Trust within the Agency Setting
By Hailey McKee, Account Supervisor
Trust within the Agency Setting
2020 has been a year of novel changes. Though we’re only halfway through March, we’ve already experienced revolutionary political campaigns, the sudden death of a basketball superstar, the first non-English film to win best picture at the Academy Awards, and the outbreak of a global pandemic—just to reference a few of this year’s headlines. But what do all of these newsworthy events have in common? To put it simply, as audiences are relentlessly exposed to a wealth of information, it is becoming increasingly important that those audiences can trust in the information they receive.
One of the most reputable voices relating to this issue comes from Edelman, the world’s highest-earning public relations firm. For two decades, Edelman has released its annual Trust Barometer report that seeks to understand audiences’ views on communications, leadership, government, and the economy, among other timely topics.
As public relations practitioners at PRLab, some of the most interesting findings include the public’s opinions on the quality of their information. For example, 57% of the participants believe that the media is contaminated with untrustworthy information, and more severely, 76% worry that the false information in the news is being used as a weapon. Not only does a majority of the public distrust information itself, but 66% of the respondents do not have confidence that leaders—like CEOs, journalists, and politicians—can handle the ever-changing pressures and challenges in managing information. In addition to asserting a general distrust in social leaders, many of the respondents find no institution—whether that be government, media, NGOs, or businesses—to be both ethical and competent.
So, what does this research mean for public relations practitioners? These findings demonstrate that there is a rather substantial disconnect between communicators and their audiences, and if we want to effectively tell our clients’ stories to propel them within their industries, it’s time to dig deeper to create and build that necessary trust.
At PRLab, each team member desires to embody a reliable sense of trust in delivering measurable results and crafting strategic communications for our clients across the country. We hope to combat the statistics found in this year’s Edelman Trust Barometer within our agency by operating upon five core values to invigorate trust: performance, reliability, leadership, adaptability, and balance.
Performance: We consider it our responsibility to achieve meaningful, measurable results for our clients. In addition to the weekly agency meeting, team meeting, and client meeting, every team member does behind-the-scenes work to make sure these operations run smoothly.
“I like doing the work for PRLab because it makes a difference for our client,” said Xinxin Liu, account executive at PRLab. “When our client is pleased and trusts in our work, I know the work our team does is worth it.”
Reliability: When we say we will make a graphic or write a story, that is exactly what we will do. At PRLab, teamwork makes the dream work, and that team truly includes the client.
“It is so rewarding to share a completed project with a client,” said Yutong Wu, account executive at PRLab. “She is so enthusiastic to talk about projects with us, and I know she is thankful when we are open and honest about our progress.”
Leadership: The structure of our agency is strategically layered, so there is always someone to talk to if an account executive runs into any setbacks or if a client has great news to share.
“I feel like our team itself is free to take leadership on projects for our client because she truly loves to hear our ideas, and that makes completing the assignments very engaging and rewarding,” said Amanda Tran, account executive at PRLab.
Adaptability: Problems happen! Just as we are navigating taking an entire agency from a classroom to an online learning setting, setbacks are inevitable. It is up to one’s attitude in addressing those setbacks that can really foster trust with a client.
“It is easy for a project to take a different course,” said Jordan Eng, account executive at PRLab. “As long as it stays within the client’s scope of work, I think demonstrating adaptability in following their ideas really helps clients build trust with an agency.”
Balance: PRLab is a student-run agency, meaning everyone has a class in addition to contributing to client work. To build trust and credibility in presenting deliverables, finding that balance really is key.
“It can admittedly be tough at first to find a balance for both clients and team members, but once we all start to get into a groove, really great things start to happen when those relationships are formed,” said Elizabeth Coleman, account executive at PRLab.
Trust truly provides the backbone for everything we do at PRLab, whether that involves speaking with a client or working with members of our account team. As we move even farther into 2020, we are eager to continue living out this value in our daily operations.