Your company would be best served having the email strategy partner retained, at least on a minor basis, for a few months after the initial project is completed. While most email consulting firms should help articulate or clarify any of the information they assembled after projection completion, the client will often find a deeper follow up is needed.

For example, if part of the project had actionable items on how to improve your open rates, you may want to keep the firm on retainer to help implement tests and ensure that their findings are accurately put into practice.

Don’t let a 50-page document end up in a file that collects only dust. You paid good money for someone to dig deep into your email program. Even if it uncovers some flaws, get to work and use that information to make your email program even better in 2007.