Owning the Tool Doesn’t Make You an Expert

Do you want me to build a house for you? Probably not. You could make sure I had everything I needed to build a beautiful house for you—lumber, bricks, nails, cement, pipes, wires, etc. You could even make sure that I had all the right tools—hammers, saws, ladder, etc. But you probably still wouldn’t want me to build your house. In fact, I can guarantee that even if you supplied me with all of the materials and tools needed to build a house, you would be terribly disappointed with two things. First, you would be disappointed with how long it took me to deliver the finished product. And second, you would be even more disappointed with the quality of that final product.

Skills and Time Are Essential

Even though I have all of the right tools and resources, I am missing two critical elements to be a successful home builder: skills and time. I’m all thumbs when it comes to do-it-yourself home improvement projects. When using a hammer, I hit my thumb more often than the nail. And while the old axiom of “measure twice, cut once” works for most carpenters, the axiom that best describes my work is more like “Measure twice, cut twice. Measure again. Cut again. Swear. Throw board across the room. Try again.”  

Obviously, this type of house building methodology takes time—time that I just don’t have. After allotting for the activities associated with my family and my full-time job, I could probably carve out 25 minutes on a Thursday evening and 50 minutes on a Sunday afternoon to focus on building your house. Hardly enough time to make any significant progress.   

Call an Expert

So if you’re thinking about building a house, don’t call me. Instead, call an expert. Call someone who has not just the right tools and resources, but also has the skills and time to deliver a quality product in a reasonable timeframe. 

Most people would never trust their new home to a rookie builder with little time and fewer skills. Unfortunately, many businesses use a similar approach when executing their inbound marketing strategy. Many organizations think that owning the right tools is the key to success. Organizations are investing significant amounts of money to acquire software for marketing automation, sales force automation, CRM, email, social media monitoring, blogging and SEO. Unfortunately, many of these same organizations lack the skills and time to make these tools work effectively, and they end up disappointed and frustrated with their ROI and the time it takes to achieve it.  

Owning the best tools and having the latest marketing automation software will not guarantee a successful inbound marketing initiative. You need someone with the skills and time to set it up and manage it day in and day out.

Many organizations are also missing the blueprints. They have the tools, resources and skills, but they don’t have a plan. To get the best results, you really need to hire an expert.