Tuesday Marketing Notes (Number 109—January 22nd, 2008)

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Resolutions for Marketing Professionals:
Ten Ways to Beat the Recession of 2008

by Rick Kean, CBC

You may have already vowed to lose weight, hold it to one drink before dinner and stash something away for the recession that everyone seems to be trying to talk us into.

But it’s not too late to tack on a few on-the-job resolutions as well. Try these on for size:

1. I will be a catalyst for better marketing by simply insisting on doing a professional job, understanding and exhibiting those competencies that will allow me to do my job well. I will capture a broader perspective and keep an open mind to the issues that extend beyond my core competencies and not just the narrow boundaries of my job description. And, I will hold myself accountable.

2. I will get the “sales warrior mentality" and strive to be more tolerant of the sales department. I will work with them to provide strong marketing direction and deliverables. I will avoid having programs delayed, redirected, and sometimes canceled, midstream. I will bear in mind that the Oriental philosophy of Yin and Yang also applies to the marketing/sales relationship. Before every meeting with sales I will pause at their doorway and remind myself that to serve them well, I will most likely have to give them a judicious balance of "yes" and "no," instead of over-promising.

3. I will continue to work at persuading top management that what we do makes a difference, devoting at least 5% of my time to educating them, most who do not come from marketing. I will spread the word about successes. I will assume more responsibility for the success of the entire company and demonstrate how marketing investments result in increased shareholder value. And, I’ll create those logical links between marketing’s efforts and the corporation’s strategic objectives

4. I will carry out well-balanced programs using a cost-effective mix of tools at my disposal, closely coordinated with field sales efforts and also coordinated in terms of content, style and sequence of use. I will do this, even though it demands a lot more work on my part, in the firm belief that virtue and hard work will pay off in the long run for all concerned. And I will commit as much on measurement as I do on creative. Marketing without measuring its effectiveness is a waste of my company’s money and an invitation to become irrelevant. Measurement is critical to maximizing marketing’s performance. In order to manage marketing investments, I need to assess the impact of the investments and use that information to make adjustments to improve performance

5. I work at becoming a better listener. I don’t have all the answers and I can’t rely on just my knowledge or experience to guide my judgments. I can learn from others both inside and outside the company. I’ll work to be a better client. I will be kind to creative people, knowing full well that they can multiply the effectiveness of a good selling proposition. If, however, I give them a strong selling proposition and if they wander from it, trying to entertain, I’ll raise hell.

6. I will work to create a CRM program. I will know the numbers. Marketing’s a numbers game, driven by selling realities. Marketers are too often in the dark, not knowing the quota needs of sales region or the entire company, the average selling price or the close rate. We can’t develop reach tactics and prospect identification programs if we don’t know the details of how a pool of suspects turns into actual sales.

7. I really will be customer-driven, and focus on the audience sales talks to. I will check with customers frequently with open-ended questions and listen to what they say and create a real, customer-centric value proposition. I will spend more time on marketing elements that real prospects care about. A prospect is identified by the following: he or she has a budget, knows and likes our offering, believes we are a viable vendor, knows why our stuff is better, and has real influence on buying.

8. I will identify and develop a set of benchmarks and performance indicators. New realities will force marketing managers to prove their practical skills to drive sales. B2B marketing managers have to become more accountable for producing measurable results from their company’s marketing programs, and to make company marketing programs more responsive to the company’s sales efforts. Marketing managers need to get back to the basics—learning and demonstrating the practical skills required to drive company sales—and de-emphasize the intangible, non-measurable consumer marketing-oriented theories they were taught in college marketing classes.

9. I will take pride in myself. I will create credibility and continually demonstrate the value of my performance through as many objective, measurable ways as possible I will show concern for the quality of my communications with others. I will always keep my promises and I will make myself more valuable so that everyone can see that something would be missing if I wasn't there.

10. I will take responsibility for my career and for continuing my education and never stop building my intellectual capital. Creating a sustainable career means knowing how to balance my core identity with the need for perpetual makeovers. If I continually educate my self in other marketing skills I’ll be in a better position to take on additional responsibilities. I will defend my career by developing a better package of knowledge and skills than the next person.

Rick Kean (rkean@businessmarketinginstitute.com) is Managing Director of The Business Marketing Institute.