The first red flag appears. A service becomes incompatible with your system, or a call to your tech vendor's helpline goes unanswered. You shrug it off, but then it happens again, and problems mount. You wonder if it's you or them.

Tech vendors should provide products or services that take work off your plate. Yet even the most trusted tech relationship can have its challenges. Quickly recognizing when things start to go awry — and getting those things back on track — is critical to marketing growth and performance.

"It's uncommon for tech to 'go bad,' though that sometimes happens. More often, the platform no longer fits what you need it to do," says Tony Byrne, founder of martech advisory firm Real Story Group and co-author of The Right Way to Select Technology. "The vendor’s product roadmap has gone in a different direction that doesn’t match your needs, or your own requirements have evolved in a way that the vendor can no longer meet effectively."

How can you tell when to reevaluate a marketing tech relationship? Follow these signs shared by industry experts and what they say to do next.

Seek the source of the problem

Multiple times, you might realize — or at least suspect — a tool in your stack isn't a fit anymore. Interestingly, Tony says the first time may be right off the bat: "Enterprises that don't do their proper diligence and testing can immediately face a bad fit, and some platforms never get launched. It happens more often than you hear about."

Related:10+ Overlooked Tools To Improve Your MarTech Stack

It's not them, it's you

Buyer's remorse is a common cause of martech frustration. Given the accelerated pace of tech development, an appealing new option might emerge soon after you've painstakingly made a purchase. B2B marketing agency Inbox Insight reports that over half of B2B buyers shop for new vendors because a new product is more "feature-rich" than what they have. Over half also point to "poor integration" with their tech stack as another reason. 

"A firm will drop a platform because it's too big and complicated, rather than not rich enough," says Adam Wagner, chief operating officer at the creative agency Raindrop. "You realize you bought a semi-truck when really what your content team needs is a Mini Cooper."

Vendor priorities or directions change

Other red flags are vendor-specific, such as a merger or acquisition, a strategy shift, or broader industry-related circumstances. Tony suggests being wary when a vendor significantly shifts its development roadmap: "They will still try to hang on to older customers, but it's clear their eyes are looking forward in another direction."

Related:Should You Prioritize Speed or Agility? (No, They Aren’t the Same)

Tony notes that this challenge occurs more often with younger, venture capital-fueled firms. However, it can also happen when an established vendor deprioritizes a product or service in favor of others in its portfolio. "[They] decide it's too much of a hassle to support the platform and 'sunset' it, which is a quaint way of saying that they plan to euthanize it," he says.

On the opposite side of the spectrum, the company may stop innovating. Tony calls these "zombie vendors" and says, "In a SaaS world, they can stay undead for a long time."

Challenges also arise due to unforeseen circumstances. For example, the vendor might leave the market, forcing you to reconvene your buying committee. Some tell-tale signs of a vendor in trouble: "They cut way back on support to stay profitable, they stop meeting their roadmap targets, or they stop hosting user meetings," Tony says.

Determine the best course of action

No matter the cause, the decision to replace a tool in your stack can feel intimidating. Yet, if you take these steps to evaluate your options, you'll be more confident that you're moving in the right direction.

Get clear about the issue

You can't fix a problem without understanding its causes and effects. Investigate what's changed, why, and how it's impacting your business.

"It's important to assess the situation by looking at what's no longer working," says Derek Flanzraich, founder of Healthyish Content, a health content and SEO agency. For him, a price hike that doesn't make a return on the investment can signal misalignment.

You might also need to dig into what's happening behind the scenes with the vendor and the broader marketplace. Katie Breaker, sales director at BirdieBall Golf, which designs and sells golf training aids, went down this path when the CRM they were using showed that their returning user numbers had dropped, and no one knew why. "Turns out the rules behind the data had changed. That threw off our paid media plan. We switched platforms to regain control over reporting," she says.

Instigate conversations

The Inbox Insight's report shares that 42% of buyers say poor customer service is a reason to seek alternatives. So, when you need help from the vendor, pay attention to the interaction. Sometimes, you need an open conversation with the vendor about what's working and what isn't.

Edward White, head of growth at newsletter platform beehiiv, uses this metric: "We've had to evaluate vendors [in] mid-growth sprints, and the question we always ask is, 'Does this tool still serve our growth velocity?' If not, we either open a candid discussion with the vendor or plan a migration. Waiting too long is almost always more expensive."

Come to the vendor conversation with data that shows the issue, ask questions on how the vendor can solve the problem, and give a clear timeline on how long you will wait for the solutions.

If a vendor is responsive, adaptive, and working hard to fix the issue, it might be worth sticking with them and looking for short-term ways to supplement the tech's capabilities.

Of course, you also don't have to rely only on your vendor conversations alone. "Keep in touch with peers using the platform. You shouldn't have to bail out often, but you never want to be the last customer to jump ship," Tony says.  

Compare notes and ask questions, such as:

By having those external conversations, you can better assess the vendor's situation. But don't stop your research yet.

Accept, compromise, and adapt

Of course, not all vendor conversations result in easy resolutions. When that is the case, the simplest approach may be to adapt around the problem.

It might involve optimizing other tools in your tech stack to close a workflow gap or reassigning team responsibilities to solve the problem manually. But these methods would likely be a temporary bandage — something you’d use while searching for a longer-term solution.

How do you know if they’re worth considering? Riley Westbrook, co-owner of Valor Coffee, who handles its back-end B2B setup, has a strategy. He watches to see if his team is creating "quiet workarounds," such as rebuilding system dashboards in Google Sheets to overcome a buggy or slow platform.

If you see that, ask your team what it would take to get their processes back up to speed. If the adjustments involve building a small tool, chart, or sheet, it is an easy fix. But if they need to build robust systems, explore other tech options.

Nirav Chheda, co-founder and CEO of software company Bambi, used a similar research strategy when a core piece of software fell behind the team's evolving operations. "The first step we took was to talk to the people closest to the problem, like our frontline managers and power users. We wanted to understand if the issue was with how we were using the technology or if we had simply outgrown its utility," he says.

Riley says, "A tool might keep up during slow periods but fails when volume increases. We once had a system that froze during bulk actions."

Another potential problem is sticking with a vendor that fails to innovate. It can create major bottlenecks down the road. "When they aren't keeping up with new tech (like AI advancements or automation), you're essentially left doing the work yourself, which pulls focus from your core business," Derek warns.

Move on

If your vendor relationship has remained strong despite intermittent tech issues, consider asking if they offer a more robust solution as an upgrade. You can also explore third-party add-ons to gain needed capabilities without fully replacing the current system.

Be critical and careful when exploring this option to ensure the add-ons offer a permanent solution, not just a temporary bandage. To gauge this, ask questions like:

In Nirav's case, the necessary resolution — breaking up with the vendor — revealed itself. The team mapped the friction points and tested quick interventions, such as retraining staff, cleaning up their configuration, and streamlining internal processes to match the technology's strengths.

"We gave ourselves two weeks to see if these tweaks improved adoption and outcomes. When they didn't, that gave us the clarity to move on without second-guessing," Nirav says, noting that setting a timeframe for the assessment was essential.

Edward shares another sign that it's time to end the relationship. "One of the biggest red flags I've seen is when your team starts spending more time fighting the tool than using it," he says. "If people are building internal spreadsheets, manually tagging things that should be automated, or avoiding certain features altogether, you're losing speed and morale. That's when the real cost is the time you're wasting and the opportunities you miss."

Derek recalls a situation where moving on from the vendor was the best option. "We were using a content distribution platform that couldn't keep up with our demand for complex reporting and integrations," he says. "After discussing the issues with the vendor and exploring options internally, we moved to a more robust solution. It wasn't an easy transition, but it was necessary to support our growth."

With the right approach, you stand to gain critical efficiencies and new capabilities — including those unavailable in the last tech purchase. As Adam attests, "We dumped a reporting platform mid-campaign after they got acquired and support vanished. The switch [to a new solution] was painful, but it gave us more control and cleaner insights. Lesson: Act fast when performance dips — it rarely rebounds," he says.

When you make a switch, be ready for the learning curve at a time when your tech issues have already slowed your processes. However, remember that rushing through the matchmaking process can result in the same problems.

Prepare for what's next

Your best course of action depends on your operating constraints — budget, bandwidth, or business priorities. Knowing what to expect and what steps to take in response will help minimize disruptions to your marketing team and their workflows.

Whether you decide to break up, make up, or make do with the vendor relationship you have, you'll likely experience some hiccups in the process. But progress rarely comes without a cost. Thoughtfully weighing your options and acting is a positive sign that your marketing team is well-positioned for growth and greater success.

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