Digging In The Dirt - Hoeing The Weeds

Digging in the Dirt - Hoeing the Weeds

ONE REQUIREMENT of successful gardening is hoeing the weeds. Regardless of how much I loved to be around my father, I dreaded this aspect of gardening.

But I do remember a time when I was small, maybe six years old, when there was this “hoeing party” at my grandmother’s garden. Now, it wasn’t a real celebration (no one was laughing and carrying on but us kids), but because my grandmother, parents, aunt, and cousins were all there, it seemed like a party to me. Looking back, I can only surmise that when my grandmother needed help the reinforcements were called in.

Great companies recognize their reinforcements as their suppliers, vendor partners, and service organizations. And great companies use them to their advantage. Because my marketing firm falls into the category of all three, I have had the opportunity to learn the advantages of calling in reinforcements.

Our best clients communicate their vision and their mission succinctly to us and their other business partners. The best suppliers always have a choice whom to support with their best talent and resources—you or your competition. Because top talent is a limited resource in any organization, those clients who share their vision with their business partners usually get their suppliers’ best employees assigned to their accounts. Often I have heard of marketing organizations utilizing the A team to get the business and assigning their B team to manage the company’s day-to-day business. Sometimes this is a sales strategy, similar to a bait and switch. But often companies do this when they no longer feel they can make a strategic contribution to a client’s forward plans or growth.

Do you want to get more than your fair share of your service organizations’ allocation of product or talent? Be clear. Be consistent. Be timely.

Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too. (Philippians 2:4)

Don’t keep your partners in the dark; they’ll do a better job if there’s a little daylight to hoe by.