Vendors Do Not Call The Plays

Here's what happens in basketball when the coach calls the plays and the player ignores what the coach wants to do (click here).

I spoke at the VT/NH Marketing Group conference last week. More than 170 folks in attendance, mostly direct marketers from New England. Here is what so many of the folks in attendance said to me, paraphrased for emphasis:

• "We told our co-op that performance is awful. We told them that performance has to improve. They told us to trust the models. It's as if they don't even care what happens to us."

In sports, you do what you're told, or you are benched, and then suspended. Players play, coaches coach.

In business, you are the coach. End of story. The vendor doesn't get to call the plays.

You hear me go off about co-ops in catalog marketing, and omnichannel vendor theory in retail. There's a good reason for that. In both cases, the vendors are calling the plays. You can't let that happen. Vendors will call plays that optimize their performance. You hire vendors to optimize your performance!!

Vendors do not call the plays.

It is time to take control over your vendor relationships. Enough is enough.