The year is 2017. It’s where data-driven marketing is more complex than ever. We are talking about different teams and vendors being responsible for delivering a personalised experience to your customers across different channels, every single day.

Things do get a lot more complex when it comes to integrating multiple data warehouses, CRM tools, loyalty engines, channel providers, mail houses, mobile apps, landing pages- the list goes on. As much as each team and vendor believes and promises that their solution is robust, things do go wrong at times (not often) when it comes to integrating different platforms managed by different parties in different time zone.

Check out these common answers:

• “The problem isn’t with our system, it’s elsewhere.”
• “I will now escalate this case to our advanced support team for further investigation. But it does not look like it’s an issue on our end.”
• “Your support level does not include any developer support. I can only provide documentation level resources for your consideration.”

Does it sound too familiar? Keep reading.

I have heard too many of these inward mindset answers from our customers’ IT teams and vendors. They hide behind pages of well-documented service level agreement, and leave you to suffer on your own. Without regard for the customer-impacting situation you are currently facing.

You just wish they would get it. You wish someone would just get to the bottom of the problem in your complex marketing environment, and tell you precisely how it occurred, who’s responsible, and what needs to be done differently next time to ensure it doesn’t reoccur.

So, next time you decide to choose a service provider, make sure they have the right customer-centric support team that understand the big picture of your marketing program. They do the work for you, and actually look after you when things do go wrong.