Professional Qualifications

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Professional Qualifications and Strategy for
Effective Marketing
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Why does Your Organization need Marketing
Development and Communications Support?
I. Changes in the Marketplace II. A
Case Study in Successful Public Relations III.
Critical Issues A. Teamwork B. Recruiting
a Winning Team C. Personnel Development D.
Marketing IV. Position Description -
Marketing Director V. Related Experience
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I. Changes in the Marketplace
We exist in a dynamic environment. With rapid
technology changes, global competition and a move
away from labor-intensive manufacturing toward
knowledge-based service industries, your
organization stands at the precipice of an
irreversible change in the way the world does
business. This condition allows for proactivity
and trend-setting. It is critical to challenge
the tradition of assuming the name of the firm is
the only marketing necessary to develop and
retain a satisfied client base. The opportunity
for any organization to become not only the
messenger but the impetus of this change exists
both internally and externally. "Who are we?"
"What do we do?" "How do we add value and wealth
to existing clients?" "How do we develop a new
market that seeks us out to implement the changes
that are crucial to the welfare of the client's
organization"? First we must define our
mission. It is essential to communicate this
mission first internally, achieve buy-in and
solicit the help of the company in blazing a
trail through these coming changes. This
requires not only a team of well-trained
professionals, but a group of talented and
innovative individuals who can successfully
translate the client's mission into a
user-friendly concept that the client, the media
and the global marketplace considers necessary to
the very life and profitability of the
organization. As evidenced by most businesses'
decision to restructure, flatten the hierarchy,
and focus on customer satisfaction, each
organization must recruit and retain individuals
with differing backgrounds and experience. We
must move toward a team approach where each
member has his own unique contribution to the
success of the organization.
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II. A Case Study in Successful Marketing and
Public Relations
I joined the Houston Junior Chamber of Commerce
(HJCC) in January, 1993. Seeing a need for
marketing and public relations to recruit new
members thus allow greater community service, I
ran and was elected as Public Relations
Director. The first step was community awareness
through media coverage and recognition. Publicity
was focused internally and externally on a city,
state, national and international basis. An
8-12 page newsletter was produced and distributed
to members, local community leaders and guests
who attended various meetings and events. We set
up a public relations committee to motivate our
members to use their most highly developed
personality traits and skills to increase the
visibility of the organization. One of our
members was a networker. He successfully
encouraged local establishments to provide
support in the form of shared printing costs and
gratis refreshments for our networking and
membership recruiting events. Another member was
very sensitive to the interests of guests at the
various functions. She would make each guest
feel welcome at the event. And the committee
followed up each event with thanks you's to
guests who attended as well as an invitation to
visit the organization. Guest attendance at
networking socials increased 88 from May through
September due to targeted invitations, letters
and announcements to young business men and women
in Houston. In addition we sent over 100 letters
of recognition to business leaders and other
individuals who were noted in the media (i.e.,
promotions, honors and awards) acknowledging
their accomplishments and inviting them to attend
or even speak at one of our membership meetings.
Over 60 press releases announcing JC events were
sent to media on a weekly basis. The result of
these directives was increased membership and
much free publicity through the various media.
From the time I took office in May through
September, 1993 HJCC had over 100 separate
mentions. This coverage included 17 television
spots on six different stations 24 PSA spots on
two radio stations, and 33 articles in nine
different publications including Houston
Metropolitan Magazine, Houston Business Journal,
The Houston Chronicle, the Houston Post and
Houston Press. In addition we were represented
through both articles and photography 28 times in
the state monthly Jaycee magazine and in each
quarterly issue of the national magazine as well
as articles in the Area C (Canada, North, Central
and South America) monthly publication. Our
newsletter was the recipient of much praise and
recognition throughout the state organization,
and received state and national attention in
competition for awards. This explosion of
recognition, from 0 - 106 mentions in six months
was the result of our commitment to effective
public relations. In addition, my own personal
integrity pushes me to consistently exceed
expectations when challenged, through public
relations, marketing and recruitment.
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IIIA. Critical Issues - Teamwork
Getting Out of the Locker Room and onto the
Field

A good team needs every person playing the
position hes best suited for, be it quarterback,
tackle, kicker, coach, trainer, mascot,
cheerleader or water boy. And in a great team,
the coaches coach, the trainers train and the
plays are called by the quarterback. The offense
goes for the goal line and the defense keeps the
other guys from scoring. But you football fans
know all this...we just must be reminded that in
every organization everyone must play a part to
make the organization great! Past recruiting
efforts have focused on recruiting and hiring
only quarterbacks--that individual with
accounting background an MBA and impressive
grades. But we must balance the offense with a
good defense and then train our clients to do the
same. Its up to the partners, managers and
seniors to sit back and advise. Coach and train
the staff to lead and man the project. When
someone asks to play quarterback...encourage
him...let him run with the ball. But if hes a
much better kicker than quarter back, save him
for trouble-shooting in a crucial point in the
project. The local NFL managements attempt to
convince area citizens to support (and pay for) a
new stadium is an obsolete and self-supporting
approach versus a customer-focused strategy.
Rather than seek publicity and shame the fans
(or clients) into attending the games (or going
into an implementation phase), an organization
must first build a winning team to gain support
through customer satisfaction. The practice is
headed in that direction. Only when we have
maintained and communicated our successful track
record, can internal or external marketing be
effective. This article was originally written
as an editorial in the HJC monthly
newsletter/magazine and modified for Arthur
Andersen at the request of the Business Systems
Consulting partner-in-charge.
Sometimes all the coaches are out trying to play
quarterback while the rest of the team is sitting
on the bench, or worse--still in the locker
room. Have you ever noticed how the same people
are staffed on project after project? Their names
are always on the availability/conflicts report
and are often listed on several jobs at one time.
You see these folks around for maybe two or
three years. They are promoted to senior and then
they disappear. Then new staff are recruited, and
the pattern is repeated. With September comes
Fall season and that favorite American
pastime...football. A huge team, a squadron of
coaches, trainers and cheerleaders take to the
field every Monday night to WIN. Now, picture a
team whose players stayed in the locker room,
comfortable that their name was on the
roster...they were on a team and it looked good
on their resume. And suppose the coaches and
trainers played every game, every position
because as soon as they came out for the team,
they were made into coaches, but they really
wanted to play. And the non-coaching players who
wanted to get in the game were forced to sit the
bench. These players were too new and didnt
realize what was required to play the game,
according to the veteran coaches. Or because
they thought only the coaches and trainers were
allowed to play, they never tried to get into the
game. Can you imagine trying to run a team like
that...and ever making it to the playoffs...much
less the Superbowl?
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IIIB. Critical Issues - Recruiting a Winning
Team
The core team can also provide assistance in
recruiting efforts. The team can perform
interviews based Learning Style Inventory test
and Myers-Briggs indicators to ensure that we not
only hire the type of personality lacking on the
current team, but that we give the individual an
opportunity to grow in an area in which he excels
and is highly productive.
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IIIC. Critical Issues - Personnel Development
A mentor vs. advisor system, that pairs veteran
workers with individuals who have complementary
personality types is necessary to initiate new
employees. To quote Charles Handy in his book
The Age of Unreason, Group-think is dangerous
because like-minded groups have like-minded ideas
and find it hard among themselves to reframe any
situation. The core group can also assist in
developing a means for self-assessment and
realistic goal setting for each team member.
Peer-to-peer as well as upward evaluations can
also be effective in establishing and maintaining
open communication.
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IIID. Critical Issues - Marketing
PRACTICE RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT
Project Support
Personnel Development
Marketing
Recruiting

• Mentor vs. Advisor
• In-house Cross-Training
• Self-Assessment and Goal Setting

• Planning
• EIS
• Technology
• Documentation
• Client Satisfaction

• Networking withUniversities Professional
  Associations
• Initial Screening
• Testing
• Interviewing

• Defining a Market
• Internal
• External
• Public Relations
• Press Releases
• Client Satisfaction

The need for marketing is real. Marketing
differs from sales in that marketing seeks to
determine what the customer needs, and persuade
him to invest in what he also wants. Innovative
marketing can also create or identify needs that
the client has overlooked due to tunnel vision or
the inability to see the big picture. The
marketing or public relations professional should
be central and accessible to the organization.
She should be knowledgeable in internal and
external marketing techniques and be able to
increase awareness of the company through public
relations and press releases about new trends or
success stories. The marketing pro must also
know the company's business through self-study,
company-sponsored training and experience in the
field at the client site.
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IV. Position Description - Marketing
Director
The role of any Marketing Director should be one
of coach, teacher, mentor and liaison.
Background and experience in each of the eight
slices above is necessary. Assertiveness and
the ability to challenge the status quo look for
alternative ideas and upside-down thinking is
essential. During the initial growth of the
marketing effort, the Director will no doubt
perform many of the functions heretofore
described. As the company grows, the Director
can recruit and integrate team members who
possess a highly-developed specialty. The
Director will also assume responsibility for the
quality assurance of all internal and external
deliverables, i.e., The buck stops here.
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V. Distribution of Related Experience
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V. Related Experience

Concurrent Years of Experience