Don’t be like Mike (Tyson) - Plan!

Mike Tyson once famously said, “Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the face.” It’s a great line. And it’s true, but like Mike himself, it’s a little twisted.

The biggest challenge facing marketers today is that they don’t have a plan… a true Strategic Marketing plan.

They want to win, but they crave shortcuts. Business owners would like to consider themselves heavyweight champions of the world.

Nobody is born a champion. You need goals. Strategies. You need a practical plan of action

Instead of being like Mike, be more like Yogi Berra, who said, “If you don’t know where you are going, you might wind up someplace else.”

Most people know Yogi Berra as the master of the unintentionally funny quote. Did you know that:

·      Yogi is one of only 4 players in history to be named MVP of the American League 3 times?

·      He’s one of only 7 managers to lead teams from the American League and the National League to the World Series?

·      As a player, coach, or manager, Berra appeared in 21 World Series, winning 13 of them?

Not only that, Berra played catcher. In essence, he had to have a strategic plan for every game, for several different pitchers. Yogi’s in the Hall of Fame and is considered by many to be one of the greatest catchers of all time.

Yogi could strategize and execute, even if he couldn’t tell you about it.

Business owners, business-to-business owners in particular, don’t think they have the time or the budget for a Strategic Marketing Plan. Translation – you don’t value it.

Here’s a myth to consider - marketing isn’t tangible, so there’s less value placed on it. Not true. Anybody who has felt the pain in their stomach that is caused by an empty sales pipeline knows that marketing is tangible.

Strategic Marketing Plans are the most efficient investment an owner can make. Plans are easy to understand, keep businesses on track and will make every dollar invested in marketing more efficient.

Not only that, Strategic Marketing Plans enable businesses to track their favorite initials:

ROI.

Imagine this: Yogi Berra talks to a pitcher before a game and tells him that he wants to maximize ROI for the next game.

The pitcher responds, “Okay, what’s the plan?”

Yogi: “We don’t need a plan. Just get’em out.”

Pitcher: “But how do we pitch these guys?

Yogi: “Don’t waste time with intangibles. I’ve invested my life into this. Now go get’em.”

You can see how successful this approach would be. No catcher would ever do that. Nobody would’ve cared how lovable and funny Yogi was if Yogi didn’t win.

Mike Tyson was right about one thing… you will get punched in the face. You will have to improvise or adjust your strategy if something unplanned happens. And some thing unplanned happens often.

You still need a strategy. If not, you would just be flailing away. Nobody likes flailing. Or failing.

Have a plan. Your odds of becoming the heavyweight champion will dramatically improve.

If you would like some help on how to develop a strategic marketing plan, send me a note at jhenke@henkeinc.com.

Thanks.