Direct Mail

2. Your Database

The quality of your database is the most critical element in achieving a good response rate.

2.1 It pays to create your own list.

The response rate will always be better than the response from any bought-in list.

• Your existing customers (if any) are always your best source of new orders and leads. Include a form when you mail them, asking if they know anyone else who might be interested in your services - incentivise this with an 'introduce a friend' offer.
• Ask suppliers and other business contacts about potential customers.
• Train staff to obtain full address details from telephone enquiries.
• Never throw away a name. Gather leads from customer lists, trade show visitors, responses to advertisements and warranty cards.

2.2 If you plan a significant volume of mailings, use database software (see 2.3 and 2.4).

• Small mailshots can be done using word processing software and spreadsheets.

2.3 Decide how much information you want to hold, and how to organise it, before choosing your database package.

Even a small specialised mail order business could have 50,000 names on file. A larger business could have ten times as many.

• You should include details such as telephone number and email address.
• Consider having a field for 'function', as well as a title.You could then run off a whole list (for example, 'finance'), rather than having to select by individual titles (eg 'finance director', 'accountant' and 'treasurer').
• You need to know when each name was last checked or amended.
• You need to know when you last mailed each name and how often the prospect has been approached in the last year.Regular mailing improves response, but duplicated mailings alienate customers.

2.4 Your database is one of the business' most valuable assets and must be managed.

• Data inputting must be checked and validated.
• The quality of the database declines unless it is regularly 'cleaned' and added to. Cleaning eliminates the names of 'returns' (letters returned to sender). Experts say an uncleaned list is unusable in three years. Many email addresses are out of date in six months.
• Consider including a reply-paid card in your mailshots, so your customers can confirm or amend their details.Always print a 'return to sender' address on the back of the envelope.
• Even if all 'returns' are eliminated immediately, the database should be checked regularly.

2.5 Make sure you comply with the Data Protection Act. For example, you cannot sell or exchange your customer mailing list without your customers' permission (see 6).