As a Pardot consultant, I run into a lot of people who are stuck.
They’re not getting the value they wanted out of the tool.
They’re not sure what to do next.
The ocean of possibility feels daunting.
When talking to people in this space of frustration, I try to listen for 3 things.
- What is the outcome they’re after?
- Are they working toward that outcome in an effective way?
- If not… is it because they don’t know how to, or because they don’t want to? (That may sound like a weird question, but I’ll explain.)
Getting through “I don’t know how”
If lack of effective action stems from a missing skills or knowledge, that’s actually a great place to be.
You can learn. You can find resources. You can talk to people who have walked the road you’re walking.
This is the frame of mind for many of the companies my team supports with implementations. There’s a knowledge gap, and we have a structured process to help would-be Pardashians conquer that (full of training guides, blogs, videos, and other helpful goodies.)
When there’s more to the story
Sometimes the knowledge gap is real. But I also frequently find smart, motivated people avoiding starting a project or executing something poorly. In those cases, there’s invariably more to the story than “I don’t know how.”
Why haven’t you created an Engagement Studio nurture?
If scoring and grading was a priority when you bought Pardot, why aren’t you using it yet?
Have you trained your sales team on how to leverage the information you’re gathering in Pardot?
The first answer to inquiries like that is often “I don’t know how.” Or the usual time and money fallback.
But those are rarely the TRUE reasons holding talented, in-it-to-win-it marketers back. The real barrier is often something more like:
- What if I build it and then it flops
- What if I can’t get other people to buy in
- What if I do it once and then it becomes my job forever
- What if my boss hates it
- What if I’m not good at this
- What if I look dumb
In other words… it feels like a risk.
Identifying and naming that lurking reason for inaction is powerful. Seeing is the first step to overcoming.