The Pitch
Try to meet all the agencies on your shortlist within a few days of
each other. This will help ensure that the appointment process is not
affected by extraneous events or decisions.
Set clear expectations to all the agencies as to what is expected from
them on the day and how long the pitch will last. For instance, are
you asking the agencies to present their company or present actual campaign
ideas?
Make sure that the team appointing the agency has the authority to
do so and includes the people with day to day management and contact
responsibility for the agency. Similarly, ensure that the agencies include
on their team, the people that will actually be doing the work for you.
As with all business, success depends on good personal relationships.
Make sure you have confidence in the people you will be dealing with
on a daily basis and not simply the Directors. PR is about building
close working relationships between agency and client, agency and media
and media and client. If it doesn't work at a personal level, the professional
relationship probably won't either.
Try to ensure that the questioning of agencies remains fair throughout
the process and that the agencies seen later in the process neither
suffer nor benefit from the experience you've gained earlier in the
process. Pitch interviews should be treated with the same degree of
professional objectivity as senior staff appointments.
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