Services:

How broad is your marketing supplier network?  Does it include advertising agencies, media agencies, creative agencies, diversity agencies, digital agencies, branding & design firms, PR firms, sales promotion firms, recruitment agencies, trade show marketing firms, yellow pages agency, printers, etc…  It is not unusual for a supplier network to number 12 to 18 firms.  How do you begin to optimize such a large, diverse group of specialist firms?

Marketing Solutions’ consultants and network of "Best in Class" marketing resource optimization specialists provide Clients with a wide range of supply chain optimization support services, such as:

Goal Alignment 

Reviewing the roles and responsibilities of each supplier in your network to minimize redundancies and eliminate overlap is step number one in the process.  This is followed by a review of the individual supplier performance criteria that have been established to insure that these expectations are consistent with the current business goals of the organization.  Once properly adjusted, your suppliers resource allocation decisions and time of staff investment can be improved… often times while reducing your supplier fees.

Contract & Compensation System Analysis  Analyzing the contractual scope of services, staffing plans, compensation program elements and performance criteria provides the basis for directing the efforts of the supplier network.  Typically done on an annual basis, this is a critical component to incenting top notch performance that is consistent with the organizations expected outputs.  If necessary, we will provide recommendations for upgrading contractual terms and conditions to provide your organization with the operational, financial and legal safeguards necessary to protect your intellectual property rights and marketing investment.  

Performance Monitoring & Benchmarking Support  Ongoing monthly performance monitoring, quarterly progress reviews and annual performance assessments, conducted by both your organization and your suppliers can eliminate surprises and provides full transparency into your goal attainment.  As importantly, benchmarking this performance against historical, industry or system norms can serve as a powerful incentive to drive extraordinary vendor performance.

Contract Compliance Auditing  Auditing supplier contract compliance, charging practices, reconciling billing, evaluating Accounts Payable/ 3^rd party vendor remittance practices, document retention policies, competitive bidding requirements and monitoring delivery against each of the contractual terms is a good practice.  What is inspected is respected.  Further, a periodic review of contract compliance is often a requirement of the organization to assess Marketing’s compliance to the organization’s corporate governance initiatives.   

Time-of- Staff Investment Assessments  Are you reviewing supplier time-of-staff reporting?  How frequently?  Do you reconcile your suppliers time-of-staff investment relative to the contract?  Is it done quarterly or annually?  Marketing Solutions will work with you to develop a schedule, process and reporting formats for simplifying this important task, while providing full transparency into the resource investment being made on your behalf by your key suppliers.

Supplier Search Support   In the event that changes are desired to consolidate your supplier network, to change out a partner or to add a specialist firm, we will work with you to develop the selection criteria and process for conducting a thorough, unbiased review of alternatives that will strengthen your network.