There is a problem I see in almost every company: the owner specifies exactly what the team should do and how, and then holds them accountable for a result that did not arrive.
That cannot work, and it is the fastest way to lose good people.
You have to pick one of two models: either you give them the space and they own the number, or you decide the method and then you own the number, not them.
Why does the confusion happen?
It is not bad intent. The owner is anxious about his money, so he gets into the detail to feel safe. And at the same time he expects a result because he is paying.
But the result comes from a long chain of decisions: the message, the targeting, the budget, the timing, the page the customer lands on. If you control half those decisions, you cannot hold someone else responsible for the whole chain.
Model one: accountable for the result
Here you say: I want this many enquiries at this cost per month. The rest is yours.
- What you give: a clear budget, access to the numbers and accounts, fast approvals, and information about the product and the customers.
- What you get: an agreed number, and a simple periodic report.
- When does it fit? When the person has experience, the product is clear, and measurement is possible.
The essential condition: do not intervene in the detail. If you change the message, block an idea, or delay an approval, you have taken part of the responsibility off them.
Model two: accountable for the method
Here you decide: we will publish this many posts, run campaigns in this format, and the message is this.
- What you hold them to: deadlines, quality, and executing what was agreed.
- Who owns the result? You. Because you chose the method.
- When does it fit? With a new or junior team, or in clearly defined operational work.
This model is entirely respectable and there is nothing wrong with it. The only mistake is using it and then blaming the person for a number they never controlled.
How do you know which model you are in?
Ask yourself one question: the last time the marketing plan changed, who decided?
If the answer is you, you are in the second model even if the contract says otherwise. If the answer is them, and you saw the plan after it was running, you are in the first.
Most problems happen when the written agreement says one thing and reality runs another.
If you hold them to results, agree three things
- The exact number. Not "better sales," but a count of enquiries or sales at a defined cost.
- The period. Most channels need two or three months before judgement is fair.
- Who owns what. If sales reply after two days, whose responsibility is that? Agreeing this prevents half the arguments.
The thing that ruins everything: the whole chain
Marketing produces an enquiry. After it comes a reply, then a proposal, then follow-up, then delivery. If any link in that chain is broken, the final number will look bad even if the marketing is excellent.
That is why I like accountability to sit on the first step the person actually controls: the number, quality and cost of enquiries. The sale itself is shared between them and sales.
And with an outside agency?
Exactly the same, with one difference: the agency does not see your business from the inside.
If you are going to hold them to results, they need what you can see: who actually buys, what objections recur, and what sells most. Without that they work on assumptions, and you are holding them to work built on incomplete information.
Metrics that measure effort and metrics that measure results
Keep both, but know what each tells you:
- Effort metrics: number of posts, number of campaigns, response rate. These tell you whether work is happening.
- Result metrics: enquiries, cost per enquiry, conversion rate, sales. These tell you whether the work is delivering.
The common failure is reports made entirely of the first kind. A report saying "we published 24 posts" with not one number about outcome is a report about being busy, not about performance.
A monthly meeting in half an hour
Do not run long marketing meetings. Keep it fixed, short, and built on four questions:
- What do the numbers say compared with last month?
- What worked best, and how do we scale it?
- What worked worst, and do we stop it or fix it?
- What are we testing next month, and at what cost?
That meeting alone prevents the two biggest problems in marketing: someone spending months on something that does not deliver, and someone carrying blame that is not theirs.
In short
You cannot hold the method and judge the result. Choose: freedom with ownership of the number, or control with the responsibility on you.
That choice is not an administrative detail — it determines whether your team thinks and experiments, or executes while waiting to be blamed at month end.
This is part of a series on marketing budgets and return — which also covers sizing your budget, and why more profit does not always mean more customers.