Why We Need Holistic Marketing

If you need evidence that we need a holistic approach to marketing, and business in general, you don't have to look any further than the Big Picture feature (Up Front) in the October 2, 2006 edition of Business Week.

The feature pointed out the sad disconnect between what business leaders say and what they do. For those who didn't see it, a new survey revealed that managers tend to ignore their lower-grade workers when it comes to seeking their advice. According to the survey managers tend to want to collaborate more with their employees the more educated they are.

Only 24% of those with a high school diploma or less say their bosses asked them for advice compared to 54% for college graduates. I wonder if there is a Bill Gates or Michael Dell somewhere in the 76% without a college degree who might be able to help?

As the feature points out, we tend to treat the folks who work hands-on with customers as if they are functionaries with little or no added value. It is astounding to me that the very ones we trust to work one-on-one with our customers are the same ones that we pay the very least and obviously, from this survey, don't bother to ask for help, advice or input either.

The usual mantra is either, "We're here to serve our customers" or "Our employees are our greatest asset". Both seem to be more words than meaning. If customers are so important why do we delegate our lowest paid folks to work with them, or those we only want to pay by commission? If employees are our greatest asset then why do we value them so little that we don't ask for their advice?

So how do we change this attitude? That's the thrust of Holistic Marketing. We have to start believing that everyone in the organization can and should create value. Everyone, from the janitor to the CEO can add value and we as managers have the responsibility to develop that value, not ignore it. It's our job as managers to help the team achieve the most it can and that means involving the team beyond just telling them what to do.

If everyone in the organization started seeing themselves as part of marketing, started thinking about how they can create and communicate value to the customer then we would be a lot closer to maximizing the human potential available to us. Many of the solutions we are searching in vain for are locked up inside folks up and down the organization if we would only ask them. A lot of managers say they are willing to listen, but how many are willing to ask their employees what they think? By the sounds of it, not many.