“We were going to run the ball and win the game but not on that down”
You have to feel for Pete Carroll. Of course, for those of us in New England the feeling is fleeting.
Here's the thing - that sort of breakdown happens routinely in B2B industrial marketing. Too often companies start to feel cocky as they have some success. And then they get silly, fiddling with technology for the sake of technology. They pass when they should just run.
But knowing when to pass, or even what sort of play against what coverage, requires experience and vision. Head coaches, assistant coaches, folks up in the box and those down on the field collectively draw on years of experience and detailed scouting to make those calls.
And they still, sometimes, have epic brain cramps.
The role of marketing consulting
Most industrial companies don't have head coaches and assistant coaches. And almost none have scouting. Instead a coordinator, working diligently, head down (no fancy headset, integrated Surface tablet, or eyes in the sky) without research on prospects, is supposed to create nurtured leads.
And guess what...
There's a silly play called that costs an opportunity.
Too many companies think of marketing consulting as an outsourced resource to build capacity - instead it should provide the perspective and vision which companies don't have internally.
Great B2B marketing is a grind
There's another lesson to take from the '15 SuperBowl. Success comes from relentless execution. Seattle lost track of that. They got excited. They were giddy on the sidelines.
That happens often in industrial marketing in response to a quick burst of success with social media, some results with marketing automation, etc. And companies get lax.
There's a reason why so many great B2B marketers are engineers - they are data obsessed, process oriented, results oriented characters - like Belichick.
Sure it's important to celebrate success, encourage co-workers and enjoy what you're doing. But as soon as the backslapping starts, the focus on detailed and relentless execution diffuses.
Maybe it's worth engaging some marketing consulting to get your team focused. Have you seen the playbook binders and wondered just how complicated football is? Well your business is really complex too - download our free whitepaper to understand your challenges.
