How many times have you been at the crossroads of hitting a deadline with something good enough or having your product or program miss that deadline in order for it to be exceptional (or at least hit your original planned expectations)? Which path did you take? Did you settle for good enough or did you hold out for your original vision?
Exceptional marketers plan for the worst, expect the best and relentlessly focus on every step between plan and actual delivery. There are just too many organizations that try to survive on “good enough.” Because these firms plan for good enough that is all they will ever achieve…just what is good enough and therefore be mired in a “sea of sameness” where all competitors look alike, market alike and deliver alike.
The opposite of “good enough” marketing is “perfectionism” which can be just as deadly to attaining success. Mary Fletcher Jones covers this subject extremely well in her blog titled “The pitfalls of perfectionism vs. good-enough marketing.” In this missive she observes that
You would think that perfectionists produced amazing work, and have great attention to detail, and are tremendously prompt and courteous. You would think, being the perfectionists that they are, that they make wonderful clients. And they do, on occasion, produce very fine work, and they are conscientious and considerate clients. They are capable of wonderful things. But the irony is, it is far more likely, their perfectionism causes them to be late or cancel appointments, miss deadlines, and not follow through on projects and commitments. Results elude them, and they are perfectly miserable about it, and contrite. But still, they cannot move forward with their marketing, because they cannot accept ‘good enough’ in lieu of ‘perfect.’
The ultimate lesson is that extremes in either direction will lead to some level of failure. Great marketing is achieved by careful planning, relentless attention to execution and calculated tradeoffs necessary to exceed customer expectations.
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