By Mike King
The whole issue of payment by results for PR services never seems to go away. Don’t get me wrong, it isn’t the biggest issue on my agenda every day, but it niggles away, irritatingly bubbling under the surface.
In truth, the companies we talk to that raise this issue tend to be small ones (at least in marketing budget terms) that frankly are looking to get their PR on the cheap (or so they imagine). By the same token, the few agencies that operate a payment by results model tend to be the ‘ambulance chasers’ of the industry, small and usually desperate for business.
Well-established, professional consultancies sell services that are based on time and expertise - the emphasis is on providing strategic counsel as much as it is on tactical delivery. Consultancies such as Johnson King earn their money and deliver genuine value by helping companies develop compelling positioning that sets them aside from their competitors, and devising hard-hitting communications programmes that deliver meaningful, business-aligned results.
In other words, while quantity as well as quality of coverage is clearly important, it ain’t just a numbers game.
The payment by results model simply doesn’t support spending this kind of quality time, and instead drives activities straight to a low level, tactical approach with the emphasis on easy targets. And let me tell you – ‘chuck enough crap out there and some of it is bound to stick’ isn’t much of a communications strategy.
To do PR well, clients and agencies alike should be constantly striving for true partnerships; collaborative working relationships based on high quality work and expertise. A partnerships of equals. Clearly that doesn’t come from commoditising PR services down to a payment by results level.
When you consider how respected service-based businesses such as solicitors and accountants work, the whole concept of payment by results becomes tacky or even underhand. And those professions where payment by results is the norm, such as estate agents or recruitment firms, are hardly regarded as being at the top of the service tree – that’s why you spend as little time as possible dealing with them!
Of course, I understand that clients are looking for reassurance that they are going to get a good return on their PR investment, and are under increasing pressure to justify this spend to the board. But that comes from finding a creative and knowledgeable consultancy with a proven track record in your area - not from finding an agency so desperate for your business that they’ll do anything to get it, even if that means waiving a proper fee.
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