Nine Tips for Getting the Most Out of Your Housefile

9. Monitor Changes in Your List’s Size

Hochberg recommends looking at your buyer file by range of the customers’ last purchase date. Compare the customers who purchased in the last six months with those in the seven- to 12-month range and those in the 13- to 18-month range.

Explains Hochberg: “You can see the migration of customers through your file and thus predict how many names you might have available in each segment for future mailings. Be wary of declining 12-month files; mailing fewer catalogs will only continue the downward trend.”