Five Things You Do and Don't Want From Your PR Consultant

As a young person in business, I was in awe of public relations and the people that worked in the field. I saw people my age getting regular access to senior executives and imagined that they were more important than the rest of us. They seemed surer of themselves and dressed better. They dealt with journalists. I didn’t even know any. I’ll admit that I found the whole discipline a little intimidating.

Eons passed. I earned my bachelor's degree in journalism, spent a brief amount of time as a reporter, and eventually landed my first public relations job. After paying dues as a junior account exec, I became craggy and cynical enough to be put in charge of some things. My outlook no longer had much in common with the one I had as a young person.

It came to pass that I became a corporate marketing communications executive and I found myself dealing with PR consultants and explaining the process to the other members of the senior management team. Many outsourced PR practitioners are competent and professional. There were parallels to other processes in companies that the non-PR management team respected and understood, and good PR people share many of the qualities that we all look for in the people we work with. Still, there were some issues that arose more often in PR than in other areas. Excellent PR consultants almost never had these issues. When I came across a PR consultant that was a little less than excellent, they delivered things the management team didn’t want.

The five things management didn't want:

Audience - Most executives started out in business with a healthy ego. As they have progressed through the ranks they manage to maintain their sense of self worth in the face of an occasional battering from adversity. My CEO friends know that they are witty, urbane, and nattily dressed. They don’t need a PR guy or gal to continually tell them what they and the rest of the world can plainly see. Any sales person can fall into this kind of slap-you-on-the-back approach, yet I see it most often from PR consultants. I don't know why. All I can tell you is that the PR professional that approaches you with substance rather than adulation will do a better job.

"Yes" people - This one is about ideas. I’m fortunate, because I am an executive who's well trained in public relations. But I’ve learned that many executives that find themselves dealing with PR firms are not trained in the discipline. My friend Brian, a CEO, put it this way: "Although I know my business and the market very well, some of my PR thoughts may be ill advised. I want a PR consultant that will say so! I’ll argue. I might even come up with a worse idea just to show that I can. In the end, my company is paying the PR consultant for results. If my ideas are not going to lead to results, the PR counselor needs to have the guts to tell me."

Mush - As a corporate executive, I've had to measure how my company and my vendors are doing in the Public Relations arena. Every executive does. That’s just a fact. First-rate PR consultants understand that. They provide all kinds of tracking and measurement and reports. They help you to do your job. When I deal with a less than competent vendor I can’t get anything but mush. I know that PR can be difficult to quantify but, good firms figure out things to track and report back to their customers. Bad firms don’t track anything.

Magic - When I take on a project I need a plan. I don’t need magic. I want to see what we are going to do, who is going to do it, what results would be acceptable, and how much it is going to cost. One account representative, unaware of my extensive PR background, told me that PR is like sausage – you don’t want to see how it’s made. We didn’t do business.

Surprise - I have had more billing surprises dealing with PR firms than any other vendors. I don’t know why. I insist on contracts that require prior authorization to go over our agreed upon monthly amount but, I still get overages. Nobody is happy when this happens. Good vendors do their planning and reporting and get authorization before going over budget.

I wouldn’t argue that PR firms are any better or worse than companies in other lines of work. Some are good and some are not so good. When selecting a firm or PR consultant, try to find out if they are going to give you any of the five things that you don’t want. When you check references, ask about the five things. Also, look for industry certifications. The professional certification process and test administered by the Public Relations Society of America is particularly rigorous. Try to meet with the firm several times in the selection process and determine if they can give you the five things you do want.

The Other five things:

Orientation –Does the PR consultant know how business gets done? Do they understand your industry? Have they learned enough to understand your specific company?

Courage – Most of the CEOs I've worked with like a firm that will admit a mistake or two. You can bet that they have made them. Will they tell you the truth and risk offending you? Will they try to convince you of an idea rather giving up and changing their position?

Consistency – Does their pitch stay the same from meeting to meeting? It should evolve some, but not change completely.

Substance – You can’t expect any vendor to drop all of their ideas on you for free in the sales process but, you need to convince yourself that the ideas are really there. If they are it usually shows.

Connection – Beware of anyone that tries to sell you anything based on their contact list. Planning and discipline will win over socializing every time. That being said, a PR firm should have the know-how of contacting journalists, editors and others who can present your message to the world.

If you can avoid the five things that you don’t want in a PR consultant you are probably going to be OK. If you can ensure that you get the five things you do want in a PR consultant, you will have a successful relationship. What’s more, you will be able to define success and document it. You will get good value for your money and the best exposure possible for your company whether times are good or bad.