i had an interesting conversation with a fellow service provider earlier this week. the topic? the high premiums charged by successful marketers to deliver their services. i was a bit shocked. is there anything more valuable to an organization than the buying interest generated through sound marketing — especially in a twisted economy? without consumer interest, it doesn’t matter what you have or do not have for sale or hire. phone calls. emails. website forms. we want to fill the funnel with as many of these as possible before sifting through the interest to the most serious, suitable opportunities. we don’t want consumers leaning towards another option because of something we didn’t do (or did less than impressively). doesn’t matter what’s being offered either. could be services, products, information, or other. there is competition and how you’re doing in the mix.
intelligent investments made on the competitive front pay off big-time in the short and long-term. if you’re directly impacting an organization’s bottom line, then what you’re doing is undeniably valuable. i can’t speak for others’ business models when it comes to services like marketing, lead generation, sales and the like. my compensation mix is this — a moderate, reasonable amount to cover my time invested and a more competitive amount that’s directly tied to my client’s performance. if i don’t perform, then this amount doesn’t kick in (or is minimal). while i’m capable of earning indefinitely for work previously completed, the relationship is steady in that the pay always matches the value of what i’ve contributed. most business leaders are happy to share in success where it is objectively owed, in part, to someone else’s efforts.
