“A goal without a plan is just a wish.” Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. To achieve and maintain excellence, a Marketing organization has to make measurement a priority.  Any organization whose “heart” isn’t in an initiative will see only marginal success at best, and more likely, failure.  The first critical success factor in any endeavor is to attach importance to it.

Since 2001, we’ve been conducting a Marketing Performance Management (MPM) benchmark study in which we ask members of the C-Suite to grade Marketing’s ability to measure and report on its value, contribution, and impact on the business. From this research, we’ve derived three personas of marketers- Value Creators, the Best-in-Class Marketers who earn high marks from the C-Suite; Sales Enablers, the middle-of-the-pack marketers who earn medium scores, and the Campaign Producers who earn low scores.  The number of Marketing organizations serving as Value Creators hasn’t changed much over the years.

We do know much more about what this group does better and differently from their peers. Success with MPM takes more than simply declaring that it’s important.

Excelling at MPM requires discipline and a plan

The results from the study can help you learn what technical and hard skills you may want to acquire. The pursuit of excellence requires more than hard skills, though. In his book, Pursuit of Excellence, Terry Orlick, an internationally acclaimed sports psychologist who has helped hundreds of Olympic and professional athletes maximize their performances, offers these internal skills every marketer can acquire – for FREE, to achieve excellence

1. Commitment – your commitment to the pursuit and your willingness to work hard. Does everything you do help you boost your marketing performance? You have to commit to excel; you have to develop both the mindset and skill set needed. According to Terry, “Commitment is the first essential ingredient guiding the pursuit of excellence.
2. Belief – the extent to which you believe in what you are doing. You have to believe in the meaningfulness of pursuing marketing excellence. You must believe that your investment in marketing excellence is worthwhile. Marketing excellence is not typically something you can achieve on your own. You will need the support of others, both inside and outside of marketing, to pull it off. Make sure each member of your team understands the meaningful role they play in pursuing marketing excellence. Tony says, “Belief is a two-way phenomenon. It opens the door to higher levels of excellence, and higher levels of excellence open the door to higher levels of belief.”
3. Focus – the ability to concentrate. We’ve learned that those marketing organizations that excel at marketing performance measurement have basically the same tools and budgets as those that don’t. “Focus is the single most important mental skill associated with excellence,” according to Tony. All of us can develop, direct, and control this skill.  The key is to focus fully on the right things and avoid distractions.
4. Visualization – the ability to imagine and prepare for high-quality performance. The more you can imagine quality performance and your desired outcomes, the more you can guide your actions. When you talk with an athlete, artist, or anyone who is at the top of their game, you’ll most likely hear they have and tap into highly developed visualization.
5. Mental Readiness – your predisposition to learning and practicing the essential mental and technical skills you need to become proficient. To achieve marketing excellence, you need to be open to learning.
6. A Process for Improvement. You can gain important lessons and leapfrog your way to progress with frequent and routine evaluations.

Purchase Your Assessment

The work associated with marketing excellence isn’t easy.  Having a lasting impact on the business is far more important than merely producing short-term ROI.  The more unclear leadership is about Marketing’s impact, the greater the risk to the marketing function.  MPM done well lifts the fog around Marketing’s impact, allowing leaders to understand how it generates new customers, impacts loyalty, contributes to revenue, grows market share, creates category ownership, and creates value. Consider how you can develop these six internal skills and read How to Make Progress on Your Marketing Excellence Journey to learn what technical skills Best-in-Class Marketers employ to achieve excellence. Better yet, schedule a meeting.

FAQ:

• Value Creators: Best-in-Class marketers who earn high marks from the C-Suite
• Sales Enablers: Middle-of-the-pack marketers who earn medium scores
• Campaign Producers: Marketers who earn low scores
  A key finding: the percentage of Marketing organizations operating as Value Creators has not changed much over time—suggesting that success requires more than declaring MPM is important.

• Commitment: Willingness to work hard and align actions to performance improvement
• Belief: Confidence in the meaningfulness and value of pursuing excellence; shared belief across the team
• Focus: Ability to concentrate on the right priorities and avoid distractions
• Visualization: Ability to imagine high-quality performance and desired outcomes to guide actions
• Mental readiness: Openness to learning and practicing essential mental and technical skills
• A process for improvement: Routine evaluation to learn, adjust, and accelerate progress

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