the pipeline is the process
Process defines the scope of your marketing supply chain.
It isn't over until someone actually buys something.
From the CEO perspective, there is only one relevant context: the pipeline. Accurately defining the process boundary is critical to improving it. The point here is not to get boxed into thinking only about your silo, either at the department, business unit, or enterprise level. (Eighty percent of Dell's supply chain exists outside their four walls and so do their opportunities for performance improvement.)
Improving any process requires that you first codify it -- i.e., map out the pipeline into sub-processes and how they are related. This shows how the inputs are transformed into the outputs -- at each stage of the pipeline.
Closing the decision loop.
As shown below, a closed-loop marketing process has at least four major steps: Plan - Design - Execute - Monitor. Without a closed-loop process, you cannot determine whether you have executed according to plan, or identify which part of the pipeline requires the most attention.
Having (near) real-time visibility into the closed-loop process is paramount because, all too often, the effectiveness of a marketing program is evident only long after the money has been spent. This is much like driving a vehicle by looking into the rear-view mirror.
Printed with assumed permission on August 28, 2008 from http://www.marviz.com/pages/process/index.cfm.
