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.