trendSpotting Report
Nancy Hite

It does not matter if it is an old line company with brand pedigree, a start up with deep VC funding, or a nonprofit dedicated to doing good: All clients do it. They have their internal meetings during the weekly PR conference call. I am tempted to suggest that we add a meeting coordinator fee to the monthly retainer. It makes me wonder if they ever talk to each other.

The scenario is as follows: The agency team is assembled around the speakerphone for the weekly client conference call. The call begins and the account manager is moving through the agenda like clockwork…when it happens.

The client’s public affairs officer says to someone in charge of online marketing, “Did you know that division one’s marketing campaign starts on Monday?”

“We didn’t know anything about it!” exclaims the online marketing guy.

Before you know it, the client team is chatting amongst themselves about budget, collateral and everything else under the sun…forgetting altogether that the purpose of the call is PR.

What are we—chopped liver?

The agency team had worked tirelessly to execute last week’s objectives and to move forward on the new. They have questions, too, about the week ahead, queries we need answered to be effective. The account manager, responsible for using everyone’s time efficiently, is sitting there befuddled; she wants to make sure this call isn’t bogged down in a morass of minutia.

She has to regain control of the call—and now. Although the client team appears to enjoy the chatter and might bristle at first, they will ultimately appreciate how much you value their (and the paid-for) time.

Don’t simply press the mute button and make faces at the speakerphone (or your colleagues). That’s too easy. Use the opportunity to demonstrate leadership skills and gain the client’s respect by placing the call back on track.

When the leader of the call takes a breath from his tirade, interject with a hearty, “As we were saying…”

If by chance someone on their side of the call says something germane to your PR efforts while they’re musing on their own, point blank say “We’d like to piggyback on what so-and-so said,” or “He has a good point…” The goal is to get back in the conversation and return to your well-planned agenda.

If none of the above works, then “Team, let’s get back on track” should do the trick. If that doesn’t work—hang up.

Nancy Hite is a dedicated and efficient Account Manager at RLM who runs effective meetings with her clients—and does so with the mute button off.