I’ve been doing quite a bit of networking recently and, perhaps not surprising, there are a good number of other marketing services suppliers out there offering their skills to the SME marketplace. Talking to lots of them, they generally seem to fall into one of two camps:
Planning or Action
I’m sure there will be people cry out ‘We do both!’ but in my experience although many (even most) say this, the reality is that their real focus is in one area or the other, even though one without the other is either a road to nowhere or a shot in the dark.
Planning
Planning is all good stuff but won’t deliver unless it is put to the test, and that can be scary. You’ve spent money on developing your plan, what if it doesn’t work? OK, good planning should be a process, not an event but that only works if it is integrated with implementation so not really what we are discussing here. Service suppliers who focus on planning tend not to drive action. Sometimes they’ll get away with it because your business has is own momentum – but does the planning actually do any good, unless you implement it? Sometimes a client knows they should be doing stuff to implement the strategy but don’t so they are happy to see it as their ‘fault’ that they aren’t seeing any benefit.
Action
One thing about action, doing something always produces results. These may be good, bad or indifferent but you always know more afterwards than you did before you started. Good business is about managing risk. Action without planning can be hit or miss and a bigger risk than if you are working to a well thought out plan. I will always advocate doing ‘something‘, but don’t overstretch yourself and avoid digging a hole you can’t afford to fill! Don’t assume that one ‘action’ will deliver everything you need. Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.
An Approach
Clearly the best approach is to develop a plan and the put it into action in a structured, measured and joined-up way. It’s your business and service suppliers are there to deliver benefit to you. Make sure your processes are joined-up, even if this involves working with both planning specialists and action specialists. If you can create a joined-up team ethic between these various partners you can have a powerful resource to really drive your business forward.
Planning -> Action -> Review -> Planning etc etc
If I had to pick one I’d go for action every time – but joined-up is better!
