Fire your ESP!!

There was a movie called Jerry Maguire a few years back that had many messages, but the strongest one that I remembered was how Jerry took a vested interest in his one and only client.

So here are a few questions to ask yourselves about your ESP:

Do you feel the same way as Rod Tidwell did in the movie? (meaning do you feel the your ESP treats you as their only clent)

Do you get better tactical execution than strategic advice?

Do you get better strategic advice than tactical execution?

Do you get reviews of your current email marketing communications?

Do you have an open dialog with experts in the company?

Does your ESP produce high quality best practices and distribute it to you?

Does your ESP have a self proclaimed or a recognized email expert on staff? Can you call them on the phone? Can you email them?

Does the marketing material/email communications that come from within the ESP follow best practices?

Is your ESP active on social networking sites and actively engaged in the email community?

Does your ESP release new versions of their software often? Do they contain features that conform to the industry? Do they contain features that are all the rage in email?

Does your ESP come on site to really understand your environment? Meaning do they know about your people, process, culture and order in which your organization works so they can tailor their service to you?

I can go on an on with lists of questions, but I think its time you sit down and either demand more from them or move on. I have quite a few colleagues who work at ESP’s and can say that no one is perfect but I know that they care..and they show it.

Don’t fire your ESP unless your ESP has done something to fire themselves.

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