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Fulfillment Firm Fundamentals

In direct-selling lingo, fulfillment covers everything from taking the order to packing, shipping, and processing the purchase for payment. You can fulfill orders yourself or you can outsource these duties to a company that specializes in managing all or part of the fulfillment function.

The decision comes down to a trade of control for simplicity. Keeping fulfillment in-house allows you to retain control of the process and increases your customer interaction. Outsourcing cedes some control, but it significantly simplifies your operations and offers state-of-the-art technology.

Either way, fulfillment is expensive. When you tally all of the costs, it may be more cost-effective to outsource these tasks than to set up and support your own fulfillment systems.

It's crucial that you go with a company that meets your performance standards. If you decide to outsource, ask yourself these questions before you sign a contract:

  • Does the company maintain an adequate level of personal connection with the customer? If the connection between your company and its customers is very important, a fulfillment service may not be the best answer.
  • Do the staff members who take the orders have the ability to fully explain your product and close a sale? Again, if your product requires a lot of explanation, outsourcing may not be the way to go.
  • Will the fulfillment service dedicate sales representatives to your orders and allow you to train them?
  • How fragile is your inventory? Are you selling books or hand-blown goblets? Will you be shipping perishables? Are the fulfillment firm's experience and facilities appropriate to your products?
  • Can the firm meet your turnaround requirements? If fast response is crucial, look for a firm with a strong track record for 24-hour service.

Choose a firm with experience in catalog-order fulfillment. A lot of companies call themselves fulfillment houses but may only handle brochures and other mailings. The best way to find any good firm is through referrals from other e-commerce or catalog companies. Know too that directories of various services are available at The Direct Marketing Association.

In addition, make sure to read these articles:

  • Compiere ERP Connector for Salesforce CRM Now...
  • Companies Can Now Integrate Compiere ERP Directly with Salesforce CRM to Accelerate Order Fulfillment, Improve Operational Efficiency and Improve Sales Execution REDWOOD SHORES, Calif. -- ......
  • Compiere ERP Connector for Salesforce CRM Now...
  • Companies Can Now Integrate Compiere ERP Directly with Salesforce CRM to Accelerate Order Fulfillment, Improve Operational Efficiency and Improve Sales Execution REDWOOD SHORES, Calif. -- ......
  • THIRD-PARTY LOGISTICS: Kings of networking.
  • By Logistics Management Staff There's a hint of the James Dean saga in the script now being written about the third-party logistics (3PL) market....
  • Call for entries. (Who, What, When & Where).
  • The Direct Marketing Association's B-to-B Council has established a new annual award to honor business-to-business professionals. The first DMA B-to-B Marketer of the Year Award ......
  • LEGIT E-MAIL
  • Louis Mastria, director of public and international affairs for the Direct Marketing Association, recommends the following measures when emailing consumers about promotions.
  • DMA offers fraud prevention resources.
  • Seeking to create a more secure marketplace for "at-a-distance shopping," the Direct Marketing Association, New York City, has made several consumer guides available online, in ......
  • E-marketers Aren't Measuring...
  • Several studies of email-marketing managers show more than half don't track the effectiveness of their campaigns, while those that do measure click-through rates instead of ......
  • EDITOR'S LETTER; Collective Clout
  • It's hard to think of a better way to end the marketing year than to be reporting on the Direct Marketing Association's recent raft of ......
  • Calls for entries. (Who, What, When & Where).
  • * The Direct Marketing Association's B-to-]3 Council has established a new annual award to honor business-to-business professionals. The first DMA B-to-B Marketer of the Year ......
  • Business in schools: Could student privacy be at...
  • Last December, the Senate passed an education reform bill 87-10. Included in this legislation were measures to protect students' privacy from companies that collect information ......
  • Nonprofit sector takes hit. (Data Dispatch).
  • Kintera Inc., San Diego, conducted a cost-analysis study that found the June 30 postal rate hike of 7.9 percent for first-class mail and 7.5 percent ......
  • Fast, Cheap, and Out of Control
  • Everybody's doing it, it seems. Ninety-six percent of direct marketers use e-mail as part of their mix, according to last fall's survey by the Direct ......
  • DMA Nonprofit Federation Names "Non -...
  • The Direct Marketing Association Nonprofit Federation will honorCatholic Relief Services (CRS) with the 2000 Nonprofit Organization of the Year Award. In 1999, CRS raised nearly ......
  • New Blood!
  • This past summer I went to The Canadian Marketing Association's (CMA), Internet meeting. Their president, John Gustavson, told me this was where the action was....
  • DMA promotes antidrug campaign. (Parterships).
  • Direct marketers have signed on to support a White House antidrug initiative. Through a partnership with the Office of National Drug Control Policy, the Direct ......