BLOG - 5 tips to quickly find the right crisis comms agency

1. Shortlist: make it lean & mean

Contacting agencies and comparing all the information takes time – which you don’t have. Try to narrow down your options online as much as you can. Then call the number 1 on your ranking straight away: if that turns out to be a good match – see the following tips – then it’s usually better to onboard them immediately than to waste valuable reputation time by contacting a second party.

2. Put key criteria first

For a crisis, we advise the following:

• Chemistry: A crisis is a time in which you and your agency will need to work very closely together in challenging circumstances. That only works with people you connect with. That’s why you should put this criterion at the top of your wish list – even more so than with other types of partners.
• Experience: has your agency really been around the block enough times, or is ‘crisis communications’ just something they’ve put on their website? Challenge them on this.
• Availability: is this agency going to handle your crisis in between other client activities, or are you getting dedicated specialists? And if your crisis rages on late at night or during the weekend, are they really going to live up to their '24/7' promise? Ask for guarantees about this.

3. Crisis comms = confidentiality

In all the chaos, you may forget that you’re going to share very sensitive information with your agency. And although confidentiality should be as self-evident for any agency as it is for a doctor or lawyer, better to be safe than sorry. No time for an NDA to go back and forth? Then at least ask the agency to confirm confidentiality in writing.

4. Trust your agency

Once you’ve hired your crisis communications agency, you are real partners, striving together for that same goal: to save your reputation. But that will only work if you share all relevant information – also the ugly bits. A good agency will use that information to thoroughly advise you, and will never judge. 

Also, don't stress out if your agency starts asking difficult questions. After all, playing the devil's advocate is our job as crisis communication consultants. And wouldn’t you prefer discussing tricky topics with your agency for the first time, rather than with a TV reporter?

And finally, have an open mind about your agency’s advice. They may advise something you don’t feel comfortable with at first but which, when evaluating the pros and cons objectively, turns out to be your best option. But do challenge them as well - you'll finally land on the best option together.

5. Get financial transparency

Budgeting for a crisis fully in advance is impossible, but you can definitely limit the chances of unwelcome surprises afterwards. In particular, check the following:

• Hourly rates: how much exactly are you going to pay per hour per type of activity? Ask the agency to put this in writing and give them a clear 'go' on that in return.
• What activities will the agency do? For example, are you going to monitor the media yourself, or do you expect your agency to take care of that? Avoid your agency setting up and invoicing all kinds of activities that turned out be unnecessary.
• Financial reporting: ideally, your agency will proactively suggest this, but if not: ask them in advance if they keep a good overview of the hours performed on each activity. This way you can check afterwards if everything adds up. Also, avoid unpleasant budget surprises at the end. Agree on a fixed reporting frequency (every week, for example) and/or a heads up when specific budget thresholds are exceeded.