Gave a short talk on branding in Phoenix the other day.  An interesting question was raised:  how do you get full value from folks you hire to help?  One person thought that issue was on the vendors.  “Be very clear about what you are going to get,” she said.

I agree, due diligence is a smart move.  Some folks will say anything to get a client.  As someone who both hires and gets hired, I think return on investment rests more on the client.  Three questions to ask ourselves before we hold outsiders accountable:

• What is solving this problem worth to me?
• What am I willing to do to get what I say I want?
• And very important in this economy:  what resources am I willing to invest in meeting this need?  (Over 75% of the incoming calls I get can not answer this question.  Seriously.)

Every problem has a price, both in time, effort, and in money.  Not only must we be clear on our needs, we also must be willing to implement and invest in what we need.  Perhaps the due diligence starts with us.