Not Charging By The Hour Doesn’t Make Time Worthless

PR recessionary lesson No. 1…save the baby!

You know, as long as we’re stuck in this nasty quagmire of a recession there are a number of lessons to be learned while we all wait (and hopefully work) for the promised turn-around. The first of which is how we keep from devaluing time when we have more of it on our hands. This seems to be a particular trait of larger enterprises where being busy or at least the appearance of being busy was prized and rewarded with ever increasing promotions and escalating salaries. But as the economy has soured and marketing or PR salaries have gone south or disappeared altogether, we have a new phenomenon emerging….doing more for less on the inside of an enterprise…and doing more for nothing on the outside. The attitude seems to be that “if I have to work harder for less, than you, Mr. PR vendor, must work for even less and perhaps nothing until you have proved your value. Since you’re not charging me by the hour, then your time must be free…” Really? I don’t think so.

Granted, this recession is driving many of the bad compensation practices and PR-types cultivated during the boom into the waste basket they deserve…however isn’t there an old saying about babies and bath water that should apply here?

Sure, budgets have disappeared or tightened, and the competition to hold existing business and to secure new accounts is far more competitive than ever. And, traditional PR agencies are even (God forbid) ever so slightly experimenting with performance-based compensation to keep those elevators rising. But does shifting away from exorbitant hourly fees or being more creatively competitive in proposals mean that the time still expended has lost all value? Even if such value is translated only in respect for the time spent. Exactly when did dollars charged equate to respect given? Where is it written or taught that when one does not charge incrementally for something, than the cumulative effort has no value…particularly if it is as a result of a plea for assistance?

We’ll continue to utilize all our experience and put forth our most creative, and therefore most competitive thinking to both sign and launch our clients toward success. If these tough times didn’t call for it, then our respect for our own professionalism as well as our client’s business would require it. What we ask in return is not an hourly stipend but that the prospects and clients respond in a timely manner and participate in the process. Respect our time as they ask us to respect theirs.

We all know that a long-standing truism in this business is that when a prospect or client wants something, it’s always with a yesterday deadline. And, when the agency needs something in return, yesterday deadlines become a few days. Ok, understood. It’s part of the game and we’ve all played it. But, hey…a little respect for our time here…even if we’re not charging you by the hour.