In the Scarlett Letter #11, I spoke about the (sometimes) sloth-like execution process when it comes to marketing and business development activities within an AE firm. My colleague, Rana Lee of SmithGroup, had shared a recent story about the process her firm went through to execute an unusual marketing campaign to a targeted group of prospects.
Rana put it well when she said: “After our conversation on Monday, I read up on Kaizen. What struck me were the founding elements consisting of teamwork, personal discipline, improved morals, quality and suggestions for improvement. When reflecting upon our project, I recognized that we came out stronger as a team…but the foremost essential ingredient involved alignment with our mutual goals and vision {in this case, increased market share within a specific sector}.”
In Rana’s case, the team was executing a unique effort that could have been construed as ‘risky’ by some, had there not been trust among the team members. Subsequent elements of the successful outcome were around brand equity; recognition as a thought leader; and of course, meetings with prospective clients. Ultimately, the project was completed in 6 weeks, from idea inception to fulfillment. “By applying Kaizen principles in the future, I hope we will execute projects of similar scope in no more than half that amount of time. The specific areas where we intend to improve are: identification of key stakeholders and decision-making protocol, reduction of meeting time by 50%, and guidelines to help achieve an appropriate balance between consensus (time) and risk (opportunity).”
How has (or will) your firm apply Kaizen principles for better execution of marketing activities? Please send me an email with your comments.
