The "Industry Standard", a discussion on fees

A couple of posts back, I mentioned that PRCAM (that's the PR Consultants Association of Malaysia) was planning to put on-line a "fee guide" for prospective clients.

My guess is that it'll be somewhere around the region of RM 300 per hour (blended rate).

So why this measure? I'm mixed over whether this will be good for bigger or smaller agencies. Someone I spoke to thinks for bigger agencies, this will stop smaller agencies from under-cutting them with lower than "industry standard" fees. I think smaller agencies are going to offer smaller than "industry standard" fees anyway and now, their case is gonna be stronger since an actual "industry standard" is put up.

On the other hand, bigger agencies can now breath a sigh of relief and calmly tell clients they aren't "overcharging" but "merely" charging "industry standard". So I guess they win too.

But who'll be the real winners? I'm guessing it's the mid-sized agency who delivers good work, has a reasonable reputation, but have never been able to command the fee a more established agency like Weber Shandwick or Hill and Knowlton would. They now have an "industry standard" to adhere to, which, like it or not, dear client, is higher than what we're charging you now.

So, put your hands together and welcome, "Industry Standard" fees.