Gray Matter at White Space

Onboarding new business partners can be a royal pain... for both the onboarders and the onboardees.

With so much information to impart, it’s difficult to strike a balance between being thorough and downright mind-numbing.

With Father’s Day celebrations just behind us—and reflecting on how important a father’s guidance is—it reminded me of an attitude that was ever-present in our home. Every day that our kids left for school, from the youngest age, Lou sent them off with this instruction: “Ask good questions!”

In a world where everyone is “selling” something, this philosophy represents a particular skill set that rises above all others.

This past Monday, my newly minted college graduate daughter moved across the country to start her post-college life in Palo Alto, California. She’s facing lots of new things on this adventure: new work, new friendships, new town, new car, new apartment. She’s pumped. I’m... okay.

But, as much as I already miss her and worry about her (hey, I get to do that—I’m the mom), I know all of these new encounters represent growth. And growth means “bigger and better,” or at least that’s the hope.

The idea had a zero-percent chance of more revenue for us. But I had to push forward and find an inside advocate who'd do the right thing.

At the end of a very long week, I wrote an impassioned note to a client about an important step they need to take to realize growth. I've been talking about a way to plug up the holes I saw in their sales process for three years!

In past blogs, we’ve had plenty of discussions about creating content—whether the topic was how to keep content production on track, using storytelling to mix up repetitive subject matter, or getting SMEs to write for your blog within your budget constraints. The premise behind those conversations has been getting your content game off the ground--building a library of resources.

But, once you’ve accomplished that, what’s the next step? What do you do with the robust amount of content at your disposal? More importantly, how is it performing? It’s critical to know if all the time and effort you spend creating this content and deploying it is really paying off or simply a waste of time.

As a marketing agency, we are infinitely aware of the value our services hold. That’s not meant to be boastful or self-serving, it’s simply the core of what we do. A company who sells widgets is an expert in that item. We may not know how to manufacture it, but we do have the expertise to help get it sold.

Now, that company may already have an in-house marketing department. Why would they—or should they—work with us? Because of these two most important (and yes, non-sexy) reasons: time and money.

Ilene and I recently attended an event that matched us with companies who had identified and expressed varying needs or holes in their marketing efforts. It was modeled against from a speed dating scenario, where we had a set amount of time to chat with each company representative and engage in a mutual exchange of “We need this” and “Here’s how we [White Space] can help.”

It was a long, full day but a good exercise in exploring different industries and corporate personalities. We also got a view of how companies perceive us, as an agency, and what that may mean to an entity that already has in-house marketing.

Every marketer knows that strategy is necessary for effective execution, but oftentimes we get that deer-in-the-headlights look when it’s time to get down to business. . This hesitation isn’t necessarily rooted in fear. Rather, key players become anxious thinking about all the “stuff” that accompanies the strategic process—so much so that the process gets marginalized.

In last week's blog, my colleague, Bari, explained her time-tested (and mom-approved) approach to prioritization, which focuses on a perceived short-term, mid-term, and long-term view of tasks, actions, and goals. It's a helpful strategy for both the big picture of things and the everyday minutiae.

If you’re someone who needs a more concrete prioritization methodology, there’s a fairly simple step-by-step process that can help you identify, rank, and assign importance. While dollar signs often dictate prioritization, this formulaic approach takes a combination of factors into consideration. You might find that cost isn’t the be-all end-all.

So, how do you set your priorities when they’re too close to call?

In last week’s blog I discussed why prioritization is so important for progress and why it’s so much more than just picking your battles. There is a method to the madness.

Unfortunately, gaining a clear understanding as to why one action ranks over another is oftentimes tricky. Anyone who has felt inundated with work, life, relationships knows this firsthand. It takes a little work to determine an order of prioritization, but it can be done.