Three reasons to fire (or keep) your PR company

This is the view of Janine Bührmann, managing director of Livewired Communications.

"Public relations isn't about the general public; it's about 'relating' to specific stakeholder 'publics' - publics like your customers or prospects; staff; shareholders - even competitors," she says.

"Think about how you're already 'relating' to these different 'publics'. You're talking to your customers over the counter, over the boardroom table, over coffee and over the phone. You're 'relating' to your staff at staff meetings, in memos and at company braais."

According to Bührmann companies certainly don't want their PR company to start phoning customers and making appointments on their behalf.

"Do you want your PR company to do staff appraisals? Of course not! Relating to these publics isn't their job - it's your job," she emphasizes.

"The PR company's role is to help liaise with the media, formulate opinions, and get the word out. But they're still your opinions, your relationship with the media. If you don't want to take responsibility for building relationships with your stakeholders, your PR company can't help you. Fire them now, and save their time and your money."

Bührmann outlines some of the common reasons the PR relationship fails:

You don't share your objectives with your PR company

If you think PR can function in a vacuum, you're like 80% of clients who complain about their PR companies. Where is the PR consultant supposed to soak up your industry, your company culture and your positioning if you don't give them access? They should be involved at all senior management briefings. You should be treating them like an external board member - somebody who is a trusted advisor and whose opinion you trust. The more information you give them, the better. If you don't want to share strategic information because it's "too sensitive"; if you postpone your PR meetings because you're "too busy"; if your PR company is not on the staff e-mail list; then it means you're not treating the relationship with the respect it deserves. You may as well part company now while you're still reasonably good friends, because if this is your attitude to PR, the relationship will end in tears.

You don't have a PR plan

This sounds so obvious that you probably don't even want to read this section. But have you agreed with your PR company what you expect from it and what it can reasonably expect from you? Do you review your PR plan every three months? Do you measure the effectiveness of PR and have semi-annual brainstorming sessions to make it more effective? Are you measuring your average time to approve a press release? Are you improving your own spokesperson skills - and measuring the result according to the plan? You're not alone. You wouldn't send your sales force out without establishing their targets. So why not do this with your PR? Sure it's difficult to measure. Difficult, but not impossible. The motivational guys say failing to plan is planning to fail. Trite, but true.

Three reasons to keep your PR company

If you want your PR company to help you build relationships with your key stakeholder "publics", ask them - they're full of good ideas. If you're willing to share your strategic intent as a business with the PR company - you'll find they have valuable input on making that strategy happen. If you are keen to develop a PR plan, which works hand-in-hand with the sales force, the advertising and the events activity you're already doing - your PR company is your best partner.