The inside story of selecting outside marketing resources- Why this is important to a mid-marketer

The right ones can bring invaluable expertise, insight, and experience to help grow your business.

The wrong ones can ignore and overcharge you-if not simply waste your time and money.

Today, MidMarketers encounter no shortage of companies, products and services to help them with everyday needs. But finding the right service provider or resource is proving harder than ever. Blame it on everyone sounding and acting the same. Or the Internet, where perception can easily dwarf reality.

Then, there’s the “stuck in the middle” dilemma.

Trying to get your business at any cost, a smaller service provider may say it can handle your business when it really can’t. On the flip side, a MidMarketer is often dismissed by a large provider because their account is too small and insignificant.

To counter, many MidMarketers seek an objective review of potential solutions by going the Request for Proposal (RFP) route. In theory, the RFP tries to spot differences by tendering an exhaustive list of questions and criteria. But in reality, and as you may know, it often ends up creating a mountain of work for both sides. The result can leave you more confused than when the whole thing started.

Getting personal vs. getting facts

Fortunately, there is a technique for the MidMarketer to identify the right service provider or outside resource of any kind. This includes an Email Service provider, a search engine optimization company, a certain software solution, or any other. It starts by getting personal, and not just collecting facts.

Common sources of discontent

Often, mid-sized companies drop providers for the same reasons:

• “Didn’t live up to expectations.”
• “Wasn’t a good fit.”
• “Didn’t respond to our needs.”
• “Didn’t take us to the next level.”

Yet, while these issues frequently surface, they seldom are discussed at the beginning of the relationship… and certainly wouldn’t be revealed using a straight fact-finding mission alone. Shifting the selection process into a more personal mode can uncover these less tangible, but critical qualities. You’ll end up having a much better idea of how you’ll work with a resource and how they’ll work with you.