At SHIFT Communications, our business model is ridiculously simple. Deadly effective but still, so simple. Ready?
Don't allow yourself to be afraid.
How?
Most of our competitors in the PR industry have 1 - 3 "anchor" accounts. Big pieces of business that can account for up to 30 percent or more of agency revenues. This model creates a culture of fear. When you are afraid about your ability to pay the rent, afraid of layoffs, afraid of losing the moneymakers, you lose your integrity.
From the lowbie Account Coordinator to the agency principal, a culture of client retention focused on the importance of the monthly rent-check instills a PR program with bland strategies, ho-hum tactics and feeble account teams. This will affect not only the cash-cow clients but all the smaller accounts on the roster, as well!
In those firms, A-Players are obviously put on the Big Accounts.
But, what client DOESN'T want an A-Team?
Imagine the conversation:
Client: "PR is the single biggest line item in my marketing budget. I want the agency team that works on Dell. They must be your A-players."
Agency: "True, and they have some bandwidth."
Client: "Great - but what happens if Dell has a big emergency? Will my account team suddenly go missing on me??"
Agency: "Err...ummm...well, we have other great teams who can pitch in."
Client: "But, Dell gets the bandwidth, right? I mean, since my budget is 1/10th the size of Dell's?"
Agency: "Err...ummm..."
Client: "Again, PR is the single biggest line item in my marketing budget. But you are telling me that your A-team only gives A-level effort to their biggest account?"
Agency (thinking to themselves): "Well - duh!"
Teams that serve the big account always prioritize to the detriment of smaller accounts. That's life when you work with an agency that caters to Big Accounts.
Yet why should smaller accounts accept anything less than the big client’s "A team?"
They shouldn't.
For SHIFT, no anchors = no fear. No fear = PR programs with integrity. When your model forbids "anchor" accounts - when every client is equally important - you insist as an agency on "A-teams for all."
As far as we are concerned at SHIFT, an A-team with no fear of reprisal when the client is in-the-wrong is the team you want when the chips are down.
You WANT a PR team that can disagree with you.
You WANT a PR team that has opinions and ideas based on years of experience. You WANT a PR team that acts as your PARTNER, not as your FLUNKY.
Don't you?
"How Did You Hear About Us?"
"How did you hear about us?" (HDYHAU?) is one of the most important things to ask your new prospects. An increasing number of companies get initial inquiries through their website thes days, and will often ask the question there.
(Although many are still just asking prospects to send an email to "sales@company.com" - and thus losing a major opportunity to qualify their prospects and/or measure their marketing ROI!)
While HDYHAU? is a great question to ask, there is little consistency across the Web about the possible ANSWERS. Here's one typical example:
"How Did You Hear About Us?"
Drop-down options include:
*Advertisement
*Article-Print
*Article-Web
*Company Website
*Direct Mail
*Search Engine
*Seminar
*Tradeshow
*WOM/Friend/Colleague
Can you tell what's wrong with these options?
1. Article-Print vs. Article-Web? Who cares where the article appeared, especially since most hardcopy articles are also published online? Is there a company or PR firm out there that genuinely cares anymore whether the ink was hardcopy or virtual? (Hmm, that's a potential subject for another blog entry!) Is there a company or PR firm out there that would change their communications strategies based on the number of replies to "Article-Print" vs. "Article-Web"?
2. "Company Website" - If they are AT your website then the prospect has ALREADY heard of you, eh?
3. Notice that the list is ALPHABETIZED? "What's wrong with that?" you might ask. One word reply: LAZINESS. It's no surprise to learn that a certain number of prospects will simply check-off the first option to appear within the drop-down menu. Thus in the list above, "Advertisement" may edge out all the other options. That will make your ad firm plenty happy, but you'll get a more ACCURATE perspective if you program your website to dynamically mix the options for every unique visitor.
Better yet: forget about the drop-down list of options for the HDYHAU question!
Instead, provide the same options in such a way that all options are visible at once (for example, in a 3X3 column - 3 options across X 3 options down), and have each option be accompanied by a radio-button. The question then becomes: "How did you hear about us? (Check all that apply)" When ALL options are visible at once and equally easy to select, the prospect is more likely to provide the ACCURATE answer.
Don't believe me? Don't think it's worth harassing your Webmaster? Think again: anecdotally, when one SHIFT client made these changes they soon realized substantial & sensible differences in their ability to determine their marketing ROI!
Marketing measurement is a great idea. Do it right. Make the commitment.
(Although many are still just asking prospects to send an email to "sales@company.com" - and thus losing a major opportunity to qualify their prospects and/or measure their marketing ROI!)
While HDYHAU? is a great question to ask, there is little consistency across the Web about the possible ANSWERS. Here's one typical example:
"How Did You Hear About Us?"
Drop-down options include:
*Advertisement
*Article-Print
*Article-Web
*Company Website
*Direct Mail
*Search Engine
*Seminar
*Tradeshow
*WOM/Friend/Colleague
Can you tell what's wrong with these options?
1. Article-Print vs. Article-Web? Who cares where the article appeared, especially since most hardcopy articles are also published online? Is there a company or PR firm out there that genuinely cares anymore whether the ink was hardcopy or virtual? (Hmm, that's a potential subject for another blog entry!) Is there a company or PR firm out there that would change their communications strategies based on the number of replies to "Article-Print" vs. "Article-Web"?
2. "Company Website" - If they are AT your website then the prospect has ALREADY heard of you, eh?
3. Notice that the list is ALPHABETIZED? "What's wrong with that?" you might ask. One word reply: LAZINESS. It's no surprise to learn that a certain number of prospects will simply check-off the first option to appear within the drop-down menu. Thus in the list above, "Advertisement" may edge out all the other options. That will make your ad firm plenty happy, but you'll get a more ACCURATE perspective if you program your website to dynamically mix the options for every unique visitor.
Better yet: forget about the drop-down list of options for the HDYHAU question!
Instead, provide the same options in such a way that all options are visible at once (for example, in a 3X3 column - 3 options across X 3 options down), and have each option be accompanied by a radio-button. The question then becomes: "How did you hear about us? (Check all that apply)" When ALL options are visible at once and equally easy to select, the prospect is more likely to provide the ACCURATE answer.
Don't believe me? Don't think it's worth harassing your Webmaster? Think again: anecdotally, when one SHIFT client made these changes they soon realized substantial & sensible differences in their ability to determine their marketing ROI!
Marketing measurement is a great idea. Do it right. Make the commitment.
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