By Ahmed al-Akber/Manama

Every business that wants to grow needs a plan. But plans are only as good as their implementation, and implementation happens by committed people. One failure of a good marketing plan is when the people charged with implementing the plan don’t fully understand, or worse, agree with what the plan entails.

Marketing is one of those disciplines that everyone in the company needs to be involved in. Marketing is not only reserved for the marketing department. Take the example of President Kennedy during a visit to the Nasaspace centre in 1962. Upon noticing a janitor carrying a broom, Kennedy interrupted his tour, came over to the man and asked what he was doing. “Well, Mr President” the janitor responded, “I’m helping put a man on the moon.”

Besides demonstrating an understanding of how his job was designed to achieve a bigger goal, this wonderful story emphasises the janitor’s commitment to achieving that goal, and a positive attitude towards teamwork. When you have employees that understand and are committed to achieving goals, there is a lot that can get done.

There are many different ways to get employees committed to achieving marketing goals. Here is a three-step process that will help:

1) Get their input. Right at the start, ask them what they think the organisation’s biggest marketing issues are, and where the opportunities and focus should be. This can be done by simply meeting and interviewing them. Take it a step further by getting them together in a workshop where more brainstorming and group discussion can take place. Not only will the ideas be much stronger, but asking people for their feedback works very well in getting their buy-in.

2) Communicate the plan. Once you have got the plan in place, be sure to communicate it. In most organisations, this simply means a summary of the issues along with what will be done, by whom, by when, and with what resources. Communicating the plan to everyone in the team is a great way to make people feel like their voices have been heard. It also gets them aligned to the main goals, much like the man on the moon example.

3) Follow up. Never assume that because someone has said yes to doing something that it will be done. Follow up with every task, and ensure that those given accountability are followed up with. Try as quickly as possible to get some early wins to build momentum and ensure there are some type of project plans in place for longer-term initiatives.

The secret to getting your marketing plan achieved is to rally support from the people you’ll need to implement them. Once you have that support, there is nothing stopping you from achieving your toughest goals, even if they are as big as putting a man on the moon.

 

♦ Ahmed al-Akber is the managing director of ACK Solutions, a firm that helps companies to improve their marketing and sales results by offering more effective ways attracting customers and significantly better products and services. Ahmed has worked internationally in marketing, sales, and strategic planning at companies such as the Coca-Cola Company, Philip Morris International and Dell. Questions or comments can be sent to Ahmed on [email protected]