What do these guys expect for $10,000 per month?
“What do these guys expect? They’re paying us only $10,000 per month.” Those are the words I heard from an executive at a large PR firm complaining about his difficult client.
In essence, the client felt like he wasn’t getting any solid results. And the executive felt like the client wasn’t worth his time.
I was at a PR conference and our company was brand new and tiny. My first reaction was shock:
Wow. Here’s an executive who looks at a $10,000/month contract as an annoyance — a distraction from his mega clients.
My next reaction was wonder and amazement:
How had this PR firm become so successful that it could charge its clients five times what I was charging while delivering inferior service?
How is it possible to charge a client $10,000 per month and not produce outstanding results?
Why would a client stay with a PR firm that didn’t value that client’s business?
The next morning, I identified as many of the executive’s clients as possible, and then I called them up and pitched them — offering better service and lower prices.
To this day, I’ve never figured out how some PR firms can consistently overcharge and under-deliver. But I do know one thing: They have a difficult time retaining clients.
