Call it human nature.

That must be the case, for more CEO's than naught seem to derive great satisfaction from not losing one second issuing a news release, creating a brochure, securing a speaking engagement or implementing other image-making, promotional tasks -- without a plan in sight.

I suspect this comes from some deep-seated craving for wild excitement. Perhaps there is a memory lingering somewhere of the thrill that came from a cross-country, fast-paced drive to anywhere -- without a map. Actual arrival generates such a feeling of control, of victory, or of brilliance in arriving at the destination without laborious hours plotting the best route on a map.

Dare we recall the frustration along the way? Or the wasted gasoline? Should we mention the additional time it took?

All of the latter may have weighed in less important to the actual adventure itself.

But when you're at the helm of an organization, you guarantee one memorable wild ride by racing down that path of Get It Done without a roadmap in-hand. And, unlike the auto escapade, it's not a ride that can be called upon as a fond memory.

Particularly in regard to planning, PR agencies are not short on wish lists when it comes to client work,. Here's a few of the candid wishes silently uttered as we throw pennies into our well of thoughts on clients:

We wish you understood:

1. The fee for that plan isn't anything compared to your expense without it. A carefully thought out strategy, based on research, isn't a luxury item. Nor is it just another way for an agency to make money. It's the foundation for any PR program and without a foundation, well, houses simply sink over time and market value decreases. If everyone doesn't agree on where they are going together (agency and client), why they are going there, how they will get there and the cost for traveling there, disagreements result. Time is squandered. Expenses come in higher. And the results? Well, the odds for winning are higher than most Lotto tickets.
   
2. You don't get better results with lots of news releases. The key to success isn't quantity. It's quality. It's communicating the pre-agreed upon primary message to target media and their audiences. It's being picked up.
   
3. Research isn't us wasting your time and money. Information-gathering is a pre-requisite to developing a plan. Try having your family doctor prescribe a remedy without giving him/her the opportunity to get a patient history and run diagnostic tests. Would you really trust their medical advice?
   
4. The strategy needs to be read twice, even thrice, slowly, away from ringing phones and door-knockers. And then it needs to be revisited whenever you think you can't recall it intimately. That roadmap needs to have your input right from the get-go. If you disagree with something in its contents, you must speak-up immediately. Plans, to be effective, must be "owned" by both the agency and the client. Going in two different directions or, worse yet, forgetting the direction only gets people lost.
   
5. Why do you think cutting the budget will give you the same results or get the work done at the same speed?
   Put a million dollars into a house-building project and you get a million dollar house. Put $40,000 into that building and you get a small manufactured home. Cutting an agency's or in-house shops budgets is no different. You may have heard or read that PR is nearly free, but we only know volunteers that work without pay. And we have yet to locate a vendor that provides suppport services -- phone, postage, photography, office space, express shipping and more -- at no cost.
   
6. The shop across the way that says OK to your request for no strategy work is not only unprofessional, but more importantly, not looking after your best interests. Think it's easy saying "No" to a client who just won't spend the money on a strategy but will hand the agency money for implementation? Think on it. Sometimes the people who say "No" to you are really the people you want around you.