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How can you improve your marketing program and your company鈥檚 profitability? Analyze the personality types in your firm and then create strategic teams to bring in more work.

The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator provides descriptions for 16 personality types through a four-letter system, or 鈥渟ign,鈥� that offers a basic understanding of each personality and its strengths and weaknesses. It also illustrates how different personality types process information and communicate.

I have taken the Myers-Briggs assessment various times at different workplaces during my career. In the past, after a couple of weeks the four letters that described each employee鈥檚 personality were filed in a drawer never to be seen again.

Recently, I had a different MBTI experience. With our national economy in turmoil and increased competition for projects, we needed a strong strategy for bringing in new work. One idea was to dust off the personality assessments and walk the firm鈥檚 six partners through an exercise to see, using the lens of the Myers-Briggs assessment, whom in the firm is naturally inclined to take the lead in each stage of bringing in new work.

Our analysis of the data led to better decisions about chasing new work. This new, disciplined and systematic approach has increased the amount of incoming work, as well as our efficiency and revenue.

What did we do? First, our marketing team reviewed the MBTI assessment for each person responsible for bringing in new work, and then analyzed the results. We scheduled two sessions with the principals to present and discuss the data. Our presentation focused on strengthening existing marketing talent, increasing marketing efficiency, capitalizing on the MBTI investment we had already made and offering recommendations.

In the presentation, we:

鈥� Identified the steps needed to bring in new work.

鈥�Conducted a hands-on exercise. We asked each principal to write their names on post-it notes and place them next to the steps they enjoyed the most in bringing in new work. Did their choices match their talent, or what they would like their talent to be? Some tough questions yielded eye-opening answers.

鈥� Reviewed the management team鈥檚 style. We reviewed the combination of the individual personality styles, what it meant and discussed how that translated to bringing in new work.

鈥� Reviewed data. Time-card data was split by percentage of time allocated to marketing, proposals, administration and billable work per team member. We looked at work generated, contract and budget amounts 鈥� who identified it, sold it, secured the contract, performed the work and closed it out. We also sorted, by team, the work billed in the past 12 months.

Through this exercise we discovered that not everyone is naturally inclined to perform well in all stages of marketing. But specialists are nevertheless necessary in each area. Every firm needs folks bringing in new work, ensuring contracts are signed before work begins, managing the budget and schedule and closing the project out. If everyone in the firm can sell, but no one can deliver what was sold, then you have a problem.

Overall, the exercise was extremely helpful to our firm. We focused on the data and less on our opinions or emotions, and discovered how to support teams in need of assistance. Knowing your 鈥渟ign鈥� can help bring more new work to your firm.

Lisa Schauer, a Certified Professional Services Marketer and a member of SMPS, is the business development manager and an associate with MacKay & Sposito Inc., a consulting firm with four offices in the Pacific Northwest.