PR Squared

About

Blogroll

PR 2.0 Tactics

PR Squared

You can choose to read this post as “shameless self promotion” (you’ve been warned!), or, as a wake-up call to pay closer attention to the inner workings of your agency partner.

A client – we’ll call them SUPERCLIENT – recently launched into a new market.  Afterwards, we checked in to make sure that they were pleased with our team’s performance. 

The note that came back blew me away with its attention to detail regarding every single team member’s contribution. 

Further, this SUPERCLIENT was aware of the limitations of his company’s story.  Despite tour results that were “OK - very respectable – (but) not a home run,” he placed those results in a common-sense perspective – and was able to do so, in part, because he had paid close attention to his team’s efforts all along the way.

I’ll redact the client and team members’ names but otherwise am pasting the note in its entirety below. 

What I’d like you to wonder is whether or not you (or your PR manager) have the same level of familiarity with your own agency program?

Do you have the same calm, rational analysis of your company’s market position? 

Do you know just how hard your team is working (or not)?

If not, consider this email below a kick in the booty.

“Thanks for checking in… Overall - on a true scale - the result of the tour was OK.  It wasn't a home run in terms of coverage, but still very respectable.  I think we got solid set of meetings and had a decent story, as good as it could be.  I think that our reach and results were limited by the inherent ‘attractiveness’ of our story (and the fact that SUPERCLIENT is small and relatively unknown), but not by a level of effort or pitching abilities.

“On the contrary, I was proud of SHIFT's efforts, as a team, and we all did the best we could with (our) ‘new news.’  Over time as SUPERCLIENT gains more wins, we'll continue to build our reputation and get more coverage.  So out of the gate it was great showing for (us); we strongly planted our flag in the space, and the tour was a success.

“Your team performed very well.  I thought ‘Bev,’ ‘Ellie’ and ‘Madge’ were all very professional and assertive getting our story out there and booking meetings.  They did a good job providing insightful feedback, prepping us with very valuable bios, getting everything coordinated well, being punctual, flexible with both our and the reporters’ schedules to make things happen, etc.  I also felt like we got in front of some of the top analysts in particular, which is very good.  That foundation will continue to pay dividends for us.

“Ellie and Madge both did a very good job of evaluating what messaging was working and feeding that back so we could continue to tighten our message.  I am also aware of a lot of good follow-up with reporters and doing everything possible to find ways to get ink (e.g., I know Madge and I talked about reminding a reporter of our live date later, even though the reporter signaled he may not cover the actual announcement - I like this kind of tenacity and ‘creating your own opportunities’). 

“I also should say that I knew Ellie the least before this process, because I think her personality is slightly more reserved and we often met in groups.  However, working with her one-on-one, I was very impressed with her intelligence; ability to articulate crisp, honest feedback; and I'm not sure how to describe this, but she has a nice style - calm, but respectable, a strong presence.  I guess she is more of a listener.  Do you know what I mean?  She's very good.

“Bev and I had a good collaborative effort on the two releases.  Your team are made up of good writers who care about the language, which I appreciate.  Bev also has a good ‘do whatever it takes’ attitude.  She jammed on revisions of the release until we had it right, and late into the night.  I liked that the team was energized and willing to pull in the release dates to draft off the competitors’ news.  Sometimes you get groans when you change things around, but your team actually leaned into it and stepped up without complaint.  It was appreciated.

“Also, though I realize she is junior, I think ‘Mary’ is doing a great job monitoring and summarizing the news as well as following up unapologetically with me to keep me on track for events and such.  This can be hard for someone earlier in their career, and although I do not bite, I could imagine her wanting to make sure she is sensitive to me as a client.  She is doing great.

“Thanks,

“SUPERCLIENT”

Again, I fully realize and acknowledge that this is practically a love-letter to SHIFT (thank you, SUPERCLIENT!), but luckily I get a fair number of those.  This note impressed me not so much for the praise but for the level of detail; for the visceral sense of partnership between client and agency.  Nothing’s getting past this guy.

Typically, such analytical notes are written when the client programs are going off-course (of course). 

But, when clients take the time to expound upon their agency team’s efforts in a constructive manner, even when things are humming along fine, it energizes the team – while keeping them focused on what could be done better next time. 

It’s the difference between coaching and judging.

It’s worth emulating.