Hi guys, welcome to my weekly Facebook live. How's everybody doing? I'm excited today. Um, got something really cool to share going live just after this goes live. Um, yeah, it's like a perfectly orchestrated series of events. So, um, I'm very excited. I have some very cool news and we are going to be doing an Instagram live at 1:00 PM today to share what that news is and what it means for you. So I hope you'll join me over on Instagram at generation PR 1:00 PM Pacific. Um, yeah, super excited, really good news to share and welcome to today's chat. Um, you know, I'm, this is a big one for me because I think that, uh, the number one reason for client dissatisfaction is their unmet expectations. So when they're, um, uh, sharing their expectations and you don't properly address it, you're just going to set up the relationship for failure and they're never gonna be satisfied.
So it's, you know, it's important to this whole path of profitability framework that I talk about and share with you guys all the time. It's all based on, um, retention, you know, like it's a lot easier to retain your clients to continue to provide them with service, increase their scope of work over time. And of course, adding new clients in, but that's how you grow. Right? And you build on top of what you've already created. So it's really important to have this, um, you know, kind of foundation of happy clients that are just like, what else can we do with you? We, we love working with you. What else do you got? And that means that their expectations are being met and they're happy. So I know it's really exciting when we're talking to prospective clients and we're really like jazzed about the opportunity and we want to bring them in, um, you know, and we kind of start by assessing their needs and giving them a taste that we are the right team for the job.
But sometimes on those calls, they start saying things and you're like, this is not realistic. It used to be back in the day. Well, we wanna get on Oprah and then it was like, we wanna be on Ellen's, uh, holiday giveaway, 12 days of holiday, or we wanna be on Oprah's favorite things in the magazine and you're like you and everyone else. Right. Um, give me a thumbs up or a heart if you, uh, if that resonates with you, because you've had clients that are like, uh, we have a, a member of our programs here who, um, had a client that was like just an author, you know, no one had ever really heard of her. And she wanted to be on dancing with the stars and was like, go ahead and make that happen for me. What, you know, this is not realistic, but we also don't wanna say yes, just to get the work because then they're not gonna be happy.
Uh, Serena says, this is the most timely live for me right now. Tell me what you're, what you're experiencing. Um, you know, we wanna actually make our clients happy, make 'em satisfied with our work. And that starts with setting really clear expectations right off the bat. Um, you have to really do a good job, like step into your expertise. Um, this came up on one of our calls, our, um, agency accelerator, plus coaching call this week where somebody, um, was just really sharing that the concept of stepping into their expertise and feeling almost the permission to do that on these calls, um, gave her the confidence to reset client expectations on that sales call. And yeah, you might risk losing the work, but more likely you are going to gain their trust. And they're going to see you as the expert that you are. So I think it's important to walk through these steps of how to educate clients on what could be possible for them, with PR and in what timeline and all of that.
So we're gonna dive into that. I'm excited to hear Serena's, um, current situation probably with clients that are a little off their rocker with what they expect. Everybody wants everything and they want it now, but we have to really educate them on the process and how it works. So I feel that as the PR pro, oh, um, hold on one second. My thing Sarina, I just received the rudest and most unprofessional email of my life. Wow. From the VP of sales for one of my clients, they just canceled after a month and a half. What that is, that's horrible. That's a, that's a bad person. Obviously we know that has nothing to do with you. Um, and maybe the, um, other chat that I did was it last week or two weeks ago about clients wanting to just end their contract early is also kind of relevant, but, uh, that's terrible.
And listen, you guys, we're running our own businesses and these prospective clients, or some of the internal at the company, I don't care what their role is. They don't get to treat you like that. It's not acceptable. Oh, they didn't pay oh, no payment for April. Oh my God. See, that's the worst, um, is when you do the work. Yeah, I am so sorry that happened. That's seriously rotten. Um, I think as just to kind of address this, I think that you might be able to use the early termination of the contract and sort of letting them out in good faith, um, as a negotiating point to ensure that you get paid for April, cuz all I really want is for all of us to get paid for the work that you do that has to feel so sucky, Serena, I'm really sorry. And obviously it has nothing to do with you has nothing to do with your team.
That's not enough time. So it's possible that we need to do more in the beginning to set their expectations. And that also means understanding timelines because we all know as PR pros, how long things actually take. And we have to tell clients because I'm sorry, a month and a half is, you're not gonna see really anything in a month and a half. Um, yeah. So thank you for sharing that. I appreciate you being open about that. Let's talk about it. Yeah. Um, let's talk about that. Like we'll walk through it and I'll try to tie it back to that example, but I think you can use like early termination, they're exercising early termination as a way to just secure your payment for the work you did in April. Cuz that's, that's awful when you do the work and you, you know, don't get paid. So, um, let's see if we can walk through how this happens.
So what actually leads to unrealistic client expectations. Um, this has to do with us early on in the discovery call in the vetting process, helping them define success and make sure that whatever their expectations are, they're aligned with what reality could possibly be. And they're realistic. So you never want your clients to really, um, kind of run with, uh, their own understanding of goals. Like it has to be very clear what the goals of PR could be for them, what they're looking for. And if it's a sales goal, that's not a realistic, um, goal for PR and it should not be a KPI that you're measured against. You can discuss what the deliverables are gonna look like or what is realistic what's expected in terms of results. And what we have found is that many clients, even a VP of sales, even somebody very senior I've had CEOs at major companies that don't really understand what PR is because they might not have the same background as we do.
They might not have ever encountered PR in a company, um, or anyone that does PR that's really explained to them what it is and what it isn't. So, um, we know that, you know, it's nuanced between PR um, advertising, marketing, social media, marketing, email, marketing, SEO, like all of these are ways that companies can promote their businesses. But a lot of times, um, the executives in the company, their perspective client does not know the distinction between all of these. And sometimes we assume that they do, but they may have never worked with a PR agency before. Um, they may not, um, really understand what it is. I mean, if you think about what PR is represented as, or portrayed as in pop culture, like in TV and movies, right before I actually started in PR when I was an attorney, I thought it was celebrities got in trouble doing something naughty, something they definitely should not have been doing.
And some talking head would come out and smooth things over and they would come up with a campaign that was like show up on this show, act humble, accept responsibility on this show, say you're, you know, donating to charity, um, or putting out an official statement. That's what I thought PR was. I had no idea that brands, experts, authors could utilize that service in any way. And I just figured it was like celebrities had a publicist that was like, get me out there and make me famous. That's really what I thought it was. So, um, we've also more and more lately seen these kind of shady PR agencies that are really only offering pay to play opportunities. They position it and you guys know they position it as well. Um, no more expensive retainers. You only, um, have to pay if we land you a feature that really it's a pay to play opportunity.
They're kind of buying wholesale real estate on a site. Um, usually through a contributor in kind of a shady way and they're selling it off in pieces for retail. And when the publication finds out, like if it's Forbes or business insider or Bloomberg or Huffington post, they will just delete that entire contributor's content channel because it's, it violates their rules. And it happens all the time. So you're spending this money or your clients are spending money on a sure thing, but it also will have a negative effect on their ability to secure future future features because legit journalists and freelancers are gonna do a search on the subject of their article that you're pitching. And they're gonna say, wait a minute, this company is shady. They're doing pay to play and I don't wanna touch it with a 10 foot pole. So no, no thanks.
Thanks. No thanks. So it's toxic, right? Um, but clients are like, well, I only wanna pay if I, if you land me something and we know that, and it's in our contract, it's in the contract in the agency accelerator that we give to you, um, that you make your own it's in the contract. That results are not guaranteed. That's just an industry standard. So, um, the other thing that has happened with some clients is that they've worked with agencies, but they had unrealistic expectations and they left because they thought the agency was the problem. And that's possible in Serena's scenario here. Um, and I don't even care like good rid to them. Anyone that would treat you like that that's unacceptable. You do not need. And that only means that when they're actually paying , um, and they're expecting more than what's realistic, they're gonna be even more nasty.
That's just the way things are. Um, I mean, it's just terrible. Like we just don't want anyone to ever have to be treated like that. Oh my God, today's a long one. I'm gonna go faster because it's like, oof. Um, yeah, good, good Rens. You don't deserve that. So, uh, and, and oftentimes I'll talk to clients and they're like, oh, our PR agency and da, da, da. And we weren't seeing anything. I'm like, well, how long did you work with them a month and a half? Oh, we were like around two months, we were just starting to see stuff, but nothing. I was like, you did not give them enough time and I'll never talk negatively about another agency. I mean, our whole platform is to support agency owners and build them up. So I'm never gonna be like, well, they didn't do a good job.
You know? It's like, well, you know, we're pitching the same editors. I don't really know. We'll have to see what kind of results we have, but you know, you didn't give them enough time. So we're gonna try to, um, pay attention to like how these unrealistic expectations will show up. So it might be blatant like a client may say something like, well, I expect, you know, 25 to 50, um, placements per month and top tier outlets. And if you're not hitting that result, then it is not worth the spend. Like, no, that's not how it works. So you possibly would just wanna decline working with that client if you can't reshape their expectations, because you're never like all caps never, ever, ever going to make them happy. Cuz that's just not realistic. Um, you know, like we can bust our butts and you're like, oh my God, I'm crushing it.
And the client's like, we're not happy with the results and you're going, what? So it's because they don't get what is likely to happen. Misaligned expectations are the number one reasons why clients leave. Let me say that again. Hi, Rick misaligned expectations are the absolute number. One reason why clients do not stick around and why they bounce from agency to agency. And we want you to follow the framework that I teach to, which is building consistent, predictable, recurring retainer revenue every month with a full client roster with clients you love, who appreciate your work. Um, and that means you have to deliver results and you can't fulfill your promises. If you don't establish what's expected and what's realistic. So you can't provide that service. That's like a plus service. If they don't know what a plus service actually looks like. So we know that client satisfaction will come from those expectations being aligned with reality.
And then what ultimately happens or could happen with your results. Um, makes sense. Oh, hi Nelson. No problem. I think you mentioned to me, you might be a little late today. Um, makes sense so far guys. Um, yeah. yeah. And I know I, I mentioned at the top of the call, anyone who's watching on replay already heard it, but I have a big, exciting announcement. We are going out to our list at noon and then I'm going live on Instagram at 1:00 PM to talk about the big news that I'm super pumped about and what it means for you, what it means for this community. So I hope you join me. And as a favor to me, if you happen to see one of our posts or something, um, please share it and you know, kind of amplify our message. Um, you'll know, you'll know when you see it.
Um, it just would mean so much to me because I'm, I'm really excited, but I don't want it to just be like, you know, like not a big deal. Um, and I'm hoping to be able to communicate the, um, value to you with this news. So, um, alright so Nelson we're resetting client expectations, so that they're realistic. Um, when a client or a potential client really understands what you are going to do and what you're able to do. Hi Chrissy. Um, and in what timeline, so it's like, this is realistic. This is what a plan would look like. And you can also show them similar results to help them visualize it along with what you need from them. You can create a true effective partnership scenario where it's like, I can't do this or do it well, unless I have that, that, that if you, um, you know, if you there's like fighter planes going overhead or something, I don't know if you don't have support from them, the resources and assets that you need.
So you have to be clear there it's gonna take internal support from the team. This is what I need and roughly a, a strategy and a timeline, not like a fully big strategy, but what you're going to do, what you're able to do and what timeline. And then you can also show them like here's a comparable effort that we made in six months. This is kind of, you know, what typical results would look like. Maybe show that. So that's, um, you don't like, you also want a partnership with them cuz you don't want your clients to thank PR is totally passive on their part that they hire you. They have no role in the process and they expect all of these insane wild results because you just took it and ran with it. You have to set yourself up and your clients and their business up for success by aligning expectations and letting them know too what their role in all of this will be.
Um, and this is some, uh, these are some points on how to make sure your clients have realistic expectation. Um, like I said before, they don't really understand PR in general and it's always surprising to me, like at certain levels I'm talking to people and I'm like, that's not PR. So you wanna make sure that clients are educated about what public relations is, what it can do for their business in general. Um, do your potential clients understand PR and what we do as PR professionals, like what do we actually do? And you can have talking points ready to go about the actual value of PR. And like I said, and you need to communicate this to them. It's not guaranteeing sales or increased revenue. And that is a common misconception and you are best serving your clients and yourself. If you reset that expectation and sort of nip that, nip that one in the bud right away.
So some options that we can use that will, you know, you can have these on hand or kind of let them sink in and see how you like to communicate this. But this is going to be value based explanations that you can have on hand for when clients are, you know, really not clear on what PR is or can do. So you can say PR can help amplify the other initiatives you have going on in your business, like other marketing initiatives and create consumer demand at the point of purchase, by even mentioning and referring to certain key retailers, um, it, or driving them to your own website for transacting, you know, buying your products PR is a way to reach potential customers at multiple touch points in a condensed period of time. So they're having multiple impressions and seeing it's like all of a sudden, wow, this brand is everywhere.
That's somebody like us behind the scenes, making that all happen. It's a coordinated effort in a certain period of time trying to reach the consumer at mult multiple touch points. Um, PR amplifies the key messaging in the, uh, the key, the key messaging that the brand wants to have out there, um, PR can make launches and sales more successful, but that is not our most important KPI or result because that is not trackable. It's not, um, you know, our responsibility, that's not what PR does. And Nelson says, PR is not to help them raise their stock price either. It might be a byproduct of the efforts that you've done to raise awareness and create demand, but that's not the goal. And that can't be a KPI that you're measured against. So you wanna be sure to have your perspective clients know that PR takes time.
Uh, did I understand that? And it's cumulative. So it takes time to see results and then they really snowball on top of each other. Once you get the ball rolling, which is why it's extremely frustrating. When you tell a client, you need a six month runway and then they come back to you after two and a half months and they're like, we don't wanna continue and you're going well, that's just why I told you it takes six months. Like you're going to, you know, start to build the foundation. And then it's cumulative. You're convincing people to be interested in a brand by telling compelling stories, creating angles that are interesting and timely and relevant. Um, you know, and people have to check into it before they talk about it and generate more buzz. They have to really think about the timing and when it's the right fit for their publication.
And once people start seeing a brand story in multiple places, then that's when results start to happen. That's when people are buzzing about a brand, they're talking about it and you know, actually making the decision to purchase or to book your client on an interview or whatever. So you have to tell clients that it takes a while for media to convert those pitches into placements. You know, there's leads short, lead, long lead. And then on top of it, there's still the time you have to develop the pitches, develop the media list. Well, develop the strategy, develop the pitches, the media list and send the pitches out, following up, facilitating the back and forth. It isn't a quick shot in the arm for business, even though a lot of people have that misconception that it is and I'll um, oh God, this is my least favorite word.
I wonder. Okay. For like a short campaign, can you guys think of the word? Um, the, my least favorite word when it comes to PR, I think it's so annoying. Let me see if anybody puts it. Um, you know, you gotta take, you have to tell clients, it takes time to get everything flowing and for you to see conversions, the word that I cannot stand is when clients call and they wanna PR blitz, you got it, Serena that's right. And I know she typed it in before I said it, cuz there's a delay. Yes. Isn't that the worst of blitz? I'm like, Ugh. It just to me makes me, first of all, feel like they're never gonna be happy and that they don't understand how things work. Yes. The blitz, Ugh. I, I don't know. It's just such an annoying word to me. So, um, if they say, you know, we wanna blitz, then you know, it doesn't take a quick shot in the arm.
When I hear that, I instantly know that that client is not for me. I know that that's not how I build my business. It's not the kind of client that I am looking to bring into my business. So I quickly, you know, don't waste my time. I just can't stand that word. It just makes me really clear. They don't get it. Um, you know, we also wanna communicate to clients that the value of what we're doing as PR professionals is building momentum for them. And we also communicate that clients who have the best success and see the best ROI are the ones that view PR as an ongoing effort. So that's why, um, you shouldn't work with a client who wants to give you less than four months cuz it's setting you up for failure. You know, the timeframe takes a while. Um, so, and, and Chrissy is in the music industry.
So it's a little different when there's like a launch. Um, she said she had to do one, one time for a celebrity because of an upcoming deadline where we just needed as many mentions of their name out there as fast as possible, no matter the quality. Well, it was a legal thing. Yeah. And you can, you know, know that that's the goal of it. If there's just, you know, a, a specific goal of just quantity, right. And quality didn't matter. Um, there are limited examples that would be okay. But in my business when we're working with brands, it just doesn't make sense. So I, I like turn, you know, I move those out of the pipeline as fast as possible. Um, yeah. So that's why we shouldn't work with clients less than four months because they'll set up for failure no matter what they'll set you up for failure because the timeframe isn't realistic to actually get the kinds of results they called you looking for.
So you can redirect clients who insist on immediate results towards things like social media and paid advertis. You know, this is, um, owned, you know, you're paid or owned, right. Paid advertising. That's when you're in control and you can control the messaging, the timing, all of that. But the reality is that PR moves the needle more than social media and paid advertising. I mean, if there's something on social, like TikTok and something goes viral, those are those rare exceptions, but PR is going to actually improve consumer sentiment and get them to have a strong opinion of your brand. And it takes longer because it's storytelling and you're also working on the media's timing because things will ebb and flow and you need to wait for a good time to pitch your compelling angles. They have to be the right story at the right time to the right person at the right publication.
I mean, it is total alignment. That's what we teach in the pitch lab. A lot of you guys are in there. Um, that's like our premise there and it really works. And so because it's not a spray and pray approach, it takes time. Um, you know, so we've got these media timelines we're working against and then certain conditions will set you up for success and you need to convey this to the client. And my point for you here is step into your expertise. Step into that role. As the person in the know, inform them, advise them, educate them, you are the expert and you can let them know how things work, what is likely to happen. And maybe when they insist on something else, you can say, well, that's not PR, you know, if you want immediate results and you want more control over timing and content, you might wanna consider social media or paid advertising, you know, and that's real, you know, that's fair. We've done that. And I think that helps them also reset what PR actually is. It's not always me telling clients, we don't wanna work with you. It's them seeing? Oh, so this isn't that. Okay. I got it. So set realistic expectations for placements and results too.
Clients should not be expecting to be showcased in Forbes right off the bat. Um, and if they do, they have to be ready to disclose a lot of confidential information and earnings and revenue and growth and all of the things, um, that privately held companies most of the time don't wanna share. And it's also a process where you land smaller outlets or, um, you know, you kind of grow into these or local media or whatever, and you grow into bigger publications. And that is also, especially if it's a smaller, less established company and they don't have that metric or something exciting for a business publication to sink their teeth into. Um, and we also had Dr. Cheryl, uh, Robinson in our program. She is one of the media gatekeepers for Forbes women in business. And she talked about, it was a really fantastic talk it's inside of our program, but it's how to cut through the clutter, break through the noise and get your client into Forbes and into other media, by understanding how it works on the other side with journalists.
Um, so it was a very good, very eye opening discussion. Um, yeah. And, uh, that is something that you wanna make sure clients understand that the bigger outlets or if they wanna be on the today show or good morning America, they have to start in local segments and show they can carry a segment they're Telegen, um, that they're enthusiastic and have a real, to be able to showcase what they look like on TV to be able to land anytime whatsoever on national TV. So it takes time and there are reasons why, and the discussion today is really to empower you as the expert to confidently reset expectations and not have to just say, yeah, okay, because you want the work and you're like, I'm gonna work really hard. And it's like, it doesn't matter if they're not realistic, you can work till the cows come home.
They're not gonna really see the results are expecting. So give your perspective clients a clear picture of what working with you is going to actually be like, when are you gonna be available for, um, meetings or calls? When are they gonna hear from you? How will communication work? How are you gonna report results? And how often? Because another expectation they have is that you're only working for them. You're, they're the most important and they're, you're accessible to them all the time. And that is not the case. And it never should be the case. I don't care who your client is. Yes, there are breaking news instances, but there should be an expectation that you're only accessible in off hours, late, late at night or weekends. If there is kind of an emergency situation, it's like, don't abuse it. You know, you can make yourself accessible if there's like something or breaking news or whatever, but you're not writing pitches and, you know, emailing the client's strategy and all of that on nights and weekends. And if you are working nights and weekends, awesome. Love it. Schedule your post, your, uh, emails to go out in the morning. So clients don't start to see, Hmm. Look at the timestamp. She was up at, you know, I was up late last night, getting something out into the world.
I'm so excited. Um, but I was up late, but I would not have sent a client email at one in the morning cuz I don't want them to think that they can reach me ever again at one in the morning. So, uh, those are, you know, some tips and strategies. Again, if you can position something as value based what PR is and also show them what it is not and give them that understanding of what's realistic, you're going to have happier clients and you're gonna have a happier team because the results they're getting are actually gonna be appreciated and celebrated. There's nothing worse than a team member crushing it, or you doing an amazing job landing something that is so fantastic. And having the client be unhappy. And this just happened to somebody I'm trying to remember what, and we were like, oh my God, this is amazing.
Oh my God, look at you. And they were like, the client was not happy. And we're like, what? And it was just some, if one of you are on here and you know, it was on one of our calls, it was like some reference to something that they don't wanna be known for anymore. And it's like this stuff's on the internet if they're gonna do their own research, you know? So I don't know. Um, it's really your job as the, uh, founder of your company to guide, I always do this on discovery calls so that people know, oh, this person knows their stuff. They're an expert. And when you confidently communicate it, instead of it feeling like you're telling them no, you know, or you're saying no, because you can't get those results, but somebody else could, you know the difference. It's like either you're telling them no.
And they're like, well, I don't wanna work with you if you're telling me no. Or you are telling them no, because you aren't capable, but someone else is, that's not the way it looks. What it actually looks like is that you are a confident expert and you're guiding them. So they understand the process and they understand the real, you know, what's realistic and they will be able to understand what their results could look like and then you'll match it and, or get close or do better. Um, that's an even better approach is to, um, you know, aim high, but try to, you know, what is it over, over deliver and under, under promise and over deliver. That's what we aim to do. Um, I'm a little slow today because I was up super late. Um, anyway, any guesses, what we're sharing, if you know, don't say I kind of told my members of my, um, agency accelerator plus what the news is.
And, um, I'm just supposed to say, I'm very excited. And if you're on my email list, you'll get an email in less than half an hour announcing and then join us on Instagram, um, generation PR on Insta, anybody have any other questions or anything they wanna talk about or run by me? This was a long one, but it ended up being short. Like my notes are really long, but, um, it ended up being short and then we also have this really, really good path to profitability series. I haven't taught it live in a while. It's been a couple years, but we walk through the exact, exact step by step framework that you need. It's my path to profitability framework. Um, it's like trademarked and it's these steps and stages, um, for how you build in it's like my four pillar each, you know, 12, uh, units of, um, like content or basically how you approach a running a profitable agency. Um, anyone you guys are quiet today, is everybody happy? Everybody's good. Everybody's feeling happy.
Maybe I have enough time to walk my dog before we go live at one. Oh, she would love that. Um, okay guys. Well, this was a little quickie. Thank you so much for being here. Um, please join our chat at generation PR on Instagram at one check your inboxes. And if you see any announcements on social, it would mean so much to me. If you would just amplify, um, you don't get, if you don't ask. Right. So, um, just amplify our message. I'm very, very, very proud. And I'm just like always thinking of how can we be better? So this is my, it was a big move to better our community. Um, and I'm so pumped. Okay guys, thank you for being here and I will hopefully see you at 11 on inst or one on Instagram. Um, check your own boxes. Okay, bye.
