By this point you should know everything is a sports analogy for me. I’ll admit it, I have a sport management degree from the beautiful Liberty University; and this is why everything is a sports analogy for me. This is how I teach lessons to my kids, it’s how I relate to other people and it’s how I make things make sense in my head.
With that being said, like DJ Khalid, here comes another one.
In college athletics, specifically in college football more so than any other sport, you hear this question from the media a lot, “Coach, is this going to be a rebuild year?”
Any coach that has been at their school for more than three years will say no, but a brand new coach will always say yes because they are implementing a new offense, defense, coaching staff, players and culture in to the program they took over. I would go as far to say that 95% of the time the first season is usually a .500 season, meaning the team will go 5-7, 6-6, or maybe even 7-5 if everything clicks and the team buys in quickly.
The new coaching staff is given grace to make mistakes and even time to implement their system they were hired to bring on by both fans and athletic director. Over time, the hope is this coach and staff gets the job done and wins conference titles, a few bowl games and maybe even a national title over their time at the school.
If the coach has been there for a while, they are reloading their roster with talent they have recruited to replace players that are leaving. The gaps are already filled, the plan has been well thought out and there will not be a step back in talent or results. The program continues forward and everyone stays happy.
So, this poses the question: are you rebuilding or reloading in your marketing?
See what I did there? I made it about marketing with a sports analogy…hence the sport management degree I mentioned earlier.
If you are reloading your marketing that means you and your marketing team have a plan to fill the gaps so you don’t take a step back. You know your cost, cost per lead, cost per close, attrition rate, and all the activities that need to be done in order to keep moving forward.
On the flip side, maybe this is a rebuilding year. You’ve hired a new marketing team because they have the systems necessary to go to the next level. They have the coaching staff that can move you forward and keep the bad juju out.
Are you willing to accept a .500 season? Are you willing to accept it takes time to implement new systems and processes to change the culture of your marketing? Are you willing to be patient and allow the new coaching staff to do what they do or are you going to be overbearing and a helicopter parent?
If you hover and slow down the process do you think you’ll get the results needed? I’m not saying don’t ask questions, but you did hire this company for a reason…so let them do it.
The choice is yours.
So, where are you? A rebuild or a reload.
If you want to stop rebuilding every year, find a top tier coaching staff. Can’t expect to be the Alabama or Ohio State of your industry with a Kennesaw State or Kent State coaching staff budget.
