Managing Your Company’s Housefile
1. Bounce-back catalogs. Always, without exception, include a catalog with each outgoing order. Bounce-back catalogs should be packed on top of the order so that they are the first thing customers see when they open their package. By doing this, you reach “hotline buyers”—that is, buyers who have recently purchased—the moment they receive their order. Even though they have just made a purchase, they are likely to buy again. As mentioned, recency of purchase is the most important criterion in the RFM model. Moreover, it is likely that the buyer will give the catalog to a neighbor or a friend. From a cost standpoint, bounce-back catalogs are efficient because they require no additional postage. The table on page 97 shows the actual, unadjusted results of a few consumer catalog companies that use this method, as compared to the results received from stand-alone house-file mailings and prospect lists.
- Companies:
- Lett Direct Inc.
Steve Lett graduated from Indiana University in 1970 and immediately began his 50-year career in Direct Marketing; mainly catalogs.
Steve spent the first 25 years of his career in executive level positions at both consumer and business-to-business companies. The next 25 years have been with Lett Direct, Inc., the company Steve founded in early 1995. Lett Direct, Inc., is a catalog and internet consulting firm specializing in circulation planning, plan execution, analysis and digital marketing (Google Premier Partner).
Steve has served on the Ethics Committee of the Direct Marketing Association (DMA) and on a number of company boards, both public and private. He served on the Board of the ACMA. He has been the subject of two Harvard Business School case studies. He is the author of a book, Strategic Catalog Marketing. Steve is a past Chairman of both the Catalog Council and Business Mail Council of the DMA. He spent a few years teaching Direct Marketing at Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana.
You can contact Steve at stevelett@lettdirect.com.
