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| Steve Drake (L) & Robert Udowitz |
When hiring a full-time mid or senior-level communications manager, how much time and expense does your organization invest in preparing the position requirements, reviewing resumes, screening candidates, checking references, hiring a headhunter, and making the final selection?
When you last retained a communications firm — likely spending the equivalent of an entire team of specialists—did you apply the same rigorous due diligence, even though the agency budget likely far exceeded that single manager's salary and benefits?
It should go without saying that selecting a communications firm deserves the same scrutiny as hiring a full team, because your budget, communications success, and organizational reputation depend on it.
Too often, a firm is hired based on the advice of colleagues or organizations, or on the good work it accomplished for a client in a similar space. But today’s universe of competent, results-focused agencies of all sizes and reach has grown exponentially, providing numerous choices worth knowing and considering.
Indeed, reviewing firms’ capabilities should start with a clean slate to ensure not only that you have considered all possible agencies, but that your short-listed agencies – those to which you will send your RFP -- can meet or exceed your requirements.
Just as your organization collects and reviews resumes, it should undertake a pre-screening process – a request for qualifications, or RFQ - to identify candidate agencies whose demonstrated expertise, capabilities, and strategic thinking align with the organization and its future direction. After this step, you should feel confident in distributing a request for proposals (RFP) or scope of work document to a limited number of qualified agencies.
With the RFQ, be specific about what you are seeking, pose questions to unearth information you don’t see in agency websites or case histories, and assure responding agencies that you will not share responses outside your organization.
Such pre-screening protects both parties from mismatched expectations, enables you to shortlist (we recommend no more than five) agencies to which you send the RFP, and establishes the foundation for a productive, long-term partnership with the agency you ultimately decide to retain.
The RFP process itself is to hiring a communications agency, as multiple rounds of interviews with key internal clients is to hiring a communications manager or staffer. A well-developed RFP should include a thorough outline of the anticipated scope of work, coupled with important background information, as well as the specific requirements and deadlines assigned to the short-listed candidate firms.
Other key steps to ensure your RFP process and related due diligence on prospective agencies is on par with those you would complete for prospective staffers/employee:
Include a ballpark budget or budget range. Employee candidates want to know the starting salary and benefits. Likewise, candidate communications agencies responding to your RFP should be provided with budget guidance – so that their strategic recommendations can be evaluated against their competition on an apples-to-apples basis. Determine how responding agencies will be good stewards of your budget rather than which agency will give you the lowest price.
Evaluate digital presence and thought leadership. You will certainly look at that potential employee’s online profile and activity. By the same token, a communications firm's website, social media strategy, and content quality will help reveal their capabilities. Do your short-listed agencies publish insights relevant to your industry, demonstrate innovative thinking, and maintain strong relationships with key media outlets and influencers in your space?
Request relevant work samples. Just as you might ask job candidates for examples of their work and accomplishments, ask candidate agencies for case studies that demonstrate measurable results, not just media coverage. Look for evidence of strategic thinking, creative problem-solving, and the ability to pivot when initial approaches don't yield expected results.
Check references and ask good questions. Hiring an employee typically involves talking with former employers and colleagues. The same applies to communications agency candidates. But don’t draw from simple, bland questions like: “How’d the agency do?” Rather, create and ask questions important to you and your prospective day-to-day relationship with the agency: “Did you ever have a disagreement or dispute about a budget or a bill? How was that resolved?”
Evaluate team composition rigorously. Understand and ask to hear from those who will actually service your account, not just the senior executives who participate in pitches. High staff turnover disrupts client relationships and saps institutional knowledge. Request detailed team backgrounds and relative industry experience.
The bottom line: Slow and steady wins the race, whether you are hiring your next superstar communications manager or your next agency of record. Both can transform your communications effectiveness – so invest the time, effort, and due diligence to find the perfect strategic partner.
For more information on communications agency search and hiring best practices, please visit RFP Associates at www.rfpassociates.net.
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Robert Udowitz and his partner Steve Drake founded RFP Associates.
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