I know what it's like to be the client of a public relations agency. As a senior corporate communications executive for more than a decade, I've led public relations campaigns of all sizes and budgets.
In some years, I managed major product launches for Fortune 1000 companies and spent half a million dollars or more with national public relations agencies such as Fleishman-Hillard and Burson-Marsteller. In other years, such as when I founded a technology startup, I operated on a shoestring -- doing virtually all the dirty work myself and using PR firms only for specific small projects.
Some of my relationships with public relations agencies have been highly successful; in other cases, I had to pull the plug when I realized I wasn't getting what I'd paid for.
If you are currently an agency client, what criteria should you use to assess your firm's performance? Or, as a potential public relations agency client, what criteria should you use when selecting a firm?
I've designed PR agency assessment tools to help answer these questions. Whether you are on the client side, with a PR agency, or in the news media, I welcome your input. I'm happy to expand on these based on your suggestions.