Your company went through an agency review process and found the PR firm that felt like the right match (their track record was solid, their referrals checked out, the publicity results they promised sounded ideal). You’ve already invested a great deal of your (VP or director of marketing) time getting the PR firm’s team up to speed on the nuances of your company story / product. But while it’s still relatively early in the client / agency relationship, you’re already getting the sense that something is very off about the way things are going.
If you’ve got an uneasy feeling about where it’s headed, chances are these are the types of behaviors you’re seeing (and why your intuition that you’re getting the run-around is probably justified):
- Sheer lack of opportunities in the pipeline – You’re already severely underwhelmed by the amount of opportunities these guys are retrieving for your company. Aren’t these the same guys that claimed to have all these “relationships” in place? Aren’t interviews / stories the #1 reason why you’re cutting these folks a hefty check each month?
- Air of self-preservation is stronger than the desire to accomplish – It’s clear that they’re not doing much of anything, yet the monthly status reports they drop on you are 10 page, grandiose accounts of their labors. The congratulation they lavish upon themselves after even the most minor of accomplishments makes you even more conscious of how little they’re actually doing.
- “Lack of news / announcements to work with” — It feels like every weekly touch-base with this PR firm is about them asking you to address *their* requirements or needs. They need more news to work with, they need more clarity on x / y / z, they need more access to someone or something, etc. The implication is that it’s your fault that they’re dying on the vine.
- You’re not seeing any original thought from them — *You* spent hours and hours at the onset of the relationship giving them materials, ideas and firsthand accounts of your goals for how PR was going to dovetail into your marketing efforts. You’re perplexed that at this point in the relationship, *they* haven’t felt more impetus to run more ideas and creative approaches by you.
- They were defensive when you pointed out a missed opportunity — When you discover a story that would have been a perfect match for your company, the PR firm is hyper sensitive about the implication that they dropped the ball. Rather than simply focusing on creating new opportunities, they spend a lot of energy defending their honor.
Image courtesy of sullust’s photostream on flickr creative commons.
