Are You Getting What You Really Want?
“I’ll leave it up to you. I trust you!”
“I don’t want to stifle your creativity. Just do what you think is right.”
“We want to know what you would do, not just run with our idea. We are not the experts; you are!”
These are the types of thoughts that clients and colleagues have expressed to me over the years when it comes to collaborating on new ideas and projects.
I understand the challenges that come with hiring someone to do a job. I have been there myself. You are extremely busy. You have hired a professional to assist you in an area that is not necessarily your expertise. You have objectives and goals that you are responsible for hitting, and you need the professional to help you get there. I’ve been there and understand the pressures and challenges.
But, let’s look at an analogy…if you hired a private Chef to cook an important anniversary meal for you and your wife, would you:
- Tell the Chef to choose any ingredients with no direction, budget, or guidelines?
- Leave out important details about your wife’s meal preferences?
- Expect the Chef to succeed with no guidelines?
When the Chef serves up a beautiful rack of lamb to you and your wife, who are vegetarians, the fact that the lamb has the perfect hint of rosemary with subtle mint undertones becomes irrelevant.
The chef illustration is a no brainer. People generally don’t do that (we hope). When it comes to partnering with your marketing service provider, making sure he or she understands what you want so they can use their expertise to make it happen is not that different.
My marketing tip for the day: communicate what results you hope to achieve with your marketing so your service provider can be successful in helping you reach your goals. Don’t be afraid of asking questions. And by all means, don’t be afraid of hurting someone’s feelings when it comes to design! By providing constructive feedback, you will get closer to what you want, which is ultimately what your service provider wants too. It’s a win-win!