There are two good pieces of news for lean corporate departments needing to outsource parts of their PR programs: the number of qualified PR agencies has greatly expanded; and technology has made it easier to work on sophisticated and complex issues with firms regardless of geography.
The not-so-good news is that finding the best PR firm from the growing universe of candidates is more challenging than ever.
The volume of consultants and firms in the market today makes the corporate person's job of selecting the most appropriate team much more difficult, says Dennis Spring of Spring Associates, a New York executive and PR agency search firm.
Developing Prospects
While there are industry resources, such as the Standard Directory of Advertising Agencies (which also lists PR firms), you can't make a final decision solely based on that information, advises Dick Truitt, of Truitt Partners LLC, New York, an agency search and management consulting firm.
To fulfill even the most rudimentary search requirements, principals and associates of the prospective firm need to be interviewed, and current and former clients of firms need to be contacted, along with former employees.
Agency search executives contend that the sheer number of firms that should be researched and screened before a selection makes it very hard for corporate executives to find the time for a thorough national search. "As a result, how corporations choose agencies almost becomes arbitrary, when they do it themselves," says Spring.
The other option is to shell out between $5,000 and $10,000 to agency search firms who apply rigorous methodologies in their evaluation of both their own clients' needs and the capabilities of prospective PR consultancies.
Service Differentiates Firms
And for all the science and sweat that is put into the search process, what ends up as the determining selection criteria?
According to industry experts, the answer is "service and trust." Truitt contends that these somewhat soft variables have become the most important determining fact as the "mechanics" of PR are mastered by a critical mass of PR firms. In short, many PR skills have been commoditized.
This contention is backed up by the annual corporate survey conducted by PR management consulting firm Thomas L. Harris & Co., Highland Park, Ill.
In the 1998 survey (results for this year's survey are due by September), 66 percent of respondents ranked "client service" as an important agency selection criterion. Only "overall quality of their work (70 percent) and "research capability" (67 percent) scored higher.
Truitt believes the premium placed on account service is leveling the playing field between the large and small agencies. "It gives a huge boost to small agencies...[that offer] counsel and advice, media relationships, [and] local presence."
Given this trend, companies looking to hire a agency should test for trust and service right along with other business and communications capabilities.
Truitt recommends asking prospects to explain in detail exactly how they ensure a high level of client service.
Moreover, the inter-corporate relationship skills of prospective agencies should not be limited to managing a client's exectations. In today's specialized communications environment, it's common for corporations to have more than one PR firm on tap for a variety of assignments.
This means that new firms will have to work well with others that are already on the team. Truitt recommends that the selection and screening process include steps to test whether firms can work together effectively. "This has to be done in the selection process: it can't be retrofitted," he says.
Pay for Presentations
As a final step in the evaluation process, agency search professionals recommend corporate clients conduct agency visits and ask for presentations. If finalists are asked to make a formal presentation, it's a professional courtesy to offer some payment for the agency's efforts-at least enough to cover most direct expenses, says Jerry Swerling, an agency search consultant in Marina Del Rey, Calif. "It says a great deal about the client" when such an offer is made.
(Spring, 212/473-0013; Swerling, 310/578-2462; Truitt, 212/764-2333; Harris, 847/266-1026)
Editor's Note: The Annual Directory of PR Services, published by PR NEWS, will be hitting subscribers' mailboxes within the month. The directory lists agencies and other resources for all your PR efforts.