"When it comes to marketing budgets, more is always better than less," writes Adam Cahill in a refreshingly honest column at ClickZ, "so let's not pretend this is a 'glass half full' situation we're dealing with."

However, he notes, the current economic downturn can produce some positive outcomes. For instance, budgetary constraints might cause you to identify the disconnect between what you say and what you do; even a flawlessly consistent marketing message doesn't count for much if it misrepresents fact, or the customer-service experience fails to meet expectations.

"Your organization probably isn't set up to make this marketing/service collaboration easy," says Cahill.

He recommends a three-step process for bringing the two functions into alignment, and maximizing your marketing dollar:

• Create a team with key members of each department.
• Conduct an audit in which marketing people act as mystery shoppers and customer service people analyze each piece of your collateral. "Does the [shopping] experience live up to the image you're creating in your advertising?" asks Cahill. "Do the ads speak about the company the right way?"
• Develop a plan that causes each function to complement the other.

The Po!nt: "When budgets do come back," concludes Cahill, "you'll have created tangible competitive advantage to exploit. So maybe the glass is half full after all."

Source: ClickZ. Click here for the complete article.

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