Delivering Success
Are you stymied by a drop in responses on your latest direct mail programs? A little skeptical about the quantity mailed? Not getting all of your responses in a timely manner? Maybe it’s time for a review:
Mailing less pieces than ordered:
Tackle this possibility by demanding the “3602-XX Statement of Mailing” form provided by the delivering post office. This stamped and initialed form gives you the date-of-drop, number of pieces mailed, total postage costs and more. Oh yeah, no copies, demand the original.
Batching orders:
This means taking several client’s orders and combining them for mailing out in one drop. Good for them, bad for you. With this process, there's no way for you to get proof of your mailing program’s quantity.
Reselling your leads:
Unfortunately, this happens more frequently than you might think. How to prevent it? That’s a tough one. You can ask them not to and depend on the honor system or, better yet, get a written agreement stating that your responses will not be resold...ever.
Unbelievably low response rates:
Here, you have to be careful. There are several variables that can affect response rates including, but not limited to, seasonal factors, list criteria, mailer quality, text content, and more.
However, if you’re experiencing an unusually low response rate on a letter you’ve mailed before, it’s time to start asking some pointed questions:
1) A simple why? Maybe they know something you don’t.
2) Can they provide you with proof that all pieces ordered were mailed? The
“3602-XX” Statement of Mailing form would be nice.
3) Was the list criteria everything you asked for?...Ages, Incomes, etc.
4) Are they holding any responses back for any reason? Remarkably, some
companies will hold your leads for as long as 2 weeks, waiting for a
quantity large enough to ship. If so, tell them to knock it off...politely of course.
If answers to a low response rate seem hard to come by, it’s probably a good time to seek out other mailing companies. Having said that, occasionally, for no apparent reason, a program pulls a lousy response. Could be the mailman failed to deliver, could be luck-of-the-draw.
Whatever the reason, your mail house should give you some assurance that everything was done professionally and as you requested. Basically, what you paid for.
Wondering about low response?
Maybe it’s time for a closer look.