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O P I N I O N
This proposal land is your land Much like a “perfect” farmer, marketing professionals must take charge of each step of the growing (submittal) process, or else risk disaster.
D edication, hard work, persistence, and pride are some of the most commonly used adjectives to describe the perfect farmer. There is one trait that is usually omitted, but constitutes the basis for a farmer’s success: sense of ownership. Getting your hands dirty and feeling completely responsible for the whole process of germination, growth, nurturing, selection, packaging, and distribution is the only way to ensure “the fruits of your labor.”
Javier Suarez POP MARKETING
about the services, market, and project at hand, and being knowledgeable about your firm’s relevant experience, will position you to challenge the technical staff on content. In my experience, only a select few “professionals” have not taken my challenges with open arms; to the contrary, “If you truly believe each proposal is like a vegetable that you need to nurture until it is ready for consumption, you must challenge technical and management personnel at every juncture.”
Much like a “perfect” farmer, marketing professionals must take charge of each step of the submittal process. Sitting idly by and waiting for technical personnel to forward “their” information is a recipe for disaster. If you truly believe each proposal is like a vegetable that you need to nurture until it is ready for consumption, you must challenge technical and management personnel at every juncture. Practitioners are used to managing projects and writing project plans that translate into boring, purely technical write-ups. The paradigm under which you should function is that you, and only you, are responsible for every single thing related to the submittal – aesthetics, format, style and strategy, approach and winning themes. Immersing yourself in the process, researching
See JAVIER SUAREZ, page 12
THE ZWEIG LETTER August 15, 2016, ISSUE 1164
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