It’s amazing to me the misconception companies have when looking to hire a PR agency. Its no mystery I think PR is the powerful tool in your marketing toolbox. That being said, when companies look to hire an agency, the process can sometimes be daunting. Talking to five different agencies will generally result in five different “selling points” as to why their firm is the best agency for you. For all marketing directors or CEOs, let me give you the five questions you’ll ever need to hire a PR agency.

1). What is your strongest competitive advantage?

-Ask this question and wait for the prolonged silence on the other end of the phone. PR agencies aren’t used to answering that question. Why does is matter? Why is important? There are thousands of PR agencies. 950 of them will answer, “It’s our relationships with the editorial community.” If you’re in the PR business, I’m going to go ahead and assume you have editorial relationships. Competitive advantage isn’t relationships; it’s the ability to get immediate coverage. If you get the “relationships” answer, thank them for their time and hang up.

2). I see you have a few clients in our space. If we went with you, how would you ensure we would be “top of mind” with your contacts?

-This is probably one of the biggest misconceptions in our space. “Agency X has four clients in my space, so therefore, we should go with Agency X”. Here’s the reality of the situation: As PR professionals, we uncover many PR opportunities for our clients. If ABC publication is running an article on “web applications” and we have five clients in the “web app” space, whom are we going to pitch? The client paying us the most? The client with the “best” technology? The client who hasn’t had coverage in the past two weeks? choices….choices…choices.

3). How do you measure ROI?

-If you are speaking with an Agency, and they don’t mention ROI analysis in the 1st two minutes of your conversation, run away.

4). Who is working on my account and what is their specific experience?

-By “specific experience,” I want to see coverage generated by each person who is working on my account. Send me clips, links and videos of the coverage obtained in the last 90 days.

5). When can I expect coverage?

-The million-dollar question. I’m guessing you need coverage now…..not 90 days from now. ROI…ROI….ROI. We haven’t had a client start with us in the last year that hasn’t had media coverage in the first two weeks. As a matter of fact, BLASTmedia is eight for eight of our last new clients to get national media coverage in the first week.

Hiring a PR agency is a big decision. Be sure you are asking the right questions and not just the questions that are expected – otherwise, you’ll get pre-packaged responses and kick yourself when you’re six months in and are still looking to get national media coverage to drive sales.