In my nearly 30 years working in tech PR, I’ve worked with a lot of clients – dozens, at the very least. Like all public relations practitioners, client success has run the full gamut. Looking back, it’s impossible not to notice that the less successful client engagements have common traits. On a few occasions, the client engaged a series of PR firms and had limited success. To avoid being that client, here are some questions to ask yourself and your team before setting out to hire a PR firm.
- Do you have a compelling story to tell and are you willing to tell it?
Some clients have a great story but want to keep it close to the vest. Others might have a great story in six months or a year but want to start talking about it too soon. Maybe a company has a good story to tell but not the supporting assets that the media demand – customers, multimedia, and more. If any of these situations apply to your company, then it might be too soon to hire a firm.
- Is your executive team willing to spend the time necessary to make a PR program successful?
I’ve seen marketing VPs bring on a PR firm at the CEO’s request, yet the CEO or other high-level company spokesperson isn’t willing or able to invest any time in PR. Typically, the media has no interest in speaking only with marketing team leads – no offense meant toward marketers. This is one item that CEOs and presidents of companies cannot delegate to others. Especially in tech startups, the CEO or president is often the founder or someone with deep industry knowledge. And it is that person that must to be telling the company’s story.
- Are you willing to take a PR firm’s advice and strategic counsel?
This may sound like a crazy question since it would seem that any company hiring a PR firm wants their advice. But no! This is not always the case. Sometimes clients simply want a firm to do their bidding. This never works in the long run. Instead, startups or other company’s hiring a PR agency should look for one that can become a partner – an extension of the marketing team – and apply their experience to the program.
I recently responded to a LinkedIn post about “PR tips to live by.” My comment was, “Always provide your client the feedback they need to hear, not the feedback they want to hear. That's where your value comes in.” And I really mean that. A client doesn’t have to follow a PR firm’s advice, but they should at least be willing to listen.
The best clients are those that decide to work with the PR team as a partner, that are responsive to media requests, offer a good story and then tell it well through savvy and capable spokespeople. At Rainier, we like to commit to working with clients on a long-term basis – we’ve had some clients for five years or more, and some as long as 12 years! The success factors in those long-term relationships are mutual respect, strategic engagement, realistic expectations and market views, and gratitude when warranted.
If your executive team can commit to those success factors, then your company is probably ready to hire a firm. So, give us a shout!
For tips on hiring a firm, read colleague Alan Ryan's series, "Important Tips for Startups Hiring A PR Agency."