What’s the Velocity of Your Marketing Communications Pipeline?

While driving on the freeway during my morning commute the other day, I had an epiphany moment. A stretch that had traditionally been a bottleneck seems to have improved. Interestingly, the number of lanes has been reduced from 3 to 2, yet throughput has increased. My theory is that maybe we drive faster when given fewer choices compared to facing a series of merging lanes and decisions.

I would propose that your marketing communications strategy could benefit from applying my observations on freeway traffic.

How difficult are you making it for people to “find a lane” of what message you are saying and what value proposition you are presenting? Do you make it straightforward, so it is easy to “pick a lane” early, even if that lane is to exit? Or, do you offer many choices that merge at various times, resulting in a cluttered message? Think about the ramifications of a confusing message on your prospects trying to learn what you do, an investor trying to identify your revenue model or a sales rep trying to close a sale. The impact extends across your entire organization, slowing down your throughput of leads or opportunities.

Higher velocity is more efficient on multiple levels, from accelerating sales processes, locating new investment capital and training new employees.

What do you think? Do you have a story on how a simplified message helped you to improve your marketing or sales efficiency? How about for raising capital? I would greatly appreciate your feedback.

Gordon Benzie is a marketing adviser and business plan writer that specializes in preparing and executing upon business plans and marketing strategies.