Isn't that why carpenters at all skill levels know you should measure twice, cut once?
Remember that it doesn't help to be making good time, when you are headed in the wrong direction.
So, why are some companies - not you, your competitors hopefully, firing away before they have the specific target dialed in - with a clearly defined focus?
Maybe it's because business people are naturally action people and it just feels better to be doing something than simply thinking about it.
Possibly you've never thought of yourself as a strategist, the other members of your organization are too busy with the day-to-day tasks to help out, and there is no one else to confide in that you trust 100%.
And anyway, what if you spend time and energy strategizing all the "what if" scenarios you can think of only to come up with something that doesn't work?
There is a solution of course - one that costs nothing but a little effort - that can reap dramatic results for you and your organization. A solution that will change how you make major decisions in your organization from now on.
But first - here are three keys to strategic marketing.
A primary key to success is the value of your uniqueness. What is it about your organization that separates you from your competitors in your marketplace?
By the way, who are your traditional competitors? Are there any new competitors coming on the scene? What do you consider your marketing area? Did 70-80% of your new business come from a relatively small number of accounts, or a sub-niche in your market, or a single geographical area last year?
Unless you know specifically who is already buying from you, and why, you'll never be able to articulate your USP, your unique selling proposition - from the point of view of your customers.
Would it be helpful if you could organize a small group of your peers, people who understand your challenges, to discuss these and other elements of your business strategy with? People who live around the country - not nearby, so you won't be telling your business secrets or sharing your plans with a someone you're going to run into at the mall or at church.
Another key to the success of your marketing strategy and to the success of your organization in general is the caliber of your organization's recognized reputation as someone to do business with.
In this day of virtually unlimited choices of vendors it is critical that you are seen as someone people like doing business with and someone people trust to keep their word.
If you are the best kept secret in your marketplace or in your industry - if the right people don't know who you are, then your results will be less than they would be if you were a household name among your potential customers.
Your customers already know who you and to the extent they keep doing business with you are satisfied with the relationship. If they represent the "right people" to you, how can you enlist them in your efforts to spread your reputation as a reliable organization to do business with?
Perhaps your peers, those in your industry, have developed campaigns that successfully target the right people in their market? Maybe these same peers will help you focus your efforts in the right places based on what is working for them? That would put some sharp teeth into your marketing strategy, wouldn't it?
The third key is the quality of your products and support services.
It is likely that the quality of your products and support services measures up to your customers' expectations. If it didn't there would be few repeat sales and sales in general would be declining.
Your challenge is to develop the ability to consistently communicate the fact that your customers' expectations are being met to your prospects. In other words getting that message out prior to the sale is the key.
A successful strategic marketing strategy combines these elements into a seamless process that will help you focus on what you are unique at, who is the ideal prospect for it, and then recruiting your satisfied customers to tell your story to the right people in your marketplace.
For most of you this will not be a complicated process. It will take effort and you will need help.
That help can and probably should come from a group of your peers, people from your industry, who are far outside of your traditional marketing area. People whose marketing insights and experiences are directly relevant to you.
Today, free long distance service, instant online webinar services, and free Yahoo! groups can make your meetings effective without the time and money wasted getting to and from face to face meetings. These Internet tools also offer the ability to connect with the other members of your strategic marketing peer group 24/7 - so your plans can be refined continually to deal with the speed of change in business today.
You can get together in person from time to time of course - that's what your trade association meetings are for.
Using the simple techniques that I later complied into my peer group report I established and participated in several peer to peer mastermind groups.
Withe a proven strategy, a few tipe, tools, and techniques you can create your own board of advocates - your own strategic marketing team, with a little help from your friends.
In fact, even if you thought a strategic marketing team made sense - you wouldn't know how to put one together. And you aren't likely to find anyone around the company who knows much more about it than you.
A strategic marketing team, like some many other operational groups does not have to be complicated to set up and run as all that. And it doesn't require anyone's time and energy - on a sustained basis, than yours.
Who can you get to be on your strategic marketing team? Who should be actively involved in the process and who can be counted on to provide the resources and perspectives you need?
To begin with chose three to five business owners from within your industry, people whose companies are well outside of your marketing areas. Ideally some members would be like you, others older with more experience, and younger with fresh perspectives.
Getting them on board may take a little arm twisting, but when you promise to be on their strategic marketing team they'll most likely agree to get on board with you.
Based on their experiences they'll provide input to help you get started on your strategic marketing - and you'll reciprocate. They will ask tough questions and provide welcome and unwelcome feedback from their perspectives. Their feedback will include shared experiences, industry knowledge as well as totally different approaches that have worked successfully for them.
To begin the first, of many, strategic team sessions, you'll be identifying specifically what you want to accomplish. You must be able to look down the road, beyond today's fires, and picture a target that is both far enough to be attainable - this takes time you know, yet close enough to be important. These are strategic sessions not crisis identification and management - and yet there should be a level of urgency in the process or nothing will get done.
And from the beginning you must communicate openly to your strategic marketing - explaining clearly how the results achieved will be measured. Be prepared for some meaningful discussions around this process, accurately identifying and agreeing on your targets, benchmarks and the definition of success in advance is critical to keeping the process moving forward and on track. If these things are not clearly agreed upon in advance the resulting excuse making a restating them will destroy you credibility with your peers and eliminate the momentum from the process.
As the strategies develop and you take the results back to your company watch out for the agenda's, hidden and otherwise of your staff. Every decision steps on somebody's toes, at least a tiny bit - and unless they are universally willing to set aside their internal issues and get together on the big picture, they can stop your progress dead in its tracks.
Every manager, supervisor, and employee has concerns about how these plans will effect them. Such things as cash flow, profitability, market share, employee satisfaction, and many other things will be impacted by the final decsions you and your strategic marketing team make. Be sensitive to their concerns and comments, Your people from the loading dock to the Board room must be 100% on board or all your strategic marketing team's efforts will be a waste of time.
You and the strategic advisory team of your peers must consider how each element of your strategic marketing plan impacts your organization. This is an neverending story - your peer to peer stratigic advisory team will meet continually. The topics discussed in these strategy sessions will expand to every area of your organization, creating a very real teams of advocates who will help you focus on your continued future.
A peer to peer collobration process removes the number one problem faced by today's business owners, making decisons in isolation with no one to trust to talk to, who will not hold it against them in some way.
Wayne Messick has sinced written about articles on various topics from Employment, Education Toys and Marketing. Click here to order the peer-to-peer mastermind group workbook and receive priceless tips, tools, and strategies for creating and managing your own strategic marketing mastermind group.. Wayne Messick's top article generates over 12100 views. to your Favourites.