Today, I wanted to share a story with you.
One of my developer friends has a reasonably successful web start-up, especially for a new site. An unnamed company that sells internet marketing software (bundled with consultation hours) recently pitched him on marketing consulting services/their software bundle. He agreed, as he was curious of their capabilities and what they could offer beyond his understanding. Unfortunately for that company my friend is versed in digital marketing. It’s unfortunate because that company has a great name in the industry, but after hearing about my friend’s experience it ruined their name in my mind.
A good consultancy can’t scale quicker than it can find talent. You can’t slap a label and a process on people, hire just anyone and maintain a premium brand. Maybe in the internet marketing space if you’re talking with those who are clueless you could maintain a facade for awhile – but long term the education gap will bridge. This company will ruin their own reputation eventually if they continue down this path.
I’m not going to divulge the name of either party, but from what my friend explained to me from the pitch/initial consultation, essentially they:
- Tried to sell him on access to software that lets you do something you can do for free (or cheap) with a basic understand of SEO/social media
- Bundle some consulting hours
- Tell him some (not very strategic) SEO and social media items they’d help him do
His reaction was “that’s it, really?” It left him scratching his head who would pay for such a thing.
Further, they made him feel part of an inhuman process. He felt rushed by the experience, felt like there was a lack of personalization and their representative didn’t really grasp the intricacies of SEO, social media or even their brand.
He explained to me the person he spoke with had the title of consultant, however after hearing the whole story it was clear to me this was just someone doing sales/demos, not a true consultant.
I’ve seen enough companies get stuck with consultancies who hand off projects down the line to inexperienced marketers. The fact that this company is handing off their sales process to individuals with a lack of understanding should bother you even more if you’re a marketing consultant. Why? They are exploiting the digital divide for profit and trying to say you can package and automate the parts of internet marketing you should never automate.
This company has thought leaders working for them and yet clearly it doesn’t move down the line. Good marketing consulting is something special, and doesn’t scale just because you hire more people. After working with a few firms, doing recruiting in the space, going to events and being connected with quite a few industry professionals – I know it’s hard to find talent. Clearly this company is finding it no different.