Blog
Is your need for control blocking your company’s progress?
Blog
Is your need for control blocking your company’s progress?
The choice between growth or control.
Brian Flores, Minnesota Viking’s new defensive coordinator, picked up some sage advice when he was searching for his next coaching opportunity this winter. He was visiting a Pittsburgh-area church when the pastor’s message felt all too relevant for his job search. He said, “you can have control in life or you can have growth, but you can’t have both.” Flores said he took the new position in Minnesota because he chose growth.
Sometimes, what’s true in life and football is true in marketing and business. We want to grow, but it’s difficult to let go of the things we want to control.
If you’re not satisfied with the number of leads your business is generating or converting to sales, it’s time to try something different. You can’t solve a problem with the same thinking that created the problem.
As longtime marketers, we know one of the biggest roadblocks in moving a company forward is pushback on taking a different approach. Often, the pushback comes from a fear of giving up control—even if that control produces less than favorable results.
To alleviate some of that fear, it’s important to have a clear sense of what letting go could look like. An experienced marketing partner can help you do that.
Generally, it requires some discovery work up front. That may include:
- Assessing your current marketing efforts to determine what’s working and what’s not
- Getting a clear understanding of your preferred target market—their motivations, pain points and needs as well as the ideal customer journey
- Assessing the strengths and weaknesses of your competitors
- Establishing or confirming your brand positioning—who you are, what you do, how you do it and why. Many companies focus only on the what, but it’s the how and the why that often differentiate your products and services from everyone else’s
- Addressing primary business goals and creating sales and marketing KPIs that align with those goals
After the initial discovery work is complete, your marketing partner can help you envision new and better ways to meet your goals. That might include repositioning your brand with a new look or more effective messaging, adjusting your target audience or implementing new tactics for capturing more leads and converting them to sales.
Your partner can also help you develop a strategic roadmap that details how and when each initiative will be implemented as well as checkpoints to track your progress against your goals.
And, then, it’s time to make a decision—to let go of the way you’ve always done things in order to grow…or stay where you are.
Letting go of what’s no longer working can come with risks. And, it will likely take time and an investment to change course. But if your vision for growth is backed by well-thought-out strategies, the risks will be fewer and the investment is more likely to pay off.
It’s natural to want to remain in control of things that are important to us. But if your need for control is closing you off from important growth, it’s time to make a choice. It could be the best tradeoff you ever make for your business.