Action Does Not Equal Change

About two years ago, I received a call from a large multibillion dollar manufacturer who had initiated a search for a marketing automation platform. The company had spent the past year piloting a solution with an outside agency, and the executives had then concluded they wanted to adopt a global platform because that had made a big difference in how my contact’s line of business performed prior to the marketing automation. When I asked about the results, she told me they were able to execute more campaigns and had succeeded in adding several thousand new names to their database. Expecting to hear more in terms of benefit and change, I probed further. But there was nothing quantifiable they could point to as a proof of success. The results they were so excited about were that they could do more, faster and easier, but there was no indication that what they were doing was any better than before.