Reaping what you sow

Now, normally I try to avoid clichés like the plague, but in this case I could reel off a couple, you reap what you sow, to fail to prepare is to prepare to fail, you only get out what you put in, two heads are better than one hand which makes light work, or something like that; the point being that it's an age old truth that the more work and effort that goes into planning, the better your chances of success when it comes to executing.

Why then do we still find ourselves trying to build holistic digital strategies without the support to be able to lay firm foundations? The discovery phase of a digital strategy is where the foundations are laid; it is where we deep dive into a business to fully understand where it currently sits from a business, brand and customer perspective.

And who better to give us with this understanding than those that live, breathe and drive that business everyday, yes the people are the lifeblood of an organisation and that is why they should be the lifeblood of your digital strategy research and discovery. From all corners of the business these are the people that know the business opportunities and challenges better than anyone, and they’re the ones with the best insight into the customers; who they are and what the customers think, all a veritable gold mine for informing your digital strategy recommendations.

The problem you can encounter is that those people upon whom your research phase relies so heavily, often don’t feel engaged with the marketing team, they don’t have the context of the strategy development project, and they’re just not used to being asked their opinion, this means they can often be resistant to sharing their knowledge and experience.

So how do we overcome this? Well, in truth, sometimes the horse has just become too long in the tooth, and just won’t be co-operative, it’s a crying shame but probably not worth your effort extracting the blood from that stone (cliché bell still ringing?). But, there will be many more that seem unwilling to help just because their value hasn’t been explained to them. They see the project as a marketing team initiative that won’t be reflective of their needs or requirements. What you need to explain to them is that it will only be those things if they don’t stand up and make themselves counted now, you’re simply asking their opinion, and with that in mind, they cannot be wrong.

It takes work, and often a fair chunk of patience, but it’s critical to persist and keep going until you break through and get them talking, no matter what they do day to day, they have a role to play in informing your research, you’ll get there, and your end result will be much richer for it.

And if you feel more confident with a cliché up your sleeve, just remind them; Rome wasn’t built in a day, it was built by a truck load of Romans learning, sharing, inventing, building and, yes collaborating!