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Stick with me. This makes sense. I promise!
First, let’s look at what happens when we decide to get fit.
If we are serious:
- We decide fad diets, and yo-yo, up-and-down behavior aren’t getting us anywhere. In fact, they might be making us unfit.
- We might decide there’s something that just ISN’T happening, but we know it needs to.
- We might decide there’s something that IS happening with our bodies that is good, so we need to figure out how and why we did it, and try to do it again.
- If we are doing it right, we need to pick apart what “in shape” means for us, and not for our neighbor. After all, this is our plan to get fit, not theirs, right?
- We then analyze what we need to do to get our entire body in to the shape we’ve decided is right for us. What good are strong biceps if the muscles surrounding them have atrophied and can’t support them?
- We need to figure out what we need to change in our diet that will help us feel better. What good is trying to build strong muscles when we aren’t helping them out by feeding them?
- We need to figure out which muscles are strong, which are weak, and which need to be worked out so that we will get fit.
- We need to understand that getting fit isn’t just shedding pounds, or cutting calories. What good is being 98 pounds if our insides are dying?
- We need to understand that sometimes getting fit actually causes weight-gain…the good kind…muscle.
- We need to be committed to the goals we’ve set for this plan to get fit, and be passionate about not giving up.
WHAT ABOUT FIT MARKETING?
How does this resemble fit marketing? I think you can figure it out, but let’s have a go at the comparison, shall we?
If we are serious:
- We decide that Random Acts of Marketing, and erratic business development behavior and marketing expenditures, are just that, random and erratic. In fact, they might be killing our business by wasting money and confusing our clients.
- We might even recognize that there’s something missing in our firms and practices, and that definitely needs to change.
- We decide that every now and then a client responds to something we’ve done, but we’re not exactly sure what we did to elicit that response.
- If we are doing it right, we need to pick apart what building a healthy business means for us, not the firm down the street. After all, this is our Marketing and Strategic Plan, not theirs, right?
- We then need to analyze what we need to do to get the entire firm’s marketing engine working at once. This means every practice and professional need to work together to accomplish the mutual goals of the firm, as well as those they’ve established for themselves. What good is a strong Real Estate Partner when his/her Group hasn’t planned and committed the resources necessary to help accomplish his/her stated goals?
- We then need to figure out what business practices need to be changed, added or abolished in order to help the firm get healthy.
- We need to figure out which practice or industry groups are strong, which are weak, and what needs to be done to get them fit and working in a complementary fashion to accomplish stated goals.
- We need to understand that building a fit marketing plan or effort doesn’t just mean shedding personnel, inflating or deflating marketing and business development budgets, or reporting lean numbers that will help us look profitable at year-end. After all, what good is a lean marketing and business development budget when we have no money to implement that which we’ve defined in all the steps above? Conversely, what good does it do to have money tied up in these departments when we have no idea how, when, where and why to spend it?
- We need to understand that sometimes growing a fit marketing program for our firms means spending more money in the short term in order to become more successful down the road.
- Last, but definitely not least, we need to be committed to the goals we’ve set for this plan, and be passionate about not giving up.
Let me know. Are you feeling fit?
Sincere thanks to dfmillington for the photo used above.
