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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.
