This is another post for marketing directors. And the question to you is:
Does everyone in the office know the value you add to the firm?
If not, get to work not just with the partners, but with everyone in the firm. Don't brown nose, fawn, or promote, for gosh sakes. Communicate. Listen. Keep your promises. Tell the truth. Act with total integrity and for the benefit of the firm, not any one individual.
In a strategy session with one of my bosses, he shared with me that he was asked by one person on the staff what value did the inhabitants of one row of offices bring to the company. I am the inhabitant of one of those offices! Gulp.
In the context of what we were discussing, the question wasn't as devastating as it could have been but it clearly sent a message that I had not been doing what I needed to be doing.
And the thing that makes me kick myself is that I knew it. I've been so busy with tactical things (that's why I've been absent from the blog) that I neglected the strategic things that I had to push along. And in our firm, I am the only one that can really push them.
So all you marketing directors, remember:
- Just because you know what you do is important, that doesn't mean anyone else knows it
- Many, if not most, "fee-earners" assume that marketing can be done by any young blond female who is good with people. It's your job to bring your skills and expertise to the table every day
- The "fee-earners" are your internal clients. Treat them that way and remember the pressure they are under
- Metrics, metrics, metrics. Live by them. Die without them
- Keep your eye on the top line
- It's not the brochure or the website or any other collateral material. It's how they interact to make the phone ring
I have a score of other things to add to the list as I'm sure you do too. Time and space don't permit their inclusion right now. But I hope I've made my point.
Does everyone at your firm know the value you add?
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