Good Thinking - Marketing

By Tim Good

Hiring a marketing firm is like hiring a contractor to renovate a home. Some contractors operate as vendors, approaching the job as a set of discrete tasks. Vendors are available to discuss unexpected items—but the meter is always running, with each new issue treated a la carte. Other builders operate like partners, offering the hands to get the job done and thinking collaboratively and proactively with clients about how the completed home will serve their goals. When challenges or new ideas arise, true partners consider the whole and apply their expertise to suggest solutions that fit within the client’s budget.

Clients get the most value for their money when they hire partners, rather than vendors. Clients hire firms like ours because they seek the...