No snarky comments, please. I was raised as the oldest of four to believe I was at the helm of our little dynasty—responsible for everyone, caring for everyone, wanting everything to be just-so. It’s a common role for the eldest sibling to take… “I lead, therefore I know.”
There’s nothing quite as humbling as facing what you don’t know.
Getting the Answers You Need
We recently explored the decision process CXOs go through when hiring outside marketing help, with the goal of understanding how our services, and our value prop, fit into real-world business scenarios.
First we ran a poll. “When evaluating marketing partners and services, what constitutes 1-3 criteria that are MOST important to you when evaluating options?” The answers were functional in nature:
There’s nothing quite as humbling as facing what you don’t know.
- Competence, experience
- Responsiveness, agility
- Price and terms
Next, we conducted qualitative one-on-one interviews with mid-market CXOs to find out how they felt about their experiences with marketing service providers. We heard:
- “Once we hire them, the senior, smart people disappear.”
- “They may be good at their jobs, but I dread the meetings we have with them.”
- “They come on strong: big and scary, telling us how smart they are and how smart we’re not.”
- “After a while, we don’t get the attention we need.”
When you actually want to know what you don’t know, you get the answers you need.
I Can See Clearly Now…
There’s no shame in admitting you don’t know everything and need a little help, even at the expense of time and resources.
There’s no shame in admitting you don’t know everything.
Going through this series of exercises to get those answers was well worth the investment.
Stepping out of the comfort of what you know, or at least think you know, into the unknown is what sets your brand apart from the companies who continue to wander through the days with blinders on.
