Print Plus: Mine Web-Generated Catalog Requests With Extreme Care

1. Confirm by e-mail. Approximately 60 percent of the catalogs confirmed my request immediately by e-mail. It's a nice touch and, frankly, very important for the requestor to receive an e-mail response acknowledging the request. Let requestors know when to expect the catalog in their mailboxes.
2. Plug the Web site. Encourage prospects to go to your Web site until their catalogs arrive.
3. Process inquiries promptly. Don't wait until someone "can get to them."
4. Fulfill inquiries via USPS First Class mail, or use a "preferred" catalog request fulfillment company, not a lettershop. For example, The Mail Group delivers catalogs in three to 11 days — 50 percent are in-home within seven days, 90 percent within 10 days.
5. Thank the prospect for the inquiry with a label on the front cover (a dot whack) or a special ink-jet 
message next to the address block. This increases conversion rates.
6. Consider making a special offer, such as free shipping or a dollar amount off orders for first-
time purchasers.
7. Include a source code on every catalog — it's difficult to capture online without a matchback.
8. Remail nonconverting inquiries at least three times, or however many times is cost-effective.

Initial conversion rates for inquiries are typically 2 percent to 5 percent. Remailing nonconverting 
inquiries one, two or even three times often yields an additional 1 percent to 3 percent. That compares favorably with the 1 percent to 2 percent response rate of typical rented lists.