different, though no less clear-cut approach. Al Golin, chairman of PR firm Golin/Harris, says he prefers to have the partner agency bill the client directly. "We
normally want to retain our own identity so the client sees that what we do is what we get paid for, and what the other firm does, they get paid for," he says. "We want to retain
our identity and not meld it into some other firm."
If dividing up the take is relatively straightforward, other money matters require a lot more finesse. "There is additional bookkeeping you need to do," Bosk says. "You are
billing a gross amount and you will be taxed on that gross amount, but you also are going to pay someone out of that amount. You have to write a 1099, there is all that additional
bookkeeping to do." The solution? Bosk calls in his accountant.
Still, many complications - financial or otherwise - can be avoided with a little paperwork up front. The Council of PR Firms makes available a "scope of work" agreement and
also an "authorization to begin work" agreement (at www.prfirms.org). Council President Kathy Cripps strongly recommends such
documents. "It could cover billing rates, it could cover the project, it could cover who is responsible for out-of-pocket and what kind of approval will be needed before the
subcontractor can take on out-of-pocket expenses," she says.
Such communications, both verbal and contractual, can ensure smooth interactions between partner agencies. But corporate clients say what matters most is that they get smooth
communications.
When a partner joins a PR effort, Groden wants to know who it is, what its area of expertise may be, and what the partner will be doing on the project. If she will be hearing
directly from the partner at any time, she wants to know who that point of contact will be -- "otherwise there are names coming up from different offices and you don't know who
they are and what they are doing for you," she says.
By the same token, it is important to know who is going to be receiving those calls when they come in. Lola Yoder learned that as director of global market communications for
Zimmer, a manufacturer of orthopedic joint replacements.
While Yoder relies on PCI - Public Communications Inc. as her lead PR agency, PCI will often bring in partners to reach particular geographic areas. That can lead to a flurry
of calls coming in from various sources, "and you need to have a lead person internally, someone who will communicate and talk with the local people" in order to track all that
activity, she says.
From the perspective of the corporate client, however, none of this can work unless there is a strong rapport from the start between corporate PR and the lead outside agency.
Groden talks about the need to trust that agency, to be able to rely intrinsically on that agency's ability to bring in a capable partner and to communicate clearly what is
happening every step of the way. "You need to have a very good relationship with the senior counsel of the agency, so that they really understand your goals," she says.
Contacts: Harry Bosk, 410.665.4787, [email protected]; Kathy Cripps, 212.351.5048, [email protected]; Cathy Dunkin, 314.469.3500, [email protected]; Amy Groden,
781.515.6267, [email protected]; Kirk Sullivan, 562.903.7600, http://www.iqair.com; Lola
Yoder, 574.372.4310, [email protected]
Sharing the Spoils
When PR players partner on a job, the corporate client still wants to keep it simple: A single channel of communications and - just as important - a single bill when the work
is done. "Typically clients, like most of us don't like a lot of extra paperwork. So if there is a way that the billing process can be consolidated, that can be very effective,"
says Kathy Cripps, president of the Council of PR Firms.
How to divvy up the take? Members of the Council of PR Firms say they mostly bill by the hour, but this may not necessarily hold true in partnerships. "If you want to bring in
an expert, you may need to give them a minimum, you may need to have a retainer relationship or a project fee for this particular project," Cripps says. "Sometimes, the experts
are hired for something very specific, some third-party contacts or some particular experience with a government agency. So it may be easier for the firm to agree on a project
fee."
On the other hand, collaboration between two agencies covering different geographies may involve hourly billings. The key, Cripps says, is to spell out the deal in advance.
Make it clear -- and put it down on paper to avoid any misunderstandings.