September Pulse

Recap

Alex Halbur , Managing Partner at Prosper Group, brings The Pathway to Value series to a close, providing the following insight:

What makes your agency ready to transition??

• Responsibility and accountability for growth are spread across management and a sustainable sales and marketing function are in place.?
• Proprietary products and processes demonstrate the firm’s deep knowledge.??
• The organization is right staffed at junior, mid and senior?levels.?

Once your agency is ready to transition, how can you implement a successful exit strategy??

• Understand your personal and financial goals.?
• Identify what it’s going to take for your firm to attain maximum value and put you in the optimal exit position.?
• Assess necessary leadership roles and recruit/train to fill these roles.

Creating Psychological Safety

In the final installment of UNBIAS 2023, Dr. Cree Scott discussed a framework for psychological safety that can be summed up in the acronym “TACT.”

Client Contract Best Practices??

In our latest webinar, Davis+Gilbert partners Michael Lasky and Samantha Rothaus offered the following counsel:

• Firms should have different contract templates for different kinds of fee arrangements.

What is covered in the SOW and what is not???

• Contract should address when payment is due.

4A's just published “The Ripple Effect of Extending Payment Terms” which discusses the implications of lengthy payment terms and makes the case for 30 days as best practice.???

• Set ground rules at the outset for expectations around communication and feedback on agency invoices.??
• Maintain a right to suspend work if payments are not made. ? ?

Risks When Using Generative AI?

• Agencies cannot grant ownership rights in any third-party materials or IP that the agency has licensed from elsewhere, including AI-generative material.?
• AI platform’s terms of use may conflict with agency’s obligations to its client.??
• Client should be aware of any use of generative AI and agree to assume risks.?

Looking Ahead

Join us on October 5th at 12 pm E.T. to learn about the PR Council’s new publication “Better Together,” which identifies specific actions and commitments for clients and agencies to build and nurture inclusive teams from the beginning. Natasha O'Dell Archer, J.D. , GOLIN, and Carol Watson , BCW Global, will be leading the webinar.

The Hourly Rate is Dead: Embracing Outcomes in the Era of AI

With the twin forces of procurement executives demanding lower hourly rates and the adoption of AI technologies promising a new era of efficiency, agency leaders urgently need to transition to outcome-based pricing. In this webinar on October 4th, PR agency veteran and measurement guru Jon Meakin arms agency leaders with the knowledge they need to accurately predict and price outcomes.

Reach out to [email protected] if you are interested in attending this event.