Strategy: When Prospects Aren’t Buying

7. Check datacards for your continuations. If the list owner’s zero-to-12-month file is shrinking, this could be an advanced warning that list performance also will decline. Your outside list performance depends on the strength of the files you’re using.

8. For new tests, check the zero-to-six-month count as a percentage of the zero-to-12-month count. If it’s more than 50 percent, the list owners most likely are prospecting at a healthy level. If it’s less than 50 percent, they’re probably not prospecting a lot. Test lists from companies that have new-to-file names.