Frontline Perspectives

The Rolling Stones sang this well.  Life is full of unfulfilled dreams, wants and needs. And many of us get pretty darn crabby about it. For the sales and marketing teams:  “If we only had the resources to develop the website more, or the money to develop an SEM campaign, or hire five new sales people to develop the new verticals we’ve danced around.  And then there’s the video and green room that could take our video platform to a whole new planet.  We could be so much better, only if we hand X, Y, Z…”

Sometimes the list is small and focused, sometimes it’s strategic without a list of tactical elements, and sometimes its a long list of nagging nuts and bolts that have piled up over time and now create a regular set of bumps in the road.  All of us in marketing have these.  All of our customers have these.

The real challenge here is to see if there is another way to get these things done. Do we really need another person, can we just get the video recorder and forget the green room for now, etc. etc.  Sometimes taking a step back, a deep breath and a slight attitude adjustment provides new insight on moving forward with a smaller budget that still creates a powerful set of tactics.

You need a new website this year. But instead you decide to just do the user research, internal team focus groups, and site architecture steps, so when the next fiscal rolls along, you can tackle the rest.  You wanted a new library of white papers for thought leadership, but instead you’ll focus on 5 to 10 tip sheets that pull from issues raised by customers calling your customer service reps. Next year, you’ll be significantly closer to content choices and identified resources to complete the white papers.  You’ve got two people willing to regularly write blog posts for your site when you wanted (needed?) four.  So you start with their two postings each week, and build the rest from repurposed content in already existing white papers, webinars, etc.

Sometimes you’ve got to get creative with your tactical plan to reach that ultimate strategic goal.  Sometimes you need to walk before you run, to make sure you don’t miss important elements, and gather important support from the right internal customers.

And as the song says, “You can’t always get what you want, but if you try sometimes, you might find, you get what you need.”

I don’t believe Mick and I have ever agreed on anything else, but I’ve got to give credit where credit is due.  Any other Stones songs that speak to your sales and marketing challenges?