The voice on the phone said, “We might be too small for you.”  In my 20 years of running a business, when a client prospect offers that up, they’re usually right.  Notsofast.

Welcome to the buyers’ market.  It’s post-stimulus, United States of Obama out there.  And here’s what it means so far: the tightness in your chest that began in November, caused shortage of breath in December and made your arm to go completely numb in January is beginning to ease.  Or maybe you’re just learning to live with it.

The news media, only slightly distracted by modern-day pirates and Lindsay Lohan breakups, is shifting its coverage from downturn drama to signs of upturn or any indication that the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 is working.

I speak for many Americans when I say until it’s working for me, it’s not working yet.  But I do think our toes are finally touching the bottom of the pool.

As owner of the venerable Jack Horner Communications Inc., an award-winning public relations and marketing agency whose workforce and office space I sliced in half in January, I can tell you that it’s never been a better time to be a client.

Alert the ticker-tape editors at CNN and FOX: Our interest is high and our rates are low.  Maybe we need a lobbyist group like our consumer counterparts.

Through the crevices of mostly dismal first-quarter earnings, we are reminded that interest rates on home mortgages are so darn low, that we’d be foolish not to finance or refinance.  Auto manufacturers are offering new cars for a song.  And if you haven’t been to the mall lately… let’s just say that Macy’s is having a sale.

If Dave Ramsey hasn’t yet convinced you to cut up your credit cards, well then have at it.  I totally get that consumer confidence and spending are leading economic indicators.  And behind that box of Puffs purchased at Target is a Procter & Gamble brand group ever grateful you didn’t just use your sleeve. 

Shop more, please.

But what of business-to-business spending?  I’ve run a professional service company for two decades, and we’ve never experienced such simultaneous budgetary skittishness.  Used to be, if one client was down, another would be up.  It was the glory of being a generalist firm.  No tech bubble for me.  Rather, we represent everything from consumer brands to law firms, higher ed to healthcare, pharma and B2B, the works.  The mix is, or was, very stabilizing.

Then along came the Wall Street meltdown, bailouts, credit crunches, frustration, burst housing bubbles, layoffs, foreclosures and fiscal anxiety the likes of which only our grandparents knew.

And paralysis.

Such a universal pause in proactive public relations and marketing represents an unprecedented interruption of companies pushing their products, services and messages out to influential audiences-like customers.  In other words, businesses that slow their marketing are making a bad economic condition worse, for themselves and for the economy overall.

From a strategic standpoint, the hesitation is dangerous and ill advised.  If ever organizations need to be top-of-mind with key audiences, surely it’s right now.

And just like summer homes and flat screen TVs, it’s a very good time to buy.

You’d be surprised what hiring a PR and marketing agency will do to keep your company’s visibility high, and to get the creative juices flowing as the recession recedes and the rebound begins.  Don’t miss the next ride, it’s going up.  And you’ll fare much better with the added firepower of a creative communications firm at your side. 

Here’s why there’s never been a better time to be a client:

1. Project work welcome. Agencies typically work on retainers, which cap fees and protect clients from surprises. But most of us are now accepting project work as a means to introduce our capabilities, impact and results to new clients.
2. Over-service guaranteed. Like all professional service businesses, we sell time. But our firm has stopped worrying about giving too much away. For both project and retainer clients, we are putting in more hours than clients will ever see on invoices. I’ve talked to other agency owners who are adopting this philosophy too.
3. Senior counsel on your business. An agency culture is ever-youthful, and we certainly have some future-greats in our midst. But like many 20-year agency vets: I am riding shotgun with every account executive to assure clients are getting both tactics and strategy at the highest levels.

So buy a house, a car … and hire a PR firm.  It’s the perfect time to go talent shopping and review some potential new agency partners.  (Unless you’re already a Jack Horner client, in which case, just ignore this whole article-it’s a terrible time to go agency shopping for you.)

We’ve spent several weeks dusting our Anvils, Pepperpots, Renaissance and IABC awards.  It reminded me how great regional boutique firms can be for clients who seek to extend their internal staffs, and get national results, without a train ride to Manhattan.

Memo from the president’s desk: It’s now okay-in fact, it’s essential-to restart PR and marketing. 

Maybe executives are waiting for the media to officially break the news that the economy is no longer in the dumper.  If they wait much longer, there might not be a newspaper or magazine to report the turnaround.  Maybe someone will tweet it.

If you don’t understand that last sentence, it’s really time to hire a PR firm.