PR Insights Blog

The RFP process is broken. If client-organizations & agencies implement RFP best practices, it can be fixed. As a 20-year CorpComm veteran, I’ve issued my share of RFPs, and as an agency leader I’ve responded to them. As CEO of CommunicationsMatch, I've built these best practices into our RFP tools.

At the PRSA Counselors Academy fall conference in Nashville in September, founders and leaders of small- and medium-sized agencies heard about and shared best practices, discussed their experience as entrepreneurs, and broke bread. Counselors Academy is always invigorating and an opportunity for fellowship. As a three-time supporter of the event, it offers a window into what’s on the minds of agency leaders and where they are headed.

Agencies, professionals, and service providers now have the option of adding Clutch reviews to recommendation options on CommunicationsMatch. Reviews and recommendations offer clients the virtual equivalent of word-of-mouth endorsements.

PRSA has launched a new search tool on the organization’s website to help users identify and shortlist public relations and communications agencies, professionals, and service providers with the expertise that matches their needs. Powered by CommunicationsMatch™, an industry-leading search and services technology platform, the directory allows users to find practitioners based on industry and communications capabilities, size, location, designations, diversity, client experience and more. In addition, they have the option to use the integrated Agency Select™ hiring tools to request information or issue RFPs.

CommunicationsMatch™ has partnered with the Public Relations Society of America, the nation’s leading professional organization serving the communications community, to develop PRSA’s new Find Agencies, Professionals & Resources search tool, launched on July 15.

During a recent webinar for PRSA’s National Capital Chapter, I was asked “What are the best ways to manage the return to work?” Due to time constraints, I gave a brief response. But it got me thinking about a few points that, in addition to basic safety protocols, leaders should think about as employees return to work:

As COVID-19 deaths decline and vaccinations rise, Texas and Mississippi are dropping mask mandates. A surprise? Not if we take time to look at the arc of behavior during the pandemic. In a new CommPRO.biz article, "Keep Your Masks On – Behavioral Lessons from the Pandemic," I highlight some of the lessons from the rise of mask resistance and the need for communicators to continue to lead.

Linda Dunbar, CEO of Diversity Decoder, discusses the business opportunity diversity represents and why the ability to realize this opportunity starts with walking in someone else’s shoes in a new CommunicationsMatch™ CommPRO.biz article and Communicators-to-Communicators 5-minute video - Lean into Diversity.

The idea of corporate social credibility provides a powerful framing tool for companies thinking about their responses to events over the last year, and the Black Lives Matter movement in particular. Peter Stanton, CEO of Stanton Communications, shares in a new Communicators-to-Communicators short video the message he delivers to clients: “At a time when anyone can say anything on Twitter or social media, companies need to specifically focus on the idea of social credibility.”

My new CommPRO.biz article, Black History Month: A Time to Walk the Black Lives Matter Talk, starts with a question: Did your company/agency issue a statement or post support for Black Lives Matter? It asks whether or not communicators, agencies and professionals plan to walk the talk by attending or organizing Black History Month events to discuss the contributions of black PR professionals to the industry.