Public Relations Business Plan

PRfect Greens’ marketing and sales strategies will be based on developing visibility for PRfect Greens and communicating the message that PRfect Greens is able to provide an unmatched service offering due to the special skill set and flexibility in serving the client.

5.1 Competitive Edge

PRfect Greens has two complementary competitive edges:

• Specialized skill set. While this will be detailed further in the management section, this competitive edge allows PRfect Greens to provide keen insight into the customer’s industry and how that applies to public relations.
• Flexibility. As a small firm, PRfect Greens is able to meet the customer’s special needs by offering a very flexible service.  This flexibility allows PRfect Greens to work hand in hand with company and the community to support their customer.  While many competitors will have an initial interview with the customer on their site, most of the work is completed on the PR firms terms, typically at the home office.  PRfect Greens’ flexibility allows them to work with the client in any capacity required to serve the customer in the most effective way.  Often this means working closely with the customer and the various hierarchical levels within the company.  This will sometimes mean extended time spent at the company’s work site, a service that PRfect Greens is more than happy to offer.

5.2 Marketing Strategy

As stated before in the target market segment strategy, PRfect Greens will use a combination of targeted advertising and networking to generate visibility and communicate PRfect Greens’ message that they are the premier environmental PR firm in the area that possesses the ability to offer unprecedented specialized services and flexibility to help the customer manage their public image and deal with any unfortunate crisis.

The advertising will be done in specific industry journals.  These will be chosen because the journal readership is a very specific demographic that PRfect Greens is trying to reach. 

The networking activities will be quite effective in leveraging the already existing relationships that Birk and Arbor have established through years working in the different industries.   

5.3 Sales Strategy

The sale strategy will be based on turning prospective customers into long-term clients.  The primary way this will be accomplished is through a dog and pony show performed for the decision maker.  This presentation will outline all of the different services and value that PRfect Greens offers: their rich specialized experience and very personalized attention that their clients receive.  They will emphasize the smallness of PRfect Greens that allows it to serve every client with individual attention that one would expect from an in-house staff.

The dog and pony show will also highlight PRfect Greens’ portfolio of past clients served and the creative “out of the box” thinking that prevails at PRfect Greens.  The portfolio itself will be quite creative, not just a standard display of past projects, but a representation in itself of PRfect Greens’ creativity and competence. 

5.3.1 Sales Forecast

The first month of operation will not have any sales activity.  The office will be set up and the marketing campaign will be devised.  The second month will see a small amount of activity, primarily small projects of limited duration. 

By month three and four, visibility of PRfect Greens will have begun to take root and there will be an increasing number of inquiries that will be turned into projects.

Sales will steadily ramp from month four on with profitability being reached by month 10 and sales steadily increasing through the end of year three.

5.4 Milestones

PRfect Greens will have several milestones early on:

1. Business plan completion.  While business plans are typically created on requirement to secure capital, PRfect Greens will use the plan as a way to develop a strategic focus as well as a gauge to track adherence to the plan at multiple intervals in the coming quarters and years.
2. Office set up.
3. Establishment of the first major project.
4. Near full service capacity.