Crispin Manners and Richard Houghton, co-authors of ‘Grow, Build, Sell, Live: A Practical Guide to Running and Building an Agency and Enjoying It’, talk about the implications of the Covid-19 crisis for PR firms

On today’s show, we’ve got Crispin Manners and Richard Houghton, co-authors of ‘Grow, Build, Sell, Live: A Practical Guide to Running and Building an Agency and Enjoying It’, talking about the implications of the Covid-19 crisis for PR firms. Here’s a summary of what we discuss: Most agencies have now dealt with the short-term demands of the Covid-19 crisis, but how helpful have the various government schemes been for UK PR firms? Is pride getting in the way of some firms putting some of their employees on furlough? In justifying why furloughing isn’t necessarily the right thing to do, Crispin refers to the Harvard Business article Roaring Out of A Recession. Once agency owners have dealt with the first wave of imminent decisions, what’s next on the to-do list? People, cash, fee forecast, landlords and agency leaders need to look after themselves. Why clients will try and find a way to say that things need to stop. but agencies must find a way of staying relevant to clients and prospects by delivering against the client’s business pain. Why Simon Sinek’s New York Times Conference speech on Why Does Your Business Exist? is a useful listen for PR agency owners All agencies are going to have to evolve, but what might that look like? Are we witnessing the death of the open-plan office with firms converting to a hybrid operating model? Budgets are going to be tough for a while, so PR’s ability to show return on investment is going to be crucial. Why agencies need to shift the way they price their services – from a time-based structure to a value-based structure. Why we’re in a phoney war at the moment; some PR firms are not making redundancies because they are relying on government support. How do PR employers need to reshape their businesses post Covid-19? Whether the era of PR agency sector specialisation has just backfired? Once we come out to this what’s the ‘new normal’ going to look like for PR firms? Support the show