Understand what PR agencies will actually do for you

By Tony Gordon

I have always been a believer in public relations; find a good local agency, and ask them how they can help you by getting your name out there. But dig below the surface. All PR agencies will talk a good story, but they have to understand you and your business. They have to understand who you want as clients.

We held a beauty parade of PR companies who wanted our business. We interviewed them, and they all said the same thing: “We’ll get your name out there in front of the public.” It’s important that we ask the questions of “How?” and “What will you do?” The most expensive company we interviewed had to be pressed to answer the questions. We got the whole gamut of responses, but I wasn’t letting go. I wanted examples of what they would do once we hired them and were paying a retainer.

Finally, when really pushed, they suggested buying advertising space on the side of buses. We were an upmarket independent firm; our name on the side of a bus showed how little they had tried to understand us. We hired the cheapest firm because they said they would write articles for us in our name, which they were confident would be picked up and used on the business pages of the local newspapers.

They were as good as their word. On average, our name appeared every three weeks in the press. It doesn’t directly get business, but I was constantly surprised by how prospects had heard of us, which makes getting business easier. But we still have to make calls; PR doesn’t get them lining up at the door.

Tony Gordon is a 41-year MDRT member from Bristol, England, who served as MDRT President in 2001.

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