If you’re like most business owners in the professional services game, you’re focused on results above all else.

And you expect a return on every bit of the resources (whether it’s time, money, or effort) you invest in your business. On the one hand, this is perfectly reasonable. But on the other hand…

Impatiences, unreasonable expectations, and forgetting the forest (long-term gains) for the trees (short-term results) can totally sabotage your efforts.

And unfortunately, I see this misstep all too often when it comes to marketing.

How so?

Here’s a telling case study from the world of professional sports that illustrates my point perfectly…

The Sacramento Kings are an NBA franchise located in Sacramento, California, due east of the San Franciso Bay Area.

The Kings are facing several unfortunate challenges…

First, they’re a small-market team. A fact that makes it’s tough to attract talented free agent players—in turn, making the annual NBA draft their primary source of quality players. And as you can imagine, depending on unproven young players who may or may not succeed in the NBA long-term is a shaky proposition at best.

Secondly, the Kings haven’t made a playoff appearance in well over a decade (2005, to be exact). And this long-running post-season drought has made the team the butt of endless jokes in sports-related, especially NBA, circles. A fact that further hurts their ability to attract quality players, not to mention failing to motivate the players actually on their roster.

And finally, they’re saddle with a less than stellar owner.

Now, there’s not much the Kings can do about the first point. But their owner, Vivek Ranadivé (Chairperson of the Sacramento Kings Corporation), is exacerbating the situation and making it harder to attract quality talent. And, in turn, is keeping the Kings out of the playoff race.

How? Well…

Ranadivé is a highly successful, self-made entrepreneur. He immigrated from India to attend MIT in his teens, earning bachelor’s and master’s degrees and eventually completing an MBA at Harvard.

Ranadivé then started a software company and later held high-level executive positions with several Fortune 500 companies, including Ford Motors.

So far, this sounds like a pretty magical tale, right? An immigrant attends a string of prestigious universities and rises up to become a captain of industry.

However, things took a turn when Ranadivé turned his sights on becoming an NBA franchise owner…

In the early aughts (2000s), Ranadivé started coaching his daughter’s club basketball team. And despite having a pretty mediocre group, Ranadivé steered the team to the state finals (where the team ultimately lost).

His secret? Full-court press. He directed the team to tightly guard their opponents the entire length of the floor on every possession. And his strategy worked. Until the finals, when Ranadivé’s team faced a strong, more skilled, and better-coached opponent.

While on the one hand, this is another feel-good success story among the many triumphs in Ranadivé’s inimitable resume. But it also served to convince Ranadivé that he’s a bonafide basketball genius.

Fast forward to 2013 when Ranadivé’s investor group buys the Sacramento Kings. A move that led Ranadivé to cycle through 7 coaches, 5 general managers, and scores of players during his eight-year Kings tenure.

All of which has added up to a complete lack of continuity, zero stability, and continued failure for the Kings franchise.

The problem with the Kings’ management? Ranadivé, who’s never professionally coached, managed, or been directly involved with basketball (other than coaching is pre-teen daughters club basketball), assumes he knows best.

An assumption that has Ranadivé focused on the short-term goal of winning now. An approach that’s led him to fire one coach and general manager after another.

Meanwhile, as any savvy coach, qualified general manager, and seasoned NBA analyst will tell You… No matter how good your coach is, if you don’t have the right personnel, AKA, quality players, you’re not going to win. Not in the short term. Not in the long term. Not in any term.

So, rather than trusting in the process and building a quality culture that demonstrates a supportive and stable environment, which could actually attract quality players, Ranadivé fired a succession of coaches and general managers.

A “strategy” that has the Kings continuing to rank near the bottom of league standings while racking up loss after loss.

The Marketing Lesson Here?

As a small business owner, you’re probably guilty of making three critical marketing mistakes…

First, prioritizing results over goals.

Growing your business is a long-term goal. It happens over time. And your efforts may not yield immediate results. Thus, a particular marketing strategy or tactic isn’t a failure if lead, sales, and revenue don’t instantly roll in.

Secondly, falling victim to the “shiny object syndrome.”

Like Ranadivé constantly hiring new coaches and general managers (rather than resolving internal issues), a sexy new tactic seduces you. Convinced it will yield the immediate growth you’re desperately pining for.

When instead, your business would benefit from developing a sound marketing strategy that strives to systematically achieve growth, which again is a long-term goal.

And finally, assuming you know more than the professional practitioners hired to support them.

To be clear, no one knows more about your business than you. It’s your business. Of course, you’re the most qualified expert on the subject.

But knowing the most about your business doesn’t mean you know the best way to market and sell your services.

And arguing against, undermining, and overruling the efforts of the marketing professionals you’ve hired to help build your business, is the definition of counterproductive.

If you want to make the most of outsourcing your marketing, give the professionals you hire the space to deliver on the promises that motivated you to hire them.

Need Help Marketing Your Business?

Are you looking to generate more leads, turn a greater share of those leads into paying clients, and win their repeat business?

I can help!

From strategy development to support with tactics like business blogging, PR, social media marketing, or email campaigns — I help professional service business owners grow and increase revenue.

Sound like something you’d be interested in? Let’s chat! 310.466.7893 | ryan@ryananys.com