Seattle Entrepreneur Derek Preston explains that when customers go into survival mode, cutting any budget item they can, the customer’s inability to show results from an expenditure right now, in dollars to the bottom line, means that vendors can find themselves out in the cold even when their product or service offers considerable long-term value. It’s the customer’s loss in the long run, but it’s the vendor’s problem today.

This point hit home, recalling several strategic budget items I found slashed this year as budgets tightened all around:

The fact that your internal champion at an account loves your product and thinks it’s valuable won’t be enough when corporate finance comes-a-callin’ to slash costs.

I’ve been that internal champion and felt the pain, although it was our vendor’s bottom line that took the hit. Read the full post at nPost.

I work in marketing, and I’d jump to the defense of at least a few of my compatriots were they so accused…but I’ve certainly seen enough bad apples in the business to understand the sentiment behind that quote.

Guy Kawasaki lists the top ten (actually twelve) lies of marketers, which I post here as a token of my hope of a more accountable and metrics-driven future for our noble profession.