Overcoming Home-Grown Obstacles in Marketing

Some days, in the complex world of marketing, it can seem as if the whole world is against you. You're doing your best, and nothing seems to go well for you. You are bewitched and frustrated. None of your marketing plans seem to go smoothly. If only the partners....

Granted, it's better today than it used to be—there is, after all, more marketing experience in most firms. But still, in many firms, there seems to be a black cloud hanging overhead.

The trouble with your plan and programs, however, is not the curse of the Gods. It's that in professional services marketing, there is a dynamic that accelerates change, and even in the best firms not everyone has caught up.

Even in the best of times, it can rain on the outdoor company picnic to which your firm's best clients have been invited, although it hasn't rained on that day in 50 years. There's no way to prevent that, except maybe by including a rain date in your invitation and plans. But in professional services marketing, you have a few other ways in which you can be plagued.