We’ve said it many times before in this blog forum: for a vendor/client relationship to be truly successful, it must be managed as a partnership where both parties are equally vested in the results. Unless everyone is committed to achieving a common goal, the relationship is nothing more than a business arrangement where one side pays an agreed-upon amount of money and the other side delivers a set of agreed-upon services, day in, day out.
In the marketing fulfillment vendor/customer dynamic, a critical part of this partnership is regular business reviews. Whether conducted annually, quarterly, or somewhere in between, these reviews provide critical insight into whether goals are being met, if those goals need to be adjusted based on observed metrics, and what kinds of tweaks are required to make the necessary changes.
The responsibility for these reviews falls squarely on the marketing fulfillment vendor. After all, they—assuming the required reporting capabilities are in place—have access to the details that reveal trends which indicate where things are working, where they are not, and how those trends can be exploited to the customers’ advantage. While every review is unique, based on the programs the customer is running and the services they subscribe to, they do follow a basic blueprint that reveals where money is being wasted and how those dollars might be reallocated to ensure the customer gets the most mileage out of their marketing budget.
Following is an overview of a basic business review. These subjects, and the order in which they appear, can be modified, reordered, or even eliminated based on the customer’s objectives. However, this provides a general roadmap for the sorts of topics a comprehensive business review should include. 
In The Beginning: Accomplishments
A business review should begin with an overview of the accomplishments of the past three, six, or 12 months. Articulate what went right since the last review and how those accomplishments contributed to the overall goals. This serves two purposes: first, it confirms which parts of the previous business plan were successful and should be celebrated; and second, it sets the stage for examining those parts of the plan that fell short of (or unpredictably exceeded) expectations and what steps can be taken to recalibrate the approach.
Performance
Next, the review should summarize the features and services employed. Has anything changed since the last review? Are those services delivering the desired results? Which features or rules are now inactive? Have they impacted overall performance?
This part of the review is also a good time to review assets and inventory as well as the number of users, both internal and external, who have access to the portal. 
Inventory Status
For customers who use the marketing fulfillment vendor to store their various assets, the review should provide a deep dive into the status of existing inventory. Not only does this include active items, whether branded promotional materials, printed collateral, or event-related materials, but also an overview of obsolete (that is, inactive) items that are still occupying valuable real estate in the warehouse.
Usage trends indicate which items are most popular based on ordering statistics—critical knowledge for future orders. More importantly, these reports indicate which items are not moving and are currently overstocked. By understanding which SKUs are obsolete or overstocked, customers can take action to reduce those items and save on their storage costs.
Managing the Most Popular Items
Understanding which items are most popular based on ordering frequency allows customers to make informed decisions about future expenditures. A regular review will not only highlight these items but also reveal who is ordering them and where they are being shipped, providing insight that can be used to optimize shipping expenditures. 
Active Users
Conversely, it’s just as important to know which users are most active. Who is ordering the most items? Are they internal employees or external users? Are they domestic or international? Is their activity trending up or down? Is there a seasonal aspect to their behavior, or is it predictably consistent over the course of the year?
Again, these metrics can be used to adjust storage and shipping budgets to ensure dollars are allocated where they will have the greatest impact. This can result in actual cost savings by reducing budgets where the current allocations are underutilized.
Shipping Activity
Freight costs consume an inordinate amount of the marketing budget. Poor planning and inefficient logistics can result in expensive expedited shipping charges or multiple small shipments going to the same location when a single large shipment would be more cost effective.
With the help of an experienced marketing fulfillment vendor, regular reviews will allow customers to identify patterns that enable better planning, reduce the total number of shipments, and take advantage of economies of scale.
Adjusting Allocation Costs by Department and User
In addition to shipping, regular reviews also reveal patterns related to costs incurred by departments and individuals. Determining who is ordering the most material and where they are located can help with production planning and effectively allocation storage and shipping budgets.
Utilizing the expertise of the marketing fulfillment vendor, users can evaluate their current approach and make changes that accommodate the existing environment. Reducing storage in certain locations and increasing it in others; redistributing inventory to ensure quantities are available where they are used the most; restocking popular items while cancelling orders on less frequently ordered materials—all contribute to a more efficient and cost-effective operation.
Aligning Old and New Initiatives
Armed with the information provided by regular business reviews, customers can continue to tweak their operations to maximize their marketing budgets.
It’s up to the marketing fulfillment vendors to initiate these reviews and build them into the overall process. After all, even though all these details are available to the customer in various forms, the vendor is in a much better position to understand how these metrics interrelate and how to use them to streamline and optimize operations. Vendors with the ability to conduct these reviews will have all these metrics available on a single platform, making it much easier to gather and aggregate the information into a legible report.
These reviews are a form of customer enablement—an embodiment of the partnership mentality that ensures customers are using the platform as effectively as possible. It’s not about prying more money out of the customer by selling additional services; it’s about helping the customer optimize their budget and find new ways to increase their revenue stream.
Find the Right Partner
If your marketing fulfillment vendor is not holding regular business reviews, it may be time to start looking for another partner.
OnFulfillment can help. We initiate regular reviews with our customers on a bi-annual basis to ensure they are maximizing their spend, and we can do the same for you. Just visit https://www.onfulfillment.com/contact-us and fill out the form to request a meeting. We’ll be happy to show you what we have to offer.
