PRWeek: Why PR Firms Are Turning Down New Business at an Unprecedented Rate

Too Much Work, Too Few People. PR Firms Desperately Try to Keep Staff to Meet New Client Needs. 

PRWeek, 24 March, 2022

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Chris Daniels from PRWeek speaks with pr firm leaders including Melissa Waggener Zorkin, CEO and Founder, WE Communications on the conundrum the pr industry has been facing. 

The situation speaks to the strength of the PR discipline, increased marketing and communications budgets and complex, multi-faceted client challenges. Yet most of all, it is the result of a very tight market for communications talent, with recruiters reporting executives signing an agency job offer only to rescind it at the 11th hour for another.

“Given the large growth in new business inquiries, we currently only pursue approximately 25% of all new logo opportunities,” she says. “Saying ‘no’ is sometimes hard, but one of the many benefits of being a fiercely independent agency is that we can prioritize work that inspires our people.” - Melissa Waggener Zorkin