IF YOU WANT SECTOR SPECIFIC EXPERTISE, ASK A SPECIALIST
In the world of professional services, people like to know they’re dealing with a specialist. You wouldn’t hire a criminal lawyer to manage the paperwork for the acquisition of a new company would you? Nor would you hire an accountant with an expertise in pensions to advise on your VAT return.
And yet, when it comes to PR, it would seem that clients are much more willing to trust generalist PR skills without specialist sector expertise to back them up; a situation that Clare PR, as a specialist niche construction PR agency, finds very hard to comprehend.
The same applies in PR as it does in any other professional advisory role: specialist experience means knowledge that, as consultants, we can leverage to help clients develop a successful PR strategy, define meaningful messaging, devise compelling stories and thought leadership articles and speak to relevant media contacts and stakeholders.
If you know the agency you’re hiring has a track record in your sector, you can also be confident that they will be able to understand your business in the context of your marketplace. That not only means that they will be able to add value with a broader focus on your commercial goals and challenges, it also means that you’ll spend less time briefing them and explaining basic terminology or concepts.
In practice, for our clients in the built environment sector, that means they can assume we understand the A-Z of construction speak, from BIM and BREEAM right through to SBEM Calculations, Tecton architecture and underfloor heating.
It’s a level of specialist expertise that many of our client's prize, and one that helps Clare PR win new business with a portfolio of clients that complement each other. We’re open and honest about who we work with (it’s all there on our website in glorious technicolour) and our clients trust us to do a great job because they know we have the knowledge that sets us apart from generalist agencies.
So next time you’re looking for a new PR agency, amongst all the big promises and whizz-bang ideas of a pitch, perhaps you should also ask yourself this question: ‘does this agency really understand what we do?’ The answer might help you get more from your PR budget.