It's been said, “Success is created by performing simple tasks consistently”. Marketing tasks for many professionals are often seen as arduous for those who don’t enjoy doing them, and therefore do not get performed on a consistent basis. For a firm’s marketing to work, and work well, there must be a system.

Through our work as sales and marketing coaches, we’ve identified a number of components that help make our marketing systems work for clients. Here are the elements you may want to take a look at, in measuring the effectiveness of your own marketing system:

1. Constant Reminders
Just as an athlete starts each day with a physical regimen, the marketing pro, or rainmaker, will have tools for focusing on the tasks that are most important each day. Most professionals these days use personal productivity software or organizers of some kind or another—personal calendars, emails, task lists, or the traditional paper daily planner—to stay organized and focused.

We sometimes joke in the coaching profession about how our jobs are like being “professional nags,” but in truth having a manager, a coach, or a buddy to check in with on a regular basis can be a terrific boost to your personal organization. The accountability factor alone keeps your momentum moving forward and tasks getting accomplished. You decide that you want the reminders, you decide how you want them and how often—the mere act of creating a system for reminders pushes you to stay true to your course of action.

2. Constant Encouragement
Ok, in fairness, being a coach also means we get to give regular pats on the back. Do you remember how good it feels when someone you respect gives you such kudos and encouragement? To use the athletic analogy again, a professional athlete sticks to a serious training regimen, but also seeks and receives encouragement from coaches, other members of the team and support staff. One of the jobs of the encourager, of course, is to help the performer see how important it is to work hard, and to never quit. Another job is to frequently offer the picture of success that awaits the performer, or to provide recognition for successes along the way.

3. Camaraderie
No one likes to do something difficult alone. Why would a marketing system not encourage camaraderie and a sense of shared fun and responsibility? It is important to be able to lighten up when you need to, and share ideas, challenges and courses of action with those who are vested in your success (or theirs). Likewise, your peers or associates can frankly tell you when you are off-course.

4. Expert Advice
If you are embarking into unfamiliar territory, doesn’t it make sense to seek expert advice from those who’ve “been there, done that?”

The same effort without such guidance will not deliver the same results. An expert provides information, experience, habits of mind and models for behavior.

5. Goal Planning
If you are embarking on any kind of marketing, it is critical to have well-articulated goals, both for long-term and near-term success. You will need an outline for action that is clear and indicates tools, timelines and resources needed to achieve your goals. It will be important to also include the learning of new skills, the practice and mastery of new skills.

With a few simple guidelines, marketing can become a discipline that will become a way of life and not just a chore that has to be reckoned with. Marketing using the right system can change marketing from being necessary—to pleasant—to profitable.

Karen Bergh provides strategic marketing and public relations consulting services, skills training and business coaching for organizations and individuals who want to sell more.