Curve Your Enthusiasm

Typically, orders start flowing in seven to 10 days after the initial mail date based on a normal five-day mail distribution pattern. If the initial mail date is Dec. 31, the first week for orders would be Jan. 14. Some orders will start showing up toward the end of the prior week, but Jan. 14, in my example, would mark the first “full” week of order flow and the first week of the revenue/order forecast. Therefore, this is the week you want to start forecasting order volumes.