It’s December. The holidays are upon us. The new year is looming. We all know what that means.

Time to start planning your 2024 budget.

Actually, if you’ve waited this long to start thinking about next year’s budget, you’re probably already behind the eight ball a bit. While there is no real “best” time to start planning next year's budget, the ideal timeframe is to start the process several months ahead—perhaps as early as six months prior.

Why so early? It allows sufficient time for thorough planning, comprehensive analysis, and critical collaboration with all relevant stakeholders across the company.

Your channel partners are critical to your ongoing success.  

Not only do they extend your market presence by providing additional “feet on the street” that supplement your direct sales force, they also offer regional expertise in locations where cultural, regulatory, or business differences require someone who “speaks” the local language.  Channel partners help you access new markets, lower costs, and improve your overall reach and service delivery capabilities.

So…are you getting the most out of your channel partners?  Or better yet, are they getting the most out of their relationship with you? Are you equipping them to adequately represent you in the field?  Is your organization working closely with your channel partners to keep them trained, informed, and up to date?

As an online merchant, the software tools you use to conduct transactions are absolutely critical to your operation.  

The ability to successfully process payments is obviously a must.  Safety protocols such as fraud protection and Secure Socket Layer (SSL) encryption must be built into your e-commerce system to protect both you and your customers.  A user-friendly interface that makes purchasing items easy, intuitive, and seamless is mandatory, lest your customers abandon their shopping carts out of frustration.

Earlier this month, we had an extremely busy week at OnFulfillment that got me thinking about the old days and how far we’ve come as a marketing fulfillment company.

One of our largest customers—a global technology company that designs, develops, and supplies a wide range of semiconductor and infrastructure software solutions—had recently acquired a well-known cloud computing and virtualization company.

As part of the acquisition, we were asked to assemble some “welcome aboard” kits—more than 18,000 packages consisting of gifts featuring the acquiring company’s brand and accompanied by a personal message from the CEO. These kits were to be delivered to facilities around the world, primarily in the U.S., Europe, and Asia.

Nine months into the current year, we’re proud to say that OnFulfillment is on pace to sign a near record number of new customers for a 12-month period.

While admittedly a lot of the credit goes to pent-up demand for the comprehensive marketing and event fulfillment services we provide, we like to think that our approach to onboarding new customers is a significant contributing factor.

What sets us apart from the competition? The fact that we treat our initial meetings with prospects as an interview rather than a sales pitch. Since our inception more than 20 years ago, our goal when meeting with a potential new customer has always been to first understand what they need and then find a solution that is mutually beneficial to both parties. We endeavor to treat the client-vendor relationship as more of a partnership by offering the right level of support without overselling our services. This approach leads to a greater level of trust and confidence on the part of the customer, and for us, it’s been very effective.