Ask most companies what the response rate to the mailings they send out is and they’ll generally be able to give you a very accurate figure. Probably down to several decimal points. So out of 100,000 mailings to potential customers they’ll know that say 0.758% took them up on the offer. And they’ll know that they beat their target of say 0.7%. So in this example they’ve gained an extra 758 customers. Time to break out the champagne!
They’ll also have a very accurate picture of how much it cost to send the mailings out. They’ll know what the anticipated revenue from those customers who decided to buy will be. They’ll therefore be able to calculate the profit they’re going to make as a result.
And from what they’ve learned from this they’ll be able to fine tune and adapt the next mail-shot.
This is a business with its finger on the pulse. Right?
Wrong.
This is a business in trouble.
This is a business that knows nothing about the 99,242 potential customers who failed to respond to the mailing.
This is a business that has no idea how many of those potential customers it’s just pissed off with its (probably) impersonal and irrelevant mailing.
This is a business that has no idea how many of those pissed off potential customers have vowed never to buy from the business because of how naff its advertising is.
This is a business that’s probably losing customers as fast as it gains them.
This is a business that's probably competing almost entirely on price.
This is a business that’s become trapped in the way it does things.
This is a business that can’t see past the end of its short-term nose.
Is your business like this?.