When was the last time you reviewed your marketing operations? Performing annual check ups on your processes is a great way to identify any cash leaks and implement important time-cutting changes. From initial planning to creative and distribution, it’s important to ensure any unnecessary costs are weeded out of each process. To help you determine if your operations need enhancing, ask yourself these questions.
Questions
- How many vendors are part of the supply chain for your program? Do you have any duplicate vendors that could be consolidated into one?
Consolidating vendors will save you time and money by reducing the resources required to manage multiple vendors and leveraging a larger spend for discounted rates.
- Have you surveyed end-users such as store managers and field reps on their satisfaction of the current distribution process?
Direct feedback from your end-users on your performance is very valuable. Asking end-users how easy it is to get materials, if they are arriving correct, on time, and in good condition, can identify key issues in your process. Having end-users report on service levels will help identify where process or vendor improvements should be made.
- When bidding out your business, have you asked your vendors to do something different such as an alternative proposal versus bidding on the same process?
Going to RFP and asking vendors to bid on your current process might help you leverage a rate reduction, but won’t necessarily improve service or quality. Bidding your current processes as it is only replicates what you have today. Asking vendors to develop a proposal based on analysis of your expected outcomes could help you save millions versus thousands while improving service levels and quality.
- Do you know what your industry average spend on a program your size is? How do you compare?
Although no program or company is the same, there are quite a few similarities that drive best practices. Companies that are leveraging best practices should be able to tell you what an average campaign of a similar size costs. Working with vendors that understand your industry and others will help you you’re your costs in check.
- Do you know where your process pain points are? Do you have a plan to fix them?
Most likely every time you execute a campaign you plan for certain issues, obstacles or roadblocks. Identifying reoccurring issues and communicating those to vendors can help improve your processes and cut your costs.
Check Up?
If you answered no to one or more of these questions, now may be the right time for your organization to perform a check up. Companies everywhere are still looking for ways to cut costs wherever they can.Taking the time to review your processes today can have an immediate impact on costs and will set the stage as the economy recovers. Don’t have time to complete a check up? Archway can help. We can perform a no cost, no obligation marketing operations assessment. Contact us today for more details.
Want to learn more? You can contact Jason Flagstad at ask@archway.com.
About the Author:
As Vice President of Operations, Jason oversees Archway’s operations with a focus on driving improvements in quality, efficiency, and commonality of practices. Jason has over a decade of experience in managing business processes for leading organizations.