As an example, a $500 Grocery incentive will cost you $10 when 99% of your customers are not able to claim their incentive offer. If your brand endorses this type of customer experience, then you’ve found the right provider. If it doesn’t, keep reading.

Sadly, there are many promotional fulfillment companies that are unreliable and possibly even unethical. As with the selection of any supplier partner, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure – and that prevention comes in the form of due diligence. Due diligence can be as simple as “Googling” the company or website name and any other word that serves as a red flag e.g., Attorney General, BBB, ripoff, bankruptcy, scam.

For instance, Continental Promotion Group, a billion dollar public company, filed for Chapter 11 protection in November of 2008 with millions of dollars in outstanding rebates in jeopardy of not being fulfilled. This had an adverse impact on such name brand companies such as ATT, Staples, Amazon, and Home Depot. Most would agree, in hindsight, they could have predicted the situation. Accounts receivable collections intensify while accounts payable payments drag out.

And this occurred with a large publicly traded company with visible and verified financial statements. What if business information on your supplier partner isn’t readily available? What is the information that is available is negative?

As a second example, a Florida company that markets under many different websites and brands, most notably www.freebiegas.com, and is under investigation by Attorney Generals in several states. Click here to learn more about the Florida Attorney General’s investigation of the owner, Tidewater Marketing Consultants. A cursory review of their Better Business Bureau rating would have raised serious concerns about this company. Several online forums dedicated to tracking poor and fraudulent service would have provided additional warnings to any prospective buyer.

In summary, and in Latin, caveat emptor. Unfortunately, there are few laws to protect B2B buyers, and it is very difficult for the Attorney General to prosecute unethical business operators. Otherwise the real business cost of your promotion may increase 100x.

Mpell Solutions is an A-rated BBB company. We have dozens of stellar references from Fortune 500 companies. Call us today to learn how we can boost your advertising response and conversion rates while you can feel secure about the integrity of your business partner.