Part II Bob Prosen - Kiss Theory Good Bye
11/29/2006
In Part II of Diva Marketing's interview with Bob Prosen author of
Kiss Theory Good Bye Bob offers marketers two keys on How To Rub Shoulders With the CXO’s, Five Positive Habits That Get Companies Places Fast and more. (Part I of Diva Marketing's interview with Bob Prosen)
2 Free Kiss Theory Good Bye books to Diva's readers.
Before you get into part II, Bob has generously offered 2 Free Kiss Theory Good Bye books to Diva's readers. The first 2 people to drop a comment on this post and request the book will find themselves with quite an interesting read.
Toby/Diva Marketing - I believe it was President Truman who said, “The buck stops here.” However, how involved should employees be in developing processes and in decision marking?
Bob Prosen - Yes, the buck stops with the leader. But every decision shouldn’t end up on the leaders desk. It’s important to remember that the higher up you go in an organization the fewer decisions you should be make.However, the magnitude of those decisions is far greater. For this to work others within the organization must take responsibility for day-to-day decisions or the organization will become stymied, slow to act and less competitive.
When it comes to developing processes, I use the following rule of thumb: Managers work on the process and employees work in the process. Meaning, managers are responsible for approving processes that employees help design. Because process changes generally require reallocation of resources, its management’s responsibility to approve such changes since they control the budget.
Marketing
Toby/Diva Marketing
- I found Kiss Theory Good Bye to be very insightful. The book
addresses leadership, sales, finance and operations and customer
loyalty. However, strategic marketing seems to be relegated to a
step-child role. In fact, one example even placed the responsibility of
developing the product mix in the hands of the financial team.
“The
products with the smaller margins were being sold to make quota. The
solution recommended by finance was to change the sales incentive plan
to encourage the sale of the higher-margin products.” Page 88
The
decision to sell higher-margin items did not appear to take into
account, the market or customer dynamics. Perhaps the lower-margin
products were loss leaders that led to the sale of higher margin items.
Perhaps the lower-margin products were a strategy to enter a new
market. Perhaps the lower-margin products were the glue of a customer
loyalty strategy.
That is not to say, that sales and marketing
should not be ROI-based or accountable. However, it appears that this
was a short-term fix to what might be a more complex situation. It
also seemed that the organization was comprised of tightly held silos
if the marketing team wasn’t brought into the discussion. Perhaps the
conversations should have begun with marketing and included finance.
That said, where do you see strategic marketing in the c-level suite?
Bob Prosen
- Toby, I agree with you that today most companies do relegate
marketing to a step-child role which is very unfortunate. Often times
marketing is like a diamond in the rough and will only show its
brilliance when the CEO respects the ROI it delivers. So for any
marketer who wants to rub shoulders with the CXO’s here are the two
keys:
First - Marketing must understand and communicate in the
language of business leaders, this includes knowing how their programs
impact earnings, cash flow, ROI and NVP. If not, marketing will be
underutilized and viewed strictly as a discretionary expense that is
continuously targeted for budget cuts.
Second, make sure your
best friend in the company is the head of Sales, because he or she is
always seated at the planning table. Here’s how it should work. When
sales is asked to commit to the top line they should agree only if the
required marketing plans are approved. A tight relationship with sales
makes marketing invaluable.
Smaller companies rarely have to
deal with this because they don’t have a dedicated marketing
department. Instead, the CEO and head of sales take on the
responsibility with accounting in the background keeping score.
Toby,
your question is spot on! I recently delivered a keynote presentation
at a Business Marketing Association conference on this very subject –
What Top CEO’s Expect From marketing. It’s a hard-hitting presentation
packed with specific actions that, when employed, will dramatically
enhance the power of marketing.
Getting Places Fast
Toby/Diva Marketing - To wrap up our interview, you describe five crippling habits that get companies no where fast:
1. Absence of clear direction
2. Lack of accountability
3. Rationalizing inferior performance
4. Planning in lieu of action
5. Aversion to risk and change
Can you give Diva Marketing readers Five Positive Habits That Get Companies Places Fast?
Bob Prosen -
1. Hire people smarter than yourself
2. Deliver on commitments
3. Develop an accountability based culture
4. Under promise and over deliver
5. Reward results not activities
Toby/Diva Marketing - Looking in
your crystal ball, would you share your thoughts with Diva’s readers
about the challenges and opportunities you see in store for the next
generation of businesses and business leaders?
Bob Prosen
- We’re entering that next generation as we speak. One of the biggest
challenges is information overload and how do you stand out given the
unbridled accessibility to the customer and all of the social and Web
2.0 bombardment they are subject to.
What will separate the
winners from the losers is the ability to use this technology in such a
way that future clients want to hear from you.
The other
challenge is the changing work ethic of the Generation Y employee who
demands a balanced life. Winners will have created an environment where
employees are encouraged to “kiss theory good bye and kiss their life
hello” thereby attracting and retaining top talent.
The answer is creating the right work environment combined with state of the art technology that enables this life balance.
