Nine Tips for Two-step Acquisitions

With two-step acquisition, the broad advertising net usually was cast in a trade magazine, and prospective customers replied by phone. Tracking costs for such acquisitions was simple, as the choices for the first step seemed finite, and the conversion meant loyal, long-term customers.

In merely one step, it's exceedingly difficult to specifically target the right prospect with the right offer at the right time. Engaging the prospective customer and determining what offer is right takes at least two steps. The intricacy isn't found in the steps; it's found in calculating the return on investment (ROI). Why? Too often for business-to-business (b-to-b) catalogers, the trick is to identify where the customer originated or, said differently, which "step two" was the purchasing motivator. The tougher question asks which combination of steps was most successful.