Late one evening, a passerby observed several people putting on masks before picking up weapons and rushing into a store. Being a responsible citizen, he called 911 and reported what he saw. The small town in Western North Carolina didn't have a police department so the county's sheriff department was dispatched along with a request for assistance from the North Carolina Highway Patrol. In a matter of minutes, the small store was surrounded by heavily armed law enforcement officers. The deputies and troopers could see people in masks carrying guns moving around in the building. The officers aimed their assault rifles at the store and waited.
Inside the store, the armed robbers ran around grabbing things and waving guns. Their activity was amateurish. This was expected. After all, a professional crew wouldn't waste their time on a mom & pop business. The officers waited patiently until the group charged out the door with loot and guns in hand. Can you imagine the adrenaline flowing?
The troopers are highly trained for such events but local law enforcement teams don't have the same resources. At any point, the wait could turn into a shootout. All it would take is one person with an itchy trigger finger. The perpetrators were a wild card too. Who knew how desperate they were? Would they surrender easily or try to shoot their way out? They were obviously inexperienced, but there could be drugs involved altering normal reactions.
When the robbers charged out of the door they stopped dead in their tracks when they saw the greeting party. Their weapons and spoils dropped as they surrendered to law enforcement. Nary a shot was fired. This was a REALLY good thing because...
...the armed robbers were carrying unloaded weapons. They were a group of teens filming a scene in a homemade shoot-em-up action movie. The action adventure drama began with a plan. Parents knew what their children were doing. Arrangements were made with the store owner. The participants coordinated schedules. And, somewhere, along the way, no one thought to notify law enforcement that a seemingly clandestine event was just teens fighting boredom in a small town.
Sometimes sharing information with the right people at the right time can be the difference between life and death. In the case of the movie, a fun night could have turned tragic. When it comes to marketing, the end may not be bloody, but it is still lost opportunity. Your marketing 'need to know' list must include everyone who has an effect on the success of your campaigns from the beginning to the end. It should also include third party members who help protect and grow your business.
If you have a marketing 'need to know' list, you already know why you need it. You are also ahead of the game. It continues to surprise me when marketers tell me that they don't share information outside of their inner circle. The admission is always followed with a list of reasons (excuses), but the status quo rarely changes. Someone has to move first when the time comes to cross departmental lines. It can be a scary first step, but it is easier than cleaning up the fallout when need to know information is unknown. It's a tough world out there. Enlist all the help you can to make your business successful.
To Do: Make a 'need to know' list for all of your marketing information. Be sure to include everyone from customer care to outside vendors. Use it as a checklist to make sure there won't be unwelcome surprises along the way.