The most ignored part of every business is its operations.
Why is this?
Because it is the hardest part of the business to do. It also is the least glamorous part of the business.
Operational Focus Needed
Everyone sees the salesperson or CEO of the company. Not many ever see the men and women sitting in the back room or out in the warehouse doing all of the work that consumers expect to get done once they pay for something.
Yes, marketing, as a whole, is much more flashy than operations. Operations positions require a person to be extremely flexible but controlled emotionally so to not flinch when something unusual is thrown at them to do that them…sometimes literally. Marketing directors are generally exposed to the new and cool projects well before the operations director gets to see them.
Digital Marketing Forced Change in Operations
But, now digital marketing has pushed ahead of traditional marketing and has gained all of the attention. Having a position in a company to manage their digital marketing usually, takes that person to ultra cool conferences and to celebrity-packed Open Bar functions. Of course, all this is part of drawing attention to a what the company does..right?
Marketing is a must. Every company has to have some type of marketing to survive. today, the social media-driven digital marketing approach is what consumers expect. But, what happens when the result of the flashy marketing produces a sale that could in no way be delivered?
It would not be the marketing person’s fault..will it?
Operations First
Product or service delivery is just one part of the operations of the business, but it is the most important part. A business’ entire operations should be built around supporting what is being sold. If it is not, then failure is on the horizon.
That is why every business needs to have someone to focus on ONLY the operations. Actually, there needs to be more than a focus on the operations. With the new way of marketing business using digital marketing, the business’ quality operations should be showcased as why a consumer should purchase a product or services from the business.
The question comes up frequently on why business leaders do not take the approach of placing their operations first and marketing second?
Why more company’s put marketing first is usually based on who is running the company. If the leader of a company is a salesperson then naturally the marketing functions are going to be more comfortable to them. But can a business be successful with just marketing? Answer: No!
What happens if a company is only focused on the marketing and puts minimal effort into operations?
Obviously, the company does not perform well and frequently experiences problems related to quality and untimely delivery. This is why every company who is driven by a marketing interest needs to bring in an experienced operations manager to oversee all the functions a marketing focused person has no interest in overseeing.
For every marketing initiative, there should be at least an equal operations initiative.
Strong Operations Director Needed
Digital Marketing today is now video-centric and video production has to be the most non-marketing function of a business. Without constant operational oversight, a video-centric digital marketing strategy would quickly fall apart.
The strength of a business is not based on the strength of their operations. It is based on its operations management.
If the business has a strong operation it should be able to market anything to anyone anywhere.
Let me know how I can help.
