Estimated reading time: 3 minutes
By now, perhaps you have heard of the “Above the Line” and “Below the Line” accountability of the “Oz Principle”. This principle states there is a thin line that separates success from failure. Below the line lies excuse making, blaming, confusion and helplessness. Above the line is a sense of reality, ownership, commitment and solution finding. The principle utilizes 4 steps to move from below the line to above the line including See It, Own It, Solve It, Do It. (Go here for more information on the Oz Principle.)
No doubt that if you are an SMB owner or executive, you also understand that the need to market your product or service is often eclipsed by the ability or bandwidth to do so. However, failing to market yourself can be as detrimental to your business as not paying the bills or providing poor customer service. Applying the Oz Principle to marketing can help lift this burden and empower you and your staff to market with guaranteed ROI.
See It
The first step is to recognize the need to be relentless in your marketing and keeping your sales funnel full. If you are not a marketer, escape the powerless feeling by engaging your team, seeking feedback from both internal and external resources. You will be amazed at how team members will invest themselves in the success of a particular marketing function. Let’s take Social Media for example, you may have a team member who already has thought about your companies need to have a better presence on say Twitter. Furthermore, they might have great ideas on a strategy and the desire to facilitate.
Own it
By owning your circumstance, you never allow the actions of someone or something to keep you stuck below the line. Owning the fact that you need to market empowers the organization drawing commitment to overcome challenges. This important step can be manifested in small ways. Take the social media example, perhaps it’s the warehouse manager or college bound waiter who is willing to step up to the plate and own your twitter feed. By giving ownership, with approval, you empower the team securing a heavier investment and improving the chances of a positive ROI.
Solve It
Acknowledging and accepting will only get you so far in the matrix of being accountable. Solving items by tackling real problems and removing obstacles is what you need to do. In fact, getting to the Solving step as fast as possible is critical to the overall success. At this step, you know the issues, now you need to constantly ask “What else can we do?” to move the process forward. This is not a step for hand wringing, rather, this is a step to solve known issues, make informed decision and move forward! Back to our example, by solving it, you may have empowered an employee to own your social media, but have now worked through the process, complete with checks and balances, analytics and content strategy. By “Solving It”, you will map out the strategy to ownership standards and have a well thought plan of execution.
Do It
Finally, there is the execution phase. “The Do It step bestows the full power of accountability that will help you get the individual and organizational results you need.” Quite simple, results will only come when you bring together all four phases and work with passion to Do It! In our example of Social Media, we would now hold the warehouse manager or college bound waiter accountable for executing your social media strategy. Holding firm in the vigilance to Do It and sustain the effort over time.
