I attended a training session recently and was told that, during a pitch or in a client meeting, I was the prize in the room. This was because the client needed my expertise, knowledge and time to make its PR efforts work.
I’d never really thought about it in that way before. As PR consultants in an agency, you always fear you will get the sack if you lose a client, and it’s the end of the world if you go to pitch for a new client and don’t win. The client is the prize. So to have the tables turned is a game-changer.
I suspect I’m not alone in that old school line of thinking; agencies drum it in to you that you must run and manage client campaigns and press offices to within an inch of their being in order to demonstrate good client servicing.
But, with that mindset comes the words no account manager wants to hear: over-servicing. This is the practice that sees clients getting way more hours from their agency than they are paying for, and the agency absorbing these hours by working longer days, sometimes neglecting other clients and giving no time for new business because there is no more time in the day. It results in no more money coming in and employees who are overworked, underpaid and stressed out.
Of all the agencies I have worked for, every one of them had issues with over-servicing accounts. There are some people who are better than others at keeping hours down, but unfortunately, there are not enough of these people in the industry. Maybe they’ve all cleared off to work in-house where they can enjoy the perks of having an agency.
Whatever way you look at it, it’s a problem. The standardised industry average for over-servicing clients is around 20% of the monthly retainer. It’s a given that there will be months where activity is significantly higher for whatever reason and other months where it’s lower, evening things out. But when you are looking at a consistent 100% upwards each month, you know something needs to change.
Most of the time, the account head will caveat this with: “Its OK, it’s beneficial in the long-run because we’re getting great results, so the client will see that.” What that actually means is that they are hoping and praying the client will recognise this and offer to increase the monthly retainer. The chances of a client parting with more of their budget off their own back because their agency is giving them free time are slim-to-none. The onus is on the agency to stand-up for itself, rein it in, or ask for a fee increase and be prepared to show why.
There are two reasons agencies need to stop giving away their time. The obvious one is the detrimental effect it has on the business itself. Employees will work more than they should, giving less time to new business which is necessary to help the business grow. Other clients may also get less time leaving you with a risk of losing their business. As we all know, rumours spread quickly in the industry and it doesn’t take long for an agency to become known as a sweatshop.
The second reason is the agency employees. These are the people who are expected to work long hours and be contactable 24 hours a day. If they are flat out working on certain clients to keep them happy, they will then have to pick up other work or new business afterwards, meaning days become longer, work-life balance isn’t balanced, salaries do not increase, motivation drops and the worst part of it all: negativity increases. We all know that negativity spreads like wildfire.
Over-servicing needs to stop. It isn’t fair on anyone and doesn’t help. Account heads need to prove their worth and step up and ask for a fee increase, or explain that the level of servicing will decrease to fall in line with the fee. What if the client isn’t happy with this? Maybe it’s time you reminded them that you’re the prize in the room.
To get weekly news analysis, job alerts and event notifications direct to your inbox, sign up free for Media Network membership.
All Guardian Media Network content is editorially independent except for pieces labelled “Brought to you by” – find out more here.
Could you be one of our bloggers? Got an idea for an anonymous blog post about the realities of working in PR? Get in touch here.