Strategy: Maximizing Outside List Performance

You can maximize outside list performance by increasing response and/or your average order size (AOS). I prefer to focus on improving the response rate because it yields a greater number of new buyers, thus growing your 12-month buyer file faster.

Don’t be concerned with trying to increase the AOS to prospects. A deliberate attempt to increase the AOS often results in a lower response rate. When prospecting, you want to maximize the response rate and add as many new buyers to your housefile as possible. The chart shows the advantage of increasing the response rate as opposed to the AOS.