HOW TO SET UP AND ORGANIZE YOUR
CUSTOMER MAILING LIST FOR OPTIMUM
RESULTS.
Your list of customers who have previously bought from you is your
most important asset. These are the customers who will provide you
with return business, which is more profitable than the first sale. But,
are you getting the most from your customer list? There are some
secrets you should know, so you can squeeze the most benefits out
of your mailing list.
Most business' customer lists consist of this information: Name,
Address, City, State, Zip. That's it. Unfortunately, this mailing list is
almost worthless. You need to have more information in your files
than just that. I have 32 information fields in my customer database!
You should be able to set these up in your computer's database, or,
if you don't use a computer (you REALLY should), all this
information should fit on a large size index card in a card file. Here
are the fields I have in my customer database:
LastName; FirstName; Title; Position;
CompanyName; Address1; Address2; City;
State; Zip; PerPhone; BusPhone; FaxPhone;
InqDate; ReferSource; FollowUp1; FollowUp2;
SubDate; SubAmount; RenewDate;
Purch1; Purch1Date; Purch1Amount; Purch2;
Purch2Date; Purch2Amount; Purch3; Purch3Date;
Purch3Amount; TotAmount; Comments; Cust#
The first 10 fields (reading across) should be self-explanatory.
Almost any address possible can be put into my database without
having to leave out information or abbreviate. The next three are for
phone numbers. You MUST have your customer's phone numbers,
when possible, to be able to follow up quickly and efficiently. Making
one phone call can be the difference between a big sale or NO
sale.
The InqDate field is where I record the date the customer first
inquired about my products and services, and the date I sent the
information, since it's always the same day (there's no excuse not to
follow up your inquiries on the same day you receive them). This
information, coupled with the ReferSource field, tells me when my
ads are hitting, and how quickly people are responding to them. If I
see that inquiries are coming in slowly, or long after the ad is out, I
know that I need more action incentives in my next ad. The
ReferSource field is where I enter the "key" from my ad. I use a
letter code after my street address to indicate which publication and
issue the inquiry comes from. I also code my mailings, for the same
reason.
I enter a date into the two FollowUp fields to indicate when I want to
send follow up literature to customers who don't order on the first try.
I usually put a date two weeks from the InqDate in FollowUp1, and
one two weeks later than that in FollowUp2. Then, every day, I run a
search on these two fields to pull up any records that have today's
date as a follow up date. I can then print labels and put them on the
envelopes and literature I have ready for follow ups.
I use the next three fields (SubDate, SubAmount, RenewDate) for
the newsletter I publish. These would have the date I receive their
subscription, the amount they paid (I sometimes run special prices),
and the date I want to send subscription renewal information
(usually 10 1/2 months from the SubDate). I can then print labels in
the same manner as I do for the FollowUp fields.
Next come the Purchase fields. I have three sets of purchase fields,
one for each purchase the customer makes. In the Purch1 field, I
enter a code for the product they have purchased. The other two
fields get the date and amount of the purchase. The second and
third sets of fields get the same information for the customer's
second and third purchases. The best customers to mail offers to
are the ones that have purchased within the last 90 days, so I don't
have to worry about many customers making more than three
purchases during that time period (though I hope they will!). If
someone does make a fourth purchase, I move the second and
third sets of data up to the first and second lines, and enter the new
purchase information in the third data set.
These fields are extremely important. I can instantly pull up a list of
customers that have purchased within the past 90 days, or 60 days,
or 30 days, or even 15 days. When you rent out your house mailing
list, like I do, this information is vital. The rental amount you can
charge increases as the amount of time since the customer's
purchase decreases.
The next field in my database is TotAmount, which contains a
formula to calculate the total dollar amount that the customer has
purchased from me to date.
The Comments field is used to store any miscellaneous information
about the customer that I think is important to know.
I use the final field, Cust#, for a specially coded customer number
that I assign each customer. I use this code to identify the recipient
of any commissions I may pay to customers who have brought
business my way.
That's a lot of information, and you may be wondering why I would
need all of that. Well, I've already told you how I use the purchase
data fields for identifying the "age" of the customers. I can also use
the TotAmount field to compile a list of customers who have bought
more than a certain amount from me. Together, these field
searches can be used to produce a customized mailing list of, for
example, customers who have bought more than $50 in the past 30
days. These would be the most responsive people to mail to, and
would render the highest rental rate of my customer list.
I can also use certain mailing list fields to identify people who
should be dropped from my list. For example, I can search for
customers with FollowUp2 dates that are four weeks past today's
date, and TotAmounts of zero. These customers could be erased
from my list. Or, I could leave them on file, and put a word or two in
the Comments field reminding me not to mail anything else to them,
in case they inquire again. This saves me the cost of mailing
something to someone who probably won't respond. They might,
but chances are they won't.
Finally, if I get a customer who has returned too many orders, or has
defrauded me in some way, I can put that information in the
Comments field. Then, if they order again, when their file comes up,
I will see their history, and can use extra caution with them.
As you can see, if you use foresight when initially setting up your
customer list, you will have a valuable tool that you can use to
increase your order potential, increase your income through
specialized list rental, and decrease your mailing costs by
eliminating "deadwood" from your list. This is one of the most
important methods you can use to increase your chances of
success.
Note: If you aren't currently using a computer, or you are, but you're
not sure of the best ways to use it in your business, send for the
"Mail Order Computer" report. It's not just for Mail Order
businesses; the information can be used by any business owner
interested in expanding his or her business by using a computer.
You'll also learn which computer setup is the best and most
economical for your business, if you don't have one yet. Send $8 to
Pat Flanagan Publishing & Design, 540 Imus, Mishawaka, IN
46545. Also, an excellent database program to use for maintaining
your mailing list is "File Express," which is also available for $8
from Pat Flanagan Publishing & Design.
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