Trust us - that’s the message we’re helping many of our clients at spottydog communications to deliver. We’re here to help clients grow their reputation, engage with new customers and deliver the key messages that communicate the compelling reason to buy or use their business.
But when you’re working with a communications consultancy, how do you trust that we’re experts? And what’s our compelling reason to help clients understand that they can trust our expertise?
In truth, trust must be built. It can’t be bought, manufactured, faked or spun even by the best (or actually the worst) PR practitioners.
Third party endorsement from a trusted source provides an important indicator of pedigree, and as a top dog in the PR industry, naturally we’re proud to have recently been reaccredited by the Public Relations & Communications Association (PRCA) for achieving the Communications Management Standard which we have held for over six years.
We believe that holding CMS provides an important distinction when clients have a raft of considerations, including capability, price, if the agency is a ‘good fit’ for your company, who else do they work with, what’s their experience?
In-house practitioners will have to juggle existing work pressures whilst wading through a list of potential suitors. They will have constraints on that process defined by scope, budget, sometimes location or a particular sector specialism and often procurement teams will play their part. It’s difficult to narrow down the field.
When you get to the pitching table how do you prove that not only have you created the most compelling, creative campaign but also that you are a well-run business who will easily knit into theirs. For us, that’s why holding CMS is important – it’s evidence that we can be trusted to deliver.
The rigorous CMS audit process featuring over 150 different assessment criteria provides the PR sector’s hallmark of excellence. It combines elements of ‘ISO9001’ and ‘Investors in People’ but with specific elements tailored for PR and communications consultancies.
Every agency that goes through the process is scored on nine core areas:
· Leadership & Communication
· Business Planning
· Business Improvement
· Financial Management & Systems
· Campaign Management
· Client Satisfaction
· New Business
· People Management
· Diversity
The best thing about the process is that preparing for the assessment day pushes you to review each aspect of your business to ensure it is running as it should and identifies any areas that need attention. It serves as a great annual stocktake for all our business fundamentals that could get overlooked.
We’re delighted to have been re-accredited for the third time running. It means that we have solid evidence to reference to existing and potential clients to prove:
· We run our business the right way with the correct systems in place.
· We are committed developing our team as the next generation of talent.
· We demonstrate to our clients that not only do we claim we’re best of breed but the industry assessors think we are too!
With over ten years in business we’d also encourage clients to trust the data. We’ve chalked up 23 industry awards, 76% client retention and 38% of clients working with us for more than five years – and longstanding client relationships are the best indicator of trust in our ability to deliver! So, trust us when we say, we really are experts.