What inputs a PR program needs from the company

Your agency needs accurate information, access to people who know the business, and timely decisions. It can develop stories and handle the communications work, but it cannot invent customer proof, confirm product facts, or make an unavailable founder ready for an interview.

Be realistic about your team's time before signing

Ask what participation the agency expects from you: interviews, information, customer introductions, draft reviews, and spokesperson availability. Discuss a typical month or campaign so the commitment is concrete.

If the plan depends on weekly founder interviews and the founder is rarely available, change the plan before buying it. A smaller scope or another qualified spokesperson may work better.

Share useful raw material as it develops

Keep the agency informed about:

• product changes and what customers can actually use;
• customer problems, results, and possible references;
• research or company data with enough context to interpret it;
• upcoming launches, funding news, events, and major changes;
• executives' or experts' informed views; and
• questions customers, prospects, or employees keep asking.

The agency should help identify what is useful. Share rough ideas and relevant documents rather than trying to turn everything into a finished story yourself.

For a fictional software company, repeated customer questions about a new regulation might be worth discussing even when there is no product announcement. The agency can assess whether the company has a useful, supportable perspective.

Make facts and permissions clear

Say which information is public, confidential, changing, or still unverified. Introduce the agency to the person who can answer detailed questions.

Get permission before using a customer's name, result, or quote. Explain limitations in research or performance data so the agency does not overstate the claim. Both sides should flag errors and correct material that is no longer accurate.

If claims will be used in advertising, the FTC's small-business guidance explains the need for evidence behind objective claims. Regulated products, financial disclosures, or active incidents may need a specialist review path.

Keep the right people available

Agree how interview requests and approvals will reach you, and provide a backup when possible. Tell the agency early about travel, launch delays, or changes in who can speak.

The agency should make requests easy to answer, with context and a real deadline. The company should approve, correct, decline, or explain the delay rather than leaving the request unresolved.

Use the kickoff brief to collect the essentials and the approval guide to keep decisions moving. If the same input keeps blocking work, revisit the scope or the way you work together.