How to Choose a PR Agency or Consultant: Senior Support, Efficient Budgets, Real Results

Over more than 25 years working in communications, I've experienced the agency relationship from both sides.

I've worked in-house and appointed and managed agencies. I've worked alongside senior management, managed communications budgets that had to be justified internally and to stakeholders, served as a non-executive board member and advised CEOs.

I've also been on the other side, building and running my own six-person PR agency in Hong Kong. Today, I work independently as a senior PR and communications adviser.

Over the years, I've met plenty of agencies with impressive offices and generous budgets for lunches and client entertainment.

Those things were nice, but they never particularly impressed me.

When I was the client, I cared much more about whether the agency understood our business and what we were trying to achieve. I wanted ideas that addressed our goals and worked within our budget, rather than creativity for the sake of it.

I also wanted people who would challenge my thinking when they had a different view, but who would listen to my input too. I knew my organisation. They brought an outside perspective. The best relationships were collaborative.

And, of course, I wanted results.

Those experiences have shaped both what I look for in PR support and the way I work with my own clients today.

Location matters less than it used to

I don't think you need to choose a PR consultant simply because they are based near your office.

Some of my longest client relationships have been with people I have rarely, if ever, met face to face.

When I was based in Hong Kong, I worked with clients in the UK without regularly meeting them in person. Now that I'm based in the UK, I work with clients in Hong Kong and China in much the same way.

I've been working internationally and remotely since long before video meetings became part of everyday business.

What matters more is whether the person advising you has the right experience for your business and the markets in which you operate.

If you're an international company, for example, I would look for someone who has experience working internationally and understands that communications don't work in exactly the same way in every market.

Regional experience matters too. Working across a region such as Asia involves different media, audiences, cultures and ways of doing business. Someone whose experience has mainly been within one local market may not have dealt with that level of complexity before.

There are, of course, times when local knowledge or someone on the ground is important. But the person leading your communications doesn't necessarily need to be based locally.

I would choose the right experience over the nearest postcode.

Senior-led thinking

Experience matters, but I would look beyond the number of years someone has worked in PR.

Has their experience prepared them for the type and scale of work you need?

I've worked in-house, in international businesses, on a board, as an agency owner and now as an independent adviser. I've worked with businesses, trade associations and public bodies across different sectors and international markets.

That experience shapes how I approach communications.

I don't start by asking what PR activity we can produce. I want to understand what the organisation is trying to achieve, who matters, what the opportunities are and what could go wrong.

It also means that when a client works with me, they work directly with me.

There are no layers between the person giving the advice and the person doing the work.

Budgets need to work hard

When I worked in-house, communications budgets weren't simply numbers on a spreadsheet.

I was responsible for them.

I had to decide where the money should be spent and explain that expenditure to senior management and stakeholders. I needed to know what we were trying to achieve and whether the results justified the investment.

That made me very conscious of agencies proposing ideas that might look impressive but weren't right for the objective or simply couldn't be justified within the available budget.

I wanted good ideas, but they also had to be appropriate, practical and affordable.

That still shapes the advice I give clients today.

Every organisation has constraints. There is little value in recommending a communications strategy that a client doesn't have the money, people or time to deliver.

Good strategy has to work in the real world.

I understand what it's like to be the client

Working in-house taught me something else that I think is sometimes overlooked.

Clients are busy.

When I appointed an agency, I didn't want to spend my time managing it. I wanted people who understood what we were trying to achieve, kept me informed, asked for my input when they needed it and otherwise got on with the work.

That's how I work with clients today.

I work independently and take responsibility for my work. I don't expect a client to manage me or constantly check that things are happening.

At the same time, I know when I need their knowledge, input or a decision.

I will also challenge a client's thinking when I believe there is a better approach. But challenge has to work both ways. My clients know their organisations better than I do. I bring an independent communications perspective and experience from working across many different organisations and markets.

The best work comes from combining the two.

Think about reputation before you go live

I believe communications should be reputation-led.

That means considering the possible impact before something goes public, rather than dealing with an avoidable problem afterwards.

Before recommending a campaign, announcement or piece of communications, I think about how different audiences could respond.

Could something be misunderstood? Can we support what we're saying? Have we considered the people who may be affected? Could an apparently good idea create an unnecessary reputational issue?

That doesn't mean being overly cautious. It means thinking things through.

I've worked in issues, crisis and reputation management as well as proactive PR. That experience means I'm considering both the opportunity and the potential risk.

I would look for that judgement in anyone I appointed to advise an organisation.

A lesson from running my own agency

When I started my own PR agency in Hong Kong, I found myself on the other side of something I had experienced as a client.

We were a small business competing against large international agencies with impressive offices and significantly larger budgets for client entertainment.

I couldn't compete with that, and initially I worried that it might matter.

It didn't.

We won international clients and long-term retainers because clients valued our ideas, experience, service and results.

It taught me something I probably already knew from being a client myself: the things surrounding the work matter much less than the quality of the work and the people you are trusting to do it.

That lesson has stayed with me.

What really matters when choosing an agency

If I were choosing a PR agency or consultant today, I would ask:

• Have they taken the time to understand our business and what we're trying to achieve?

• Is their experience appropriate to the size and scope of our organisation?

• If we operate across different countries or regions, do they have relevant international experience?

• Will we work directly with someone senior and experienced?

• Will they give us ideas that address our objectives and budget rather than creativity for its own sake?

• Will they challenge our thinking while also listening to what we know about our own organisation?

• Can they work independently without needing constant management?

• Do they understand reputation as well as promotion?

• Can they identify potential communications risks before we go public?

• Can they demonstrate relevant results from previous work?

I would also pay close attention to the questions they ask me.

Good communications advice starts with understanding the organisation before deciding what communications it needs.

Why I now work independently

Having worked in-house and then built and run an agency, I now choose to work independently.

It allows my clients to work directly with me and access the experience I've built over more than 25 years.

That experience includes managing communications in-house, managing substantial budgets, working alongside senior management, serving as a non-executive board member, advising CEOs, running my own agency, and working across UK, regional, and international markets.

My work combines senior advice with practical delivery. Clients are paying for my judgement and experience, but they also benefit from someone who can put that advice into practice, whether that's developing a communications strategy, handling media relations, creating content, supporting a trade show or dealing with an emerging issue.

The difference is that the delivery is guided by experience: knowing what is worth doing, what isn't, where there may be a risk and how communications can best support what the organisation is trying to achieve.

I understand that clients don't need another person to manage. They need someone who can understand their business, give them good advice and get on with the work.

That's the way I've chosen to structure my consultancy.

If you're looking for senior PR and communications support and think this way of working might suit your organisation, you can book a free 15-minute consultation to discuss what you need.

If you need senior communications leadership for a defined period, such as maternity or parental leave, between permanent hires or during a major project, my Interim PR Director service may be a better fit.