Winning New Clients In A Down Market

About three months ago, I had a lengthy phone call with a friend of mine who'd been charged with growing the client roster for a struggling PR agency. The firm is not located in the city where it wants to expand the client base; the agency offers no unique skill set or industry expertise (at least one it's willing to stand behind), and had no particular plan for how to help anyone. It's an agency that wants fees (fairly steep ones I might add) upfront in an effort to ensure its own survival. I remember listening to this, offering some suggestions (which I was quickly told the agency president would never consider), and wishing him good luck.

Yesterday, I got a call saying that he hadn't picked up one new client. Surprise, surprise. In fairness, my friend agreed with me upfront and knew he was fighting a losing battle if the agency wasn't willing to face up to the realities of the marketplace. Despite the lack of new business success, the agency is still not willing to change its approach, and it's likely my friend is done fighting with the agency leadership.

Well, just because my friend's agency is intractable doesn't mean I shouldn't share some perfectly plausible strategies for others during these difficult times. None of this is necessarily new (or rocket science for the matter) but have a look and introduce your own thoughts as well.

1. Approach prospects in a vertical industry segment with which you've had proven success. Study your prospect's business and offer some specific ideas for helping them achieve their near-term goals.
2. Approach prospects with a very specific communication expertise that you believe differentiates you in the marketplace among other competitors and has demonstrated tangible business benefits for other clients. It not only offers the prospect a reason to hire you, but should optimize your chances for earning trust and providing other services down the road.
3. Approach prospects with a short-term plan, not a longer term engagement. Be willing to help them with the situation at hand. If you're successful, you'll earn the longer term gig.
4. Approach prospects with ideas, not qualifications. The only thing that will truly differentiate you from the thousands of competitors who do exactly what you do (either just as well or possibly better) will be your thinking against a prospect's specific needs. Look at the client service excellence quote at the top of this blog. You don't have to be superhuman or even better than your competitors, you just have to be willing to do what others could be doing, but just aren't.
5. Borrow a page from David Maister, Marshall Goldsmith and the other uber-consultants out there who actually stand behind their work. Present your ideas, set near-term goals, and tell the client that you don't expect them to pay you upfront in the hope that your approach is successful. Explain that they'll only have to pay for your time if the goals are achieved, or as David Maister structures it, "pay me what you think I'm worth." If you really believe you can help the prospect, then have the courage to stand by your work.

I look forward to your comments on these five points and to receiving other ideas you may have on the topic!

Keep Your Eye On The Ball

Funny how this bit of advice is relevant to just about everything. The difference in PR is you have to keep your eye on the same ball your client is watching. Putting all your focus on PR outcomes isn't going to be sufficient in most cases. For example, if your PR program is ultimately aimed at driving store traffic and increasing sales, and you're fixated exclusively on media coverage, you may not keep your client for very long.

Let your client know you care about the same things (s)he cares about. This is how you'll be regarded as a business partner versus just a publicity person. The more you stay in touch with your client's business needs, the more value you'll bring to your client and the more your client will value you. If this practice sounds obvious, that's great, but you'd be surprised at how rare it is.

Consider what happens during the lean times: Companies are quick to cut PR budgets or dismiss their firms altogether, when it should be the time they need and value us most. They don't feel this way because we do such a horrible job of demonstrating our overall value to their enterprise. Unless clients believe their business will be better off WITH our help than WITHOUT it, then you and your firm will always be held hostage by the whims of the marketplace. Now you can make the argument that nothing you do will ever change that dynamic. OR you could regard it much more in terms of Pascal’s wager that “the infinite expected value of believing is always greater than the expected value of not believing.” In other words, what have you got to lose by demonstrating a focus on your client's business and raising your client service game?

As students entering the PR profession, begin your careers with an orientation and an interest in your clients that is greater than just PR results. Do so successfully, and you'll take a giant step toward improving the overall perception of what we do.

This is the seventh and final supplemental post to the series I began just after the first of the year. Thanks to Kelli Matthews and her class at the University of Oregon. Best wishes to you all and Go Ducks!