Good marketing starts from the top …

Setting direction, creating the right structure and culture and getting the right people doing the right things are essential activities for leadership teams. For me though, understanding what clients need and having a vision of how to fulfil those needs effectively is top of the leadership skill list.

Knowing your clients and building a business to keep them happy leads to success. Of course, achieving that efficiently is the role of good management and the ability to achieve that consistently and efficiently across an organisation and with clients is the responsibility of the marketing team.

Great firms have leadership teams that provide both clear value statements AND the structural framework to ensure a firm’s value is widely understood throughout the firm, the client base and in the wider market.

How good then is your value proposition? Does everyone in the business know it?

A lot of firms I’ve worked with are great at explaining what they do and where they do it but have a harder time explaining why clients should, or even do, choose them. Do you know why clients choose you? Do you spend time with clients and ask? Sometimes, just asking the question leads to great support and the opportunity for referrals.

A great value proposition is then supported with the right structure. There are numerous cost efficient methods to support your sales & marketing activity, from affordable, value-adding and insightful CRM systems to social media activity, to tried and tested traditional activities.

If you’re part of the leadership team, take time to reflect on how much time you are spending with clients, try and nail down what they really think of you and then ensure the right structure is in place to leverage that insight.

Your processes, your systems and your people all come in to the structural equation. Getting those effective and efficient alongside a great proposition is a winning formula.