This email is not addressing a current problem.  I simply want to make sure everyone understands the importance of working through your teammates and not around them. As we grow and become a more diverse and complex group of employees, one of the first things that will be compromised is alignment of agenda and purpose. Customers and prospects should get the same message and content every time they communicate with us.  This means all of us must be “singing from the same piece of music”. We are all aware of how inconsistency has hurt us in the past.  Just imagine how bad it could have been with 10 or more times as many customers and prospects. Remember that none of us alone know everything we  need to know to plot a course for our future. As a team though, we come pretty close.

In order to make sure customers and prospects receive the same message, no matter who they communicate with, our message content must be standardized. This means that we will only use approved sales and marketing material. “Approved” means that the team has signed off on the content and message. This is not meant to stifle creativity, just to protect the integrity of the message.

It is important that we keep the approved sales and marketing documents on the Google Drive and shared folder (I will get this folder set up) so that we all have access to them.  All communication with customers and prospects must be consistent with approved  content and message.  When creating a new document (word, ppt, etc.), or proposing a change to CDS’s messaging, the approval process involves the sign off of the other team members. We do pretty good at this, I believe.  It only works, though, when we actually read the proposed new or modified documents and give feedback to insure their alignment with currently approved content. I will not approve anything where I haven’t seen feedback from other team members.

When a current approved document or message needs updating, it must go through the approval process.  There should be no “draft” or unapproved documents on the Google Drive or in the shared folder. There should be no communication with customers and prospects that includes information out of alignment with approved content. In other words, no freelancing or operating on your own agenda. This includes email and phone conversations with customers and prospects. These may not go through the approval process, but the onus is on you to insure that content is consistent with the agreed upon CDS message.

Sales and Marketing 101: Prospects and customers like consistency of message because they can predict how outcomes can affect their business. Inconsistency will make us seem unreliable and drive profits out of the business.