Change: Taking Control of Your Future through Connection Priority

Change is often difficult to predict in our industry.  One reason is because our industry spans across

multiple industries where change often occurs at different intervals.  The healthcare industry is an example of constant changes over the last 25 years. Every 10 years or so, the pundits tell us the industry is going through revolutionary change.  Yet, the industry continues to grow and need our services. 

Firms selling services in this market have learned how to keep up by being connected to institutions and developing relationships with leaders.  Hospitals have gone through acquisitions and mergers during this time.  These changes alone have made it difficult to stay on top of who is in charge of what.

The oil industry is one of the biggest change agent industries in the world.  They make multi-billion dollar investments on exploration that will not pay back for 20 years.  They use a method called scenario planning.  Yet, there are firms in our industry that stay connected despite the constant changes in oil and energy markets.

Of course, there is volatility in other markets as well. But, the examples listed above should suffice for the purposes of this article.  The butterfly affect in weather explains how even the flapping of butterfly wings thousands of miles away can cause disruptions in weather patterns here at home. What can cause disruptions in your firm and your firm's clients?

Marketing services professionals respond to thousands of clients requests each year.  In a world of constant change, they need to understand how and why those requests have come to them.  To be successful in this climate, you need to understand the competitive nature of the markets your firm works in, the corporate culture of the clients you want to work with and internal strengths and weaknesses of your firm.  In other words, you need to be connected.

Questions that need to be answered in order for you to be really connected include: Can you see patterns in a story your client is telling you?  What is your firm’s mission and how do you find common ground in your role as marketing services professional?  There is a cause and effect.  What if everyone in your firm is not on the same page?  Some people in your firm might not be clear about your purpose.  We are hard wired to have a need to have a purpose. You are the change agents connecting your people to clients and often management to frontline staff.  You must build bridges.

When was the last time you thought of yourself as a bridge builder. Bridges make life better when there are connections between two shores with a body of water flowing underneath.  What gives you the power and edge is the ability to build bridges between people, people and clients, clients and vendors and even clients and clients.  The world in turmoil flows underneath the bridges built by marketing services professionals. When the dots have been jumbled by change, it is your ability to connect the dots that will bring success to your career and your firm.

In addition to bridge builder, you must be seen as an advocate, seeker, counselor, interrogator and communicator.

When you give clients perspective and guidance, you are also giving them hope.  Not the simple hope that tomorrow will be a better day but the realistic hope that the project they are planning will be a success with your firm at the helm.  Do you look at yourself as someone who can bring stability to your clients when things are changing all around them?

When you work strategically with a client are you prepared to ask, “What if and if then?”  Vince Lombardi is often misquoted as saying, “Winning isn’t everything, it is the only thing,” when he actually said, “Preparing to win is everything.” 

In a world of change, preparation is the key to success for every marketing services professional.  Improving how you connect with everyone will integrate preparation into all of your actions.  Integrated preparation with true connections will build client trust and acceptance of your firm’s superior ability to complete their project. That is an outcome everyone is looking for, even in a world of change.