How to choose a communications consultancy

Start with the decision, then write the brief

Before a consultation, formulate what needs to evolve: make a transformation understand, prepare an announcement, install an expertise or organize a response to a controversy. Specify the audiences involved, the constraints and what is not part of the mission. "Improving our image" is an intention; "to make our new organization understandable to managers before it is deployed" is a problem to work on.

A useful briefing brings together the context, the decisions already taken, the uncertainties, the internal interlocutors and the deadlines actually imposed. It distinguishes the available budget from an estimate still to be built. Sensitive information can be shared gradually within a suitable confidentiality framework.

Assess the thinking and the delivery team

Ask the firm what it still needs to understand before recommending an action. A serious proposal sets out its assumptions, missing information and possible trade-offs. It does not systematically confuse communication with content production.

Identify the people actually mobilized, their role and availability. The experiences presented must be relevant to your situation; a list of logos does not describe the nature of each intervention. Ask for an explanation of the problem addressed, the contribution of the firm and the limits of what can be shared.

• How will the diagnosis change the recommendation?
• Who advises management and who ensures daily coordination?
• How will disagreements, emergencies and validations be addressed?
• What potential conflicts of interest should be declared?

Compare equivalent deliverables and responsibilities

To compare two offers, bring them back to a common area. A diagnosis may refer to some interviews or extensive work on perceptions and available data. A strategy must specify the choices, priorities, audiences, messages and conditions of implementation.

The proposal must indicate the deliverables, formats, validation steps, number of cycles included, and customer-side dependencies. For media relations or GEO, separate the actions performed from the expected effects: a firm does not control either editorial decisions or responses to an AI model.

Understand cost and timing

The cost depends in particular on the complexity of the subject, the level of advice required, the number of markets and languages, the quantity of research and the intensity of coordination. External purchases, specialized translations or productions must be identified. An overall price without assumptions makes comparisons fragile.

The timing depends as much on access to information and decision-makers as on production capacity. Ask for a planning by milestone: diagnosis, decision, preparation, deployment, evaluation. In an emergency, the firm has to say what can be done immediately and what will remain provisional, without promising that a full strategy will boil down to a few hours.

Agree how success will be assessed

The evaluation must link activities to useful effects. Counting content, contacts or spin-offs documents an effort; this does not demonstrate a change of confidence. The AMEC framework proposes to distinguish the different levels of evaluation.

Define a starting point, some indicators and their method of collection. For internal transformation, understanding and unresolved questions can be more useful than a raw audience. For GEO, specify the requests, languages, tools and dates observed. The results of an isolated test should not become a commercial guarantee.

Build a clear selection framework

Keep a written record of the selection criteria: understanding the problem, quality of reasoning, mobilized team, method, deliverables, governance and economic transparency. Weight these criteria according to your issue rather than looking for a universal grid.

The first shared deliverable can be a scoping note: objective, expected decisions, information to gather and responsibilities. It reduces misunderstandings before embarking on a broader communication program.

Frequently asked questions

Explore further

Rédiger un brief de conseil en communication qui permet de comparer les réponses (Article in French)