By Gini Dietrich

I was in a meeting the other day with the chief executive officer and the chief marketing officer of an organization that is right on the tipping point of success.

They’ve done a lot of the right things: Their sales team has the right connections, they’re gaining industry recognition, and they have the right people both setting the strategy and executing on it.

But when we asked what they do differently than their competitors, the silence was deafening.

So we tried the question another way, “What makes you excellent?”

Again, no answer.

That’s not entirely true. They did try to answer it, but they couldn’t come to a consensus.

Much to the surprise of my team, I cut the meeting short. I closed my notebook (yes, I still carry a notebook), pushed back my chair, and said, “Gentlemen, you’re not ready for us yet.”

Sure, a communications firm can help an organization figure out their messaging and positioning, but if they don’t have the slightest inkling of what it is before they spend money on PR, it’s pretty likely the firm isn’t going to succeed. (more…)