I had a marketing operations professor in college named Dr. McDermott (brilliant man) that would always challenge his students to up their critical thinking skills. We would always talk about successful companies like Virgin, Apple, Nike, and others. In these conversations we didn't talk about what made them successful.
We had conversations on what marketing challenges would they expect to have.
Salespeople that sell marketing services deliver a pitch and hear "We're good. Not interested."
They aren't perfect. Every company is facing a challenge that they can't quite figure out. Young companies want to figure out how to grow. Mature companies worry about how to maintain on top, and everyone in the middle is just trying to stay afloat. Why are some companies blind to their challenges? The question of worth often gets in the way.
"If I ask for help, does that mean I'm not good at my job?
No. It means you care enough about the business that you want to find ways to stop challenges before they happen. Having a marketing plan is a no brainer, but how often do you change that plan?
The Harvard Business Review had an article dating back 1969 highlighting business executives and the fear to change. Executives know there's a problem, it's whether that problem affects them personally in some way. Maybe if it's technology, it could mean it removes something valuable from your every day operations.
It's amazing when you can admit, see, and be comfortable with being vulnerable to what your company needs to be stronger.
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