10 Proven Ways to Increase Your Outside List Performance

10. Consider seasonality. Know when to prospect. But better yet, know when not to prospect. Only fish when the fish are biting! Don’t prospect in the off-season if you want to maximize the RPC. The highest response will be achieved during the holiday season. Your fall results will be 70 percent to 75 percent of your holiday results. Spring is 65 percent of holiday and the slower summer months equal 60 percent of holiday. Say a list generates a response rate of 1.88 percent and $1.17 RPC during the holidays. Assume our incremental break-even point is $1.00 per book. The response rate for this list in summer will be approximately 1.13 percent with an RPC of 70 cents per book — way below our break-even point. We can prospect this list above the break-even point during the holiday season. If we use the same list in summer, expect an incremental loss. «