A seat at the table

What does it mean to have a seat at the table?

Google gives these ideas on this concept:

Seats at the table are reserved for those who understand that their influence is to be used selflessly, not selfishly.

In other words, when one is provided with a seat at the table, it represents an opportunity to be heard and to make a difference.

I am part of a team - marketing especially contributing to the digital part of it, which has been always looked at with a eyes of skepticism. What would these right-brain people do for the numbers? Yes, that had been a question quite often asked by number-crunching folks. There were times we were relegated to doing event coordination and gift wrapping. Very very creative as I can assume them to be. Yes, no qualms about helping out for it.

But there are aspects of digital marketing that need heed and a seat at the coveted table, where numbers are crunched. We might help you to achieve those numbers in more creative ways, if we are allowed to sit there and explain, what are our means for it. Of course, they aren't overnight change stuff, which would allow you to count your dollars in your kitty. Brand Building is a process that needs patience and when done well would have a long-term impact and return. So decision to be made are you running for quick monies or a long-term brand alliance and building an empire that would give you sustained returns? For that the product and people building the product need to have that insight as to what would be a long sustained way to make the customer hang on with me, not use it for once and forget.

Lead generation using digital means is another important aspect of it, which also takes time as per industry standards. It cannot make your cash box ring on the very first attempt and requires consistent monthly efforts to yield some needed results. Once the lead is in, nurturing it is a major aspect of it.

More importantly, it is a medley between sales, marketing, and customer retention to make it work, for a product to be on customers' minds all the time. Sadly this relation is always in the doldrums with expectation mismatch and sales facing challenges being on the field and getting burnt literally and figuratively.

Now, at one point you feel you go to put yourself on the edge of a seat with insights and statistics that were gathered, not our thing at all, all left brainy stuff. But you have to do it, what you need to be on the table, where people just understand numbers. Still, there is a long way for it to be listened and you are diverted to gift wrapping once more.