REALTOR® Magazine Online: Tips in Hiring a PR Company

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Tips in Hiring a PR Company

The Public Relations Society of America suggests taking the following steps before hiring a firm.

Identify your public relations requirements. Do you simply want your name mentioned regularly in the Sunday real estate section of your local newspaper? Or do you want a full-scale PR campaign that includes placement of news releases and feature stories plus coordination of news conferences, public speeches, and special events?

Assess your budget. The more tasks you require, the more you can expect to pay. The cost of a PR program may range from $500 a month for a small real estate firm to $5,000 a month for a national firm. Based on your budget, you may decide to use a PR specialist for special projects only.

Compile a list of five to seven or more candidates by asking for recommendations from peers, professional associations, and members of the media. Look for a firm that understands the real estate business and has good contacts with local media outlets. Also, be sure that the company has the capacity to do all the PR activities you feel you need.

Talk with each candidate to learn about its capabilities and credentials. Ask for a list of clients. Then call several clients to check out their experiences and find out what they like and dislike about the firm.

Narrow your choices down to two or three. Then ask the finalists to submit a written proposal or give an oral presentation about how they would provide their services and how they would address a specific problem or project.

Meet with your final choice to discuss fee arrangements and determine the length of your initial contract. Some firms charge by the hour, some charge by the project, and some ask for a retainer that covers all work for a specified period of time. Negotiate a compensation method that matches your specific needs.

Portions adapted from Roz Ayres-Williams, “Picking the Perfect PR Partner,” in Black Enterprise, April 1999

TIP: Before you sign the contract, ask to meet all the people who will actually work on your account. Make sure you are compatible because the long-term success of your PR program will depend on the personal relationship you develop with your PR professional.

TIP: Don’t choose a specialized firm that just relies on the same old formula. Look instead for a public relations company that can show you some solid success stories in real estate as well as in a number of other unrelated markets, products, and services.
—Sol Abrams, “How Do You Select a Public Relations Representative?” in Real Estate Today®, March/April 1985

TIP: Pay attention to the size of your PR firm in relation to the amount of business you’re giving them. If your portion of their business is too small, you may not get the attention you need. And if your portion of their business is too great, they may become too dependent on you. Try to stay between 7 percent and 20 percent of a firm’s business.
—Chad Kaydo, “How to Hire a PR Firm,” in Sales and Marketing Management, April 2000

Advanced: Tips for Handling Negative Publicity

Whether the problem you face is a fire, an attack on a real estate associate, or a business setback, it’s always a good idea to be prepared. You can’t completely avoid negative publicity if bad things happen, but you can reduce the likelihood of making a bad situation worse.

Designate a spokesperson to answer all questions. In this way, you don’t end up with conflicting stories that fuel speculation.

Be honest and open. In some legal cases, you may not be able to share all information, but be as forthright as you can with the press.

Never speculate on causes or guess at facts. If you don’t know, say so, then try to provide a realistic time that you will be able to provide that information.

Never lose your temper or act overly aggressive to reports. They may be pushy, but that’s their job.

Don’t try to be funny; it is almost always misconstrued.

In a disaster, concentrate first on what is being done to help victims, then on monetary losses.

Adapted from Power PR, Dennis Cole Hill, Fell Publishers Inc. , 1990

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