At No Limit Agency, we have a roster of incredible clients – and we don’t play favorites. I could easily come up with a reason on why I like working with each of our clients, but when I was sitting down to write this article, one particular brand stood out: Checkers & Rally’s.

I joined No Limit Agency in 2014, and Checkers & Rally’s was one of the first accounts I was able to work on. The brand had been a longtime client of NLA – and had recently given us the prestigious honor of Vendor of the Year, concrete proof that they valued the relationship with us.

One specific aspect I value about working with the Checkers & Rally’s team is their innate understanding of how PR works, and more importantly, how PR can drive traffic and franchise leads. Jennifer Durham, Chief Development Officer of Checkers & Rally’s, was the inspiration behind our goal of getting our clients into the media each week. Jennifer had created a chart many years back that mapped out how a weekly media hit – whether it was the business section of a local newspaper or a national business TV program – drove traffic to their franchise development website. This legitimized our work for Checkers and Rally’s – and also informed our strategy of securing a placement per client per week.

Additionally, since they understand what is and isn’t a good story for the media, they’re constantly looking for ways to feed us material to give to the press. Both Kim Francis and Ursula Lane are fountains of information. Whether it’s suggesting story ideas or filling in the blanks with data or background information we need, their involvement is a key factor in our PR strategy.

Plus, selfishly, I love that Checkers & Rally’s is organized and uses data on a daily basis to assess how a campaign or strategy performed. (Who doesn’t love a good spreadsheet?) They understand that while national press can drive leads, the trades and local business press are more targeted to the type of franchisee they’re seeking. The team is specific in how it wants us to pitch the media, with extra emphasis on local business journals and business sections of local newspapers. This transparency helps us to understand their goals and work hard on our end to achieve them.

Finally, Checkers & Rally’s allows us to be the experts. While their team is comprised of experts in franchise development and communications, they still are eager to hear our opinions and suggestions of how to best handle PR strategy.

At the end of the day, it’s incredibly rewarding to work with a client that understands what we do and why it matters – which has led to a relationship with Checkers & Rally’s that we hope lasts forever.