It's time to bring co-op administration back in house.
 
Good business strategy says to outsource business processes that are not core to your business. I personally am a big believer in outsourcing and always have been.
 
Of course, outsourcing is done when it's simply a matter of deciding whether to manage a business process in house, or to have someone else manage it.
 
However, business processes do evolve, especially with the introduction of innovative technology, at which point a company needs to re-evaluate their decision to insource or outsource.

One such business process that is ripe for evaluation is Marketing Co-op Administration. . .and I will venture to say, it's time to bring it back in house. Why? Several reasons.

• Co-op administration no longer requires a team of administrators pushing paper—Technology can be leveraged to reduce the operating expenses associated with co-op by 80%. Example - Balihoo has one client processing 4,000 claims and an $16M co-op program that is now run by one full-time internal administrator versus multiple people previously.
• Co-op administration Outsourcers are dinosaurs—They've been operating the same way for decades. Their utilization and innovation around technology is rudimentary, and most of their internal processes require paper pushing across aisles between call center agents, which limits real time access to information, is error prone and reduces visibility and flexibility.
• Outsource Co-op business model is mis-aligned—Co-op administration outsourcers are not incentivized to streamline co-op admin, or to reduce the number of claims submitted. They are instead incentivized based on claim volume and "touches" of a claim. This is not aligned with the goals of a national brand, or the goals of your channel partners.
• Visibility is Limited—Visibility into critical co-op functions, workflows, and results is limited using an outsourced co-op administrator.
• Reactive business decisions are impossible—Without automated co-op administration, a brand's channel marketing strategies are severely limited based on the business process of administering co-op. This is backwards! Brand's need the ability to immediately implement marketing strategies through their channels. Insourcing using technology provides Agility and Flexibility which are critical to success in a hyper competitive business environment.
• Automation improves Channel/Affiliate partner relationships—Automating co-op puts the power and information in the hands of your channel partners, and dramatically reduces the frustration your partners feel in working with co-op programs. Additionally, when your partners have to interact with your brand regarding co-op, it’s no longer a call into a staid call center. Instead it’s a conversation with an internal employee who uses powerful technology to resolve issues.

By leveraging technology, and insourcing co-op administration, brands can:

• Increase revenue
• Reduce operating expenses
• Increase the effectiveness of their channels
• Drive marketing strategies, and
• Turn co-op into a key competitive advantage

It’s time to put an end to the frustration and inefficiencies of outsourced co-op administration and welcome in an era of insourcing co-op administration on the back of powerful co-op administration software.