Triangulation

Maybe "triangulation" is the wrong term. But you know what I mean.

Let's say you want to implement an idea ... maybe you want to do something interesting with your new merchandise assortment, fusing it with email and your best customers.

Certain employees present problems for you.

Your CEO is "The Lizard". He only wants to sell and only wants to maximize sales. He won't let you take a step backwards and generate less revenue by featuring new merchandise.

Your Chief Merchant is "The Know-It-All" ... she "knows" that new merchandise and best customers are a bad mix and she wants new merchandise featured on the home page where EVERYBODY gets to see it.

Your Chief Marketing Officer is "The Climber" ... he's on a fast track to working for a major brand and he doesn't have time for anything as boring as email marketing.

You pull out your Crayons and you color in the area where you might have room to wiggle.

That's you ... you are in the white area ... that's what happens after you triangulate between the forces working against you in your company.

Fight back. You can fight back and stay within that tiny white area in the diagram and you can learn enough to make a difference.

1. If email is boring to your Chief Marketing Officer, make sure you have budget to do something, and then do it ... do something ... because your CMO just doesn't care. Do what your CMO asks you to do, but you have latitude to do something.
2. If your Chief Merchant thinks new merchandise and best customers are a bad mix, personalize your email targeting strategy to new merchandise and new customers, and provide that you can help out there. You get to test your strategy while avoiding an angry Chief Merchant.
3. if your CEO thinks it is bad form to feature new merchandise in emails because you lose sales, sample a small audience for your prototype. Nobody, and I repeat NOBODY is ever going to notice if you sample 10% of your email list and test your ideas among that audience. NOBODY WILL EVER NOTICE THE DIFFERENCE. Nobody.

Now go test your ideas, learn, and triangulate your way toward an answer. Build a case. And instead of asking permission to do exactly what you want to all customers, you bring FACTS regarding how customers CONVERTED when you executed your own ideas.

Those are the kind of things that a Virtual Chief Performance Officer (hint - you) does to move a business forward in a red-tape-fueled environment.