Do Business Well

Whether an internal service group operates your email marketing program or you rely on an outside service provider, there’s only one way to get accountability: Define clear success criteria. Let’s take a look at some of the mechanisms you can put in place to evaluate the service organization responsible for operating your program:

1. Define and monitor success criteria.

• Clearly articulate program goals and performance expectations.
• Agree on turnaround times for new programs, campaigns, or messages.
• Ensure that the service provider can be flexible and responsive to your ever-changing needs.
• Ensure that you understand what a service provider offers and what it expects others to provide and manage.

2. Establish performance reviews.

• Define agreed-upon milestones and time lines during implementation and operations.
• Set frequent (at least quarterly) performance reviews.

• Monitor performance of all participants (marketing, IT, customer service, e-commerce, outside service provider, etc.).
• Set up intradepartmental reviews to ensure that choice of service provider and/or technology solutions meets broader corporate goals and objectives.

3. Demand performance and quality guarantees.

• Establish service-level agreements with service provider.
• Evaluate quality of service history of service provider.
• Negotiate special performance guarantees for programs that have extraordinary demands (quick turnaround, high message volume, high degree of message personalization, unique data requirements and needs, etc.).
• Track the success of your programs over time in order to detect sudden or gradual shifts in performance or quality.

4. Compare your results with industry averages.

• Establish benchmarks based on comparable programs.
• Require that service provider presents its results relative to industry averages (to the extent that these can be identified).

5. Monitor broader industry initiatives and developments.

• Ensure that the service provider is keeping abreast of latest technology developments.
• Ensure that the service provider is keeping abreast of latest privacy legislation and its impact on your program.
• Demand guarantees that the provider is in good standing with major ISPs, privacy watchdog groups, and other email-related services (i.e., no spam complaints).

6. Align your economic interests with your service provider’s.

• Implement revenue-share models where appropriate.
• Select a financial model and negotiate financial relationships that align your business goals with those of your service provider.

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