As the owner of a small business, you may have a team you are accountable for, but who are you accountable to? Who do you report to, to ensure that you are doing what you need to?
One of the key functions of my Fractional CMO service is to keep you accountable for your marketing, in a similar way to how you may work with a business coach for other aspects of your business. Let’s look at why this is important to the success of your business…
Why should you be accountable to someone?
Having someone to hold you to account can make a significant difference to:
- how consistently you perform,
- the quality of your decisions, and
- how quickly you achieve your goals.
When you operate on your own, you get to do what you want and what you believe is the right thing. What you believe is right probably is most of the time, but not always. Let’s look at this in more detail.
Getting rid of “I really must…”
Many years ago, I had a client that I affectionately named Mr I Really Must. This was simply because that was his favourite phrase when we met (pre-Covid, so it was always face to face meetings). He was looking to start a second career after a successful one in the police force. He wanted to keep busy, but he didn’t need the money, as his police pension was a good one. After 3 months, I stopped working with him because he got almost nothing done.
Money is a great driver of actions, but can drive the wrong actions. Having someone you are accountable to will ensure you follow the plan you developed together. Deadlines become more real and you won’t want to say you’ve not done something you committed to doing.
No more tangents
You know when you hit the internet to search for something specific, but you end up down a rabbit hole that heads off anywhere but where you meant to go, and let’s not even start on social media?
In your role as head of your business, its easy to drift off into something else, promising yourself to get back on track. My job is to keep you on track and, if you do drift, to pull you back. Regular conversations and emails:
- Keep you working on the right priorities
- Ensure you are making progress
- Remind you of looming deadlines.
They help prevent weeks or months slipping by without progress being made. This is particularly important for your marketing, as some aspects take weeks or months to really start showing results.
Keeps you honest
Some people can be their own harshest critic. Others are the complete opposite. As your marketing accountability partner, I ensure you are honest to yourself about what you’re doing, and achieving.
If you are your own critic, I’ll relieve the pressure. If you’re the opposite, I’ll help you improve faster.
Keeping your promises
When you commit to doing something in one of our regular meetings, you can do it as soon as our meeting ends, or 5 minutes before our next one. Which you choose is up to you; you’ve kept your promise to me.
Perspective
The bigger picture. The helicopter view – whatever you want to call it, When you’re accountable to someone, they will help you with this. For your marketing, I will be asking questions you may not have thought of. I will be pointing out blind spots and suggesting alternatives.
Consistency
If your business is just you, its likely you will be doing most of your marketing, simply because there isn’t the available budget to involve others. Even if you have a larger business (and marketing budget), and I’m managing a set of marketing specialists to do your marketing, you still have responsibilities. These may include:
- Providing information about what you’ve been doing for clients
- Expert opinion on key topics (I don’t know everything about everything)
- Providing the budget
To ensure your marketing is delivered consistently (read more on why consistency is key in marketing here), keeping you reporting progress in the areas you are responsible for builds momentum and results.
It doesn’t have to be lonely at the top
Whether your business is just you, or you employ 40-50 people, you are responsible. You have plenty to do and you are the decision-maker at the top of your business. That can feel isolating and the person you are accountable to helps you to share ideas and challenges. Think of them as a sounding board and as a source of encouragement.
Two heads…..
When someone knows what you are working to, your plan and your schedule, they will keep you more focused, more organised and on track. It’s easy to get diverted, to procrastinate or doubt yourself; being accountable to someone keeps you going and generating improved outcomes.
Accountability works because it introduces three powerful forces:
- Clarity about what you are trying to achieve
- Commitment to someone beyond yourself
- Consistency in taking action
If you need someone to keep you accountable for your marketing, let’s put a time in the diary to talk. If it is for some other aspect of your business life, get in touch anyway, as I know a number of others you I am sure can help you.
