Jim answers questions from fellow Drillers
(More questions with answers here, Work Overview here, Index of concepts here)
Topic Overview
Hi again folks, Jim Novo here.
This time, a Real World question from a practitioner who wants to prove to management they have to spend less to make more money. Spend less to make more? How could that be, and what kind of person would want to go down this road? A real world Driller, of course …
Q: I’m a “long time listener, first time caller,” and a big fan of your site and your approach to data-driven marketing. I also have two copies of your book – one was not enough.
A: Well, thanks for your kind words. I love the talk radio reference, that is so funny. Never though about it like that, but makes perfect sense! Glad to know I’m actually helping people with the book too.
Q: I have a question relating to some work I am doing now with our best customers that other users of your site may have.
I work for a medium sized DTC company selling skincare products (high margin) via space ads, direct mail, and online. Our best customer “Gold Club” has about 8000 members at the moment, although members are being promoted and demoted all the time.
According to my initial analysis, if a member does not purchase a product for more than 60 days, the chances are that they are defecting. I would like to attempt to bring them back with an offer, and leave those that don’t reply for at least 6 months for a deeply discounted “kickstart” offer (although the logistics of sending out very small mailings are a pain.)
A: This is a common and logical approach, particularly for “renewable products.” You don’t say what the product is, but if it is “typical” skincare product, it has a sales cycle very tightly tied to product use. In this case, Latency usually makes more sense to use than Recency as the primary trigger for a campaign.
Continue reading When Do Former Best Customers Become a Lost Cause?