No one said the recession would be easy. Cost cutting is a fact of life and so are procurement departments. Scrutiny has never been more fashionable. The sooner marketers accept that and use what they already know about building relationships to improve communication and processes, the better. After all, many businesses won’t consider purchasing marketing services without involving a procurement team. But don’t let that worry you. A recent article in The Marketer puts it all in perspective.

Marc Duke

No sweat? No, this is nothing to do with a New Year’s resolutions about getting fit. Instead, it’s a serious question about assets, that is marketing assets. The killer question is: are you sweating your assets enough? I am no accountant, but what I do know is we are in a recession and every penny has to count (it needs to in boom time too, but the focus is never as great when everyone is feeling positive). As an independent consultant involved in technology marketing communications, I get involved in loads of interesting situations. I have to deliver value or I have lost the client and the revenue. But I have recently been in a situation of managing a PR agency on behalf of a client. What scared/annoyed me was the lack of value being delivered, without getting into detail any marketer managing a supplier needs to ask the following:

• Does the supplier understand my business and what I have asked them to deliver?
• Have they delivered results or excuses?
• Have I provided the right level of support?

 A few answers to these questions is likely to result in getting the maximum from your agency and will ultimately lead to marketing generating growth for the business.

Contact Marc at marcduke@btconnect.com