CLIENTS AND PR FIRMS: RELATIONSHIPS NEED TO BE BUILT ON RESPECT AND TRUST

It's the age-old story of people who make their living selling their time.

PR pros pretty much know how long a particular kind of work assignment might take, but they also know that unexpected variables can shrink or stretch timelines. Clients who haven't worked with PR firms, often seem surprised about all the steps that consume time, as well as what it really takes to get good results.

For any time-based relationship to work, there has to be a basis of trust. Any good — and successful — business relationship has to start there.

Clients, you need to realize that the PR pro you hire wants to get good media coverage for you. It's in our blood. We live to secure strong, positive feature coverage. With pictures. We get a thrill every time we're successful.

If we're unsuccessful, we don't need threats to motivate us. We don't need to be verbally dressed down. Believe me, we're already beating ourselves up.

PR pros, you need to keep track of how you spend your clients' time. Yes, it's their time, not yours. They're paying for it and you're on their clock every time you work on their behalf. Guard that time as if you were paying for it out of your own pocket.

Remember, time is money in this business. Keep careful time logs of your activities for each particular assignment. Careful record keeping will pay off when you need to estimate time for similar future assignments. Tracking will also be your first line of defense if a client inquires about the time you've invested — or if a challenge about results rears its head as a prelude to a client seeking to avoid payment for services rendered.

PR is not a science and, most times, you can't predict results. You can have all your ducks in a row and be the best PR person in the world, but, in the end, you're not in control. A third party makes the decision on whether your news runs and when. It's an uncontrollable.

But you can try your very best. That's what professionals do.

How to avoid a future dust up? Before entering into an agreement with a client, be clear about expectations.

Are you being hired to write a press release and dedicate a set amount of hours to follow up and pitch to targeted media? Have you and the client outlined goals? Does your client trust you as a professional who will do his very best to achieve the desired results?

Or do you have a “results only” agreement? Do you have a clear understanding and mutual agreement that payment will only follow the appearance of coverage in specific media? In short, no story in USA Today, no check?

Either kind of arrangement is fair — if both parties are in agreement.

But few professional firms will work on a results-only basis and those that do charge a premium for getting coverage in your target media.

So what's best for you? We like to be partners with our clients and that means we establish a basis of trust. We're treated fairly and we treat them fairly. We work our tails off to get great results for them. And, most of the time, our results are so good that we go way beyond their expectations.

There's an atmosphere of trust and a commitment to performance. Everybody wins.

WHY WON'T THE MEDIA COVER MY NEWS?

You've taken a lot of time to put together a press release announcing the opening of your store. You've sent it to the local media. And, yet, not one reporter has called you. Not one media has covered your news. What went wrong?

Here are some tips for getting your news in the news:

Don't use exclamation points to proclaim your news. If what you're announcing is really news, the editor will recognize it.

Be sure your press release doesn't sound like an ad. Don't insult editors by sending them a press release that is really an ad in disguise. Put yourself in their shoes. Would you just turn this over to the sales department? What makes this news?

Check your grammar and style. Think of your release as a representation of yourself and your business. Put you best foot forward. Spelling and grammar count.

Get familiar with a media outlet before you send them your release. If your store is a clothing boutique and you send it to a golf magazine, chances are you've wasted your time and distribution money.

Send your release to the right person. Take the trouble to find out who is following your type of business and send the release directly to that reporter. The banking reporter is never going to cover your golf store, and unless you are announcing really big news, he'll just put your release in the trash.

Don't give a release to your ad rep and expect editorial because the ad rep says she'll pass it along to the editor.

Don't just send out the release and then sit back and wait to be called. Follow up and pitch your story. A release is merely a door opener.

Be flexible. Smaller publications may ask you to adapt your news to their style in order to consider publishing it. If they reach your target market, step up and do whatever they want to make your news fit.

If you don't feel comfortable writing a release or calling a reporter, hire a professional to do it for you.