How not to burn a PR industry bridge

Don’t burn bridges in life – it will come back to haunt you like this sorry “one-man-band.” Over the past two weeks, I’ve been working with a new client that plays in the exciting application modernization and service oriented architecture space. Like many new win scenarios, there is/was an incumbent agency who worked with the new client for the past year. My own PR audit concluded that this agency did a decent job but, perhaps, the time was right for a change and opportunity “to ramp up” the volume.

All this said, I’m sure the former agency put their all into the campaign. When they received notice over the past week, I can imagine there were a few dejected PR pros who felt their hard work was for naught.

Although they’re probably not reading The Whole Nine Yards, I can assure you their work made quite the impact – especially in the way they “transitioned” the campaign.

From media lists, to bylines, to pitches in play and “inside knowledge,” they left nothing to the imagination – they bared it all. That’s how it should be done. End of story. The principal of this agency should be commended for her professionalism during a difficult time.

Build a bridge, don’t burn it. You never know who’s observing your behavior and actions.