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PRESIDENT'S CORNER
Why Outsource Circulation Management?
By John Lenser, President
We were recently retained by a mid-sized company to perform circulation management services and evaluate their marketing programs. During the initial visit the CEO remarked, "Why would a company our size use an outside firm for circulation management rather than hiring an internal staff?” For the answer to that question and more, Learn more...
FEATURE ARTICLE
Activate Your New Buyers
By Bill Nicolai, Senior Partner
So often when I visit a company I am asked the question, “How do I reactivate my older buyers?” After advising clients on direct marketing for over 20 years, I have come to the conclusion that this question reveals a deep-seated misconception about how direct marketing works. And though I know how to best accomplish what the client asks, I now generally refuse to answer the question the client poses. Instead I point them to the more important issue—how to create a customer in the first place.
“Ridiculous,” you say. “I’ve already created my customers by various means—inquiry conversion, DM prospecting, internet search-originating purchase, etc. And now that I’ve gotten my customer, I continue to contact them until they grow old and need reactivation.” Wrong, I say! Though someone has made a purchase from you, they are not yet your customer. To understand this seeming contradiction, Learn more...
CASE STUDY
Can Joining a Co-op Database Actually Hurt Your Own Buyer File Response and Loyalty?
By Jude Hoffner, Director of Circulation, Business-to-Consumer Markets
As direct marketers, most of us are familiar with the “best-customer” protection policy at co-ops such as Abacus and NextAction. Occasionally here at LENSER, we see clients who are reluctant to join despite this policy. “I don’t want to give away my customers,” is the reason we most often hear. This isolationist approach limits growth strategies, and raises marketing costs by leaving individual list rentals as the only avenue for marketing to prospective customers. But for all the qualitative arguments in favor of joining a co-op, what evidence is there that your buyer file productivity is not diminished by exposing your customers to other catalog offers? Well, we’ve got some for you. Read on...
CIRCULATION TIP
By Michelle Houston, Vice President, Circulation and Client Services
One of the critical decisions in writing merge instructions is to decide on suppression rules for the housefile and prospect names. This usually brings up the question: “Do you allow one catalog per household or one catalog per person in the household?” Read on...
CREATIVE TIP
Great Product Photography Made Easy
By Carol Worthington-Levy, Creative Partner
It’s been my observation as I speak to clients that most are not thrilled with their photography efforts. Often they are nonplussed because the images are not as crisp or bright as they’d like. Some know that their product can look better but they just can’t figure out how to make that happen. If this is true for you, you may be missing some essential members of a solid photography team. Read on...
multichannel TIP
By Todd Miller, Director of Circulation, Business-to-Business Markets
Successful business-to-business direct marketers are leveraging and integrating multiple order channels in ways that are distinctly different from those operating in the business-to-consumer sector. Identifying and reaching key decision makers, even in small companies, can be exceptionally challenging. Read on...
CLIENT HIGHLIGHT—EDMUND SCIENTIFIC
Amateur photographer Norman W. Edmund turned to an order-by-mail advertisement to find a specialized lens he needed for his hobby back in 1942. But finding the right lens proved difficult enough that Edmund was encouraged to place his own advertisement offering specialty lenses in a photography magazine. The lenses sold out almost immediately and the Edmund Salvage Company was born. Read more...
EMPLOYEE SPOTLIGHT—MICHELLE FARABAUGH
Michelle Farabaugh, LENSER Partner, first met Bill Nicolai over 15 years ago when he interviewed her for one of his consulting clients, State Line Tack. “He didn’t know me, but quickly realized I had the same passion and drive to make this business work as he did. A few years later he introduced me to John and John was kind enough to share his experience and thoughts so that I could shorten the learning curve,” says Michelle. “When a recruiter called him looking for someone to run the West Marine direct business, John gave him my name. The rest, shall we say, is history.” Read more...
AFFILIATE FOCUS—TMS CALL CENTERS
We frequently recommend outsourcing call center functions for smaller clients who are growing fast, start-ups, seasonal or promotion-driven flow and 24/7 overflow for our larger clients. And more importantly, it is critical to have an overflow facility that can take calls should a disaster occur locally or nationally. In the past few years, we have had several clients experience call center shutdowns due to weather or accidents. Proper preparedness for these events is necessary in today’s world. Learn more...
NEWS BRIEF
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The LENSER Summit plays a vital role in the ongoing education and professional development of our clients, and this year's event will be even bigger and better than last year’s. The conference provides a forum for top management to discuss issues they believe are of paramount importance to their business, as well as to hear the latest on industry best practices.
This year’s featured topic is highlighted by a five-part presentation entitled, “Incorporating Your multichannel Marketing Programs Effectively,” led by LENSER Partners Michelle Farabaugh, Al Bessin, Carol Worthington-Levy and Vice President of Circulation and Client Services, Michelle Houston. Attendees will learn the benefits of building multichannel marketing strategies, effectively incorporating consistent brand messaging in your creative and understanding different channel challenges, all of which will transform your business model—and increase profits.
And there’s more! John Lenser, President, and Bill Nicolai, Senior Partner, will offer presentations on many of the major relevant issues you will face in the next year. On day two, Geoff Wolf, LENSER Partner, will present “Merchandising: The Secrets of Power Vendor Negotiations,” followed by twelve roundtables covering subjects such as internet marketing, creative strategy, fulfillment systems, business-to-business issues, merchandising, and operations.
Don’t miss this information packed two-day event! We look forward to seeing you!
For more details, please contact Michele Salmon at 415.446.2500, ext 211 or email her at michele.salmon@lenser.com. - This month we welcome A.G. Russell, Smith+Noble and Golfsmith to our family of clients.
PRESIDENT'S CORNER
Why Outsource Circulation Management?
By John Lenser, President
We were recently retained by a mid-sized company to perform circulation management services and evaluate their marketing programs. During the initial visit, the CEO remarked, "Why would a company our size use an outside firm for circulation management rather than hiring an internal staff?” Well, one reason was evident—we were there because the client had been experiencing turnover in their circulation department.
At present, there is a very real shortage of qualified circulation managers and a huge amount of movement between companies. In addition to the natural recruiting efforts between catalog companies, top circulation managers are also being recruited by e-commerce companies and leading retailers. Unfortunately, such turnover can cause disruption, loss of history, and in some cases, disastrous results. In contrast, outsourcing provides staff redundancy, supervision, and stability, with none of the employment, training, or other human resource issues that hiring internally requires.
Second, a firm that specializes in circulation management can provide "state of the art" services. Over and over again, when we initially review a client's existing program, we find that many circulation practices are inadequate or out of date. Often the most basic techniques are not being used properly, let alone the more advanced circulation approaches that LENSER has developed. Unfortunately, there is no certification program for circulation managers; the competence level of circulation managers is across the spectrum. To compound this, management often lacks the explicit experience to evaluate a candidate’s qualification or on-going performance.
In addition, stand-alone circulation managers or departments are intrinsically at a disadvantage because of their limited learning environment. They lack the extensive initial and in-service training that occurs in a larger organization. Instead of three or four marketing cycles per year typical in a most catalog companies, staff at LENSER is exposed to the results of hundreds of client campaigns generating a much faster learning curve. Vendors who may make an occasional visit to a stand-alone client spend extensive time with our staff making sure that we are aware of the latest industry developments. In short, a firm specializing in circulation management can ensure that circulation practices are "on the cutting edge” and are consistently applied, resulting in the highest response rates possible.
Third, outsourcing costs a fraction of the expense of a stand-alone circulation staff. Competent circulation managers, depending on the market, demand significant salaries. For most clients, fielding just one circulation manager with benefits, supervision, and administrative support can double this amount. Outsourcing allows multiple firms to share the cost of this expertise, thus significantly reducing their expense for superior services.
Finally, a firm such as LENSER usually has other services and in-house talent that can be applied when needed. For example, at LENSER every account has a partner assigned who has been a founder or CMO in multiple highly successful direct marketing companies. They are there to make sure that all the issues that affect the success of our clients are addressed, from merchandising and operations to creative and e-commerce.
Today at LENSER, we have over 60 companies, both large and small, that have retained LENSER to perform their day-to-day circulation management. We believe that this number will grow as more companies appreciate the huge advantages that result from outsourcing. Even with those who desire their own in-house staff, we strongly urge that they retain LENSER to train their staff, ensure that there is proper on-going oversight and that the best marketing practices are infused into their organization on a consistent basis.FEATURE ARTICLE
Activate Your New Buyers
By Bill Nicolai, Senior Partner
So often when I visit a company I am asked the question, “How do I reactivate my older buyers?” After advising clients on direct marketing for over 20 years, I have come to the conclusion that this question reveals a deep-seated misconception about how direct marketing works. And though I know how to best accomplish what the client asks, I now generally refuse to answer the question the client poses. Instead, I point them to the more important issue—how to create a customer in the first place.
“Ridiculous,” you say. “I’ve already created my customers by various means—inquiry conversion, DM prospecting, internet search-originating purchase, etc. And now that I’ve gotten my customer, I continue to contact them until they grow old and need reactivation.” Wrong, I say! Though someone has made a purchase from you, they are not yet your customer. To understand this seeming contradiction, read on.
Hodgson’s Law
Twenty-five years ago, when listening to a presentation from catalog guru Dick Hodgson, I heard him say, “You don’t really have a customer until they have made their second purchase.” At the time, I dismissed his statement as the ramblings of an old marketing hack, but now that I have been in the DM trenches for over thirty-five years, I know how profound his statement was.
Though Dick passed away earlier this year, I’d like to convey to all LENSER clients the significance of his statement, which has become doubly important in this new era where the majority of customers come to us with some element of internet involvement. The implication of his principle is that the most important thing to do once you have a new buyer is to get that second order. When that is accomplished, you truly have a customer. Until that is done, you only have someone who has tried your products and service, not someone who regularly buys. A recent study with one of my clients revealed the significance of this fact.
In this client’s case, the 3x high-dollar multi-buyers, who comprised only 15% of the active buyer file, were making 50% of the purchases. Most companies will find similar ratios. This means that a critical element of the marketing process is to get that second order. Most companies simply put a one-time buyer into the hopper and feed them the usual regularly-spaced diet of catalogs and emails until they either make another purchase or fall off the bottom of the segmentation and have to be considered for reactivation. The marketing people at the company note that all the intervening contacts are profitable and consider that sufficient. But this approach actually squanders the most important and susceptible opportunity to create a truly valuable customer—immediately after the first purchase.
Anoop’s Conjecture
Some years ago in a conversation with Anoop Cherian, Circulation Director for Anthropologie, he told me of an idea he had. Since recency makes for better response, maybe the buyers who buy soonest after getting a catalog are better than those who wait. So he tested that concept and sure enough, those first buyers were far stronger in performance than those who waited.
Nicolai’s Principle
Recently I have been suggesting that my clients take advantage of the above truths by creating special marketing programs to quickly convert new-to-file buyers into these very valuable frequent multi-buyers. The method involves a special stepped-up schedule of marketing contacts to take place immediately after a customer places his/her first order (or subsequent order) with intent to increase the velocity of the customer’s cash flow to the retailer and to build a dominant share of wallet.
This method is abundantly profitable due to the implications of another significant fact—the very best customers, such as the recent multi-buyers, have a vanishingly low marketing cost. In a recent client study we found that the customers who yield 50% of the direct sales are consuming only 1% of the total marketing budget. It is in promoting to this relatively small group of individuals that a company will get its highest return on additional marketing expenditures.
Now the Internet
It has been frequently observed that internet-originated buyers coming from search, affiliate, or banner ad programs show a lower lifetime value than those who originate from catalog mailings. The conclusion many draw from this is to segregate these buyers and not send them catalogs.
A countervailing observation is that once someone is a true two-channel buyer, they subsequently buy much more than a buyer who has only purchased from one channel. The upshot of these facts is that it is most valuable to convert an internet buyer into a catalog, email, or store buyer as quickly as possible.
This does two things: 1) it makes them a two-time buyer and they now meet Hodgson’s definition of a true customer, and 2) it also frequently makes them a multichannel responder, which magnifies their value. So the answer to the issue of whether to mail the lower value internet-originating customers is not to ignore them—but to move them up the customer file value chain. The implication of Anoop’s Conjecture and subsequent observation is that this had better be done very soon after their order to maximize the effect of their improved RFM status.
So do not ignore the seemingly less valuable new buyers who come to you via the internet—instead use your multichannel marketing capabilities to quickly turn them into highly valuable multichannel frequent buyers.
THE FALSE PREMISE and Why Reactivating Old Buyers Doesn’t Work
When asked to reactivate old, worn out, non-responding buyers, the usual suggestions are to offer a discount such as money off, a gift with purchase, or free shipping. Another approach is to give them the old “buy or die” threat of cutting off their catalogs. The problem with giving a discount or free shipping is that you’ve now selected from the non-responding buyers the few who will respond to money-losing, unprofitable promotions. And subsequently, they usually require such a promotion to buy again. As a result, most companies who take this route continuously waste money on these old buyers. And this comes after they have already spent many times the total profits gained from a purchase long ago. My advice is, “Bring them back without a discount or just let ‘em go.”
At LENSER, we identify those older buyers who are still buying in the marketplace by innovative strategies in the merge and by making extensive use of optimization with the co-op databases. When these older buyers are back in the market, our normal prospecting tools will find them.
HOW TO ACTIVATE
The conventional pattern
Here is a graphic that illustrates the normal pattern of promoting to a buyer, new or old, once they order:
This is the schedule typically observed in a conventional catalog company. Some companies may send a couple of emails in between, but these typically have low response. For such a schedule, the package stuffer will typically get a .5% response and the first catalog may yield 4.5%, for a total 5% conversion of a recent buyer. Since this is a very profitable contact pattern, the typical company thinks no further and only becomes concerned a couple of years later when the buyers who haven’t repurchased become unprofitable to mail. At this point they begin to miss the water, but the well has already gone dry.
The Stepped-Up Schedule to Bind a Buyer
Here is a graphic that illustrates a new strategy of promoting a buyer, new or old, once they order:
The additional contacts yield sales as follows:
- Ship confirmation: no response, sets the stage
- Thank you email with recommendation: 1% (higher than normal due to custom content)
- Order stripping catalog: this is a mailing to all of the previous week’s buyers. It typically yields 3% response
- Four more emails for 2% total.
- A hotline catalog mailing. This is obtained by adding all the new orders into the very next mailing, post-merge. It typically gets 4% response.
The simple program outlined here is by no means the maximum effort that can be made to take advantage of the opportunity. This program assumes use of already existing marketing pieces and simply deploys them in a more profitable fashion. LENSER has designed marketing programs for several of our clients that amplify the result by using special marketing pieces for recent buyers.
THE RESULT
Note that adding these additional contacts means the total response is now tripled to 15% from the same 12-week time frame of contacts. Since all these contacts are wildly profitable, the marketing expense is negligible. And there are three times as many high-responding new buyers that meet both Hodgson’s and Anoop’s criteria. The astounding result is that by going after response while these new buyers are hot, we have almost tripled the customer value of the buyers we generated by the prospecting effort that created the initial purchase. It is so much more satisfying (and profitable) to quickly create such super buyers, than to sit and wait a couple years for the response to dry up.
CASE STUDY
Can Joining a Co-op Database Actually Hurt Response and Loyalty?
By Jude Hoffner, Director of Circulation, Business-to-Consumer Markets
As direct marketers, most of us are familiar with the “best-customer” protection policy at co-operative databases such as Abacus and NextAction. In short, any buyers on your file who are unique to you and only you will not be included in any prospect universe rented by competitors—or anyone else in the co-op for that matter. Combined with the favorable cost structure and acceptable performance verified through testing, this policy is usually enough to convince catalog companies to join and contribute their data, thereby adding more names and data to the co-op. So it is that the co-ops grow in size, produce stronger models, and on it goes.
Occasionally here at LENSER we see clients who are reluctant to join despite this policy. “I don’t want to give away my customers,” is the reason we most often hear. This isolationist approach limits growth strategies, and raises marketing costs by leaving individual list rentals as the only avenue for marketing to prospective customers. But for all the qualitative arguments in favor of joining a co-op, what evidence is there that your buyer file productivity is not diminished by exposing your customers to other catalog offers? Well, we’ve got some for you.
We recently set out to quantify the impact on a LENSER client’s buyer file of joining a co-op database. The client was reluctant to join, so we designed a test and settled on taking a random Nth of the buyer file and contributing just those as a compromise. The goal was to test a few co-op prospect models while verifying that the cost of accessing these prospects didn’t come at the expense of buyer response.
Of the buyers who were contributed, we isolated those who matched to the co-op database as active mail order buyers from multiple titles, and tracked their response value during the life of our catalog offer, approximately a 6-month period. The measurements were orders and sales per customer.
The chart below shows that over the 6-month period during which these buyers were receiving our offer (and presumably our competition’s), those who had been contributed to the co-op were approximately 15% more responsive than an average customer. Sales per customer were 16% higher than average, which tells us that in addition to ordering more frequently, they were spending more per order, as well, if only by a little bit.
Since the prospect models we tested performed at or above acceptable levels, the test confirmed that we can target responsive universes for growth while sacrificing nothing in buyer file performance by joining a co-op.
So what does this case study tell us? Quantitatively, it tells us that while contributing your buyer data to a co-op as a condition for renting models is necessary, it is not a necessary evil. You may consider a customer unique to you worthy of special treatment by virtue of their perceived fidelity to your brand, but as a marketer you do so at your own peril by protecting those who do not reciprocate the “loyalty.” These data sets also show that exposing customers to more offers results in more buying activity, not less.
Finally, this study reminds us that at the end of the day, it’s not the uniqueness of your buyers that increases response rates, it’s the uniqueness of your offer. By setting yourself apart from your competition, you can leverage the benefits of the competitive marketplace. When the tide rises, so do all the boats. The challenge is setting your offer apart from the others.CIRCULATION TIP
By Michelle Houston, Vice President, Circulation and Client Services
One of the critical decisions in constructing merge instructions is to decide on suppression rules for the housefile and prospect files. This usually means deciding whether to allow one catalog per household or one catalog per person in the household. The answer really depends on the performance of your buyer and other housefiles; however, our rule of thumb, if your service bureau can achieve it, is to mail the 0-12 month buyer file at the individual level and 13+ buyers and prospects at the household level. Who cares if John Doe and Jane Doe live at the same address? If they both made an individual purchase during the last twelve months, then they are each worthy of receiving an individual catalog.
CREATIVE TIP
Great Product Photography Made Easy
By Carol Worthington-Levy, Creative Partner
It’s been my observation as I speak to clients that most are not thrilled with their photography efforts. Often they are nonplussed because the images are not as crisp or bright as they’d like. Some know that their product can look better but they just can’t figure out how to make that happen. If this is true for you, you may be missing some essential members of a solid photography team.
A complete photography team does not necessarily translate to higher cost. Often with the right players at the shoot, everything goes faster and you can increase the number of shots in a day…and the quality can improve to the point that you can actually get that great sparkle more sophisticated catalogs have.
Who are those players and why are they essential?
- Assistants help set up lights and move them while the photographer judges the results—and are less expensive go-fers during a shoot; to pick up extra props, get food (a necessity during photo shoots), run files to processing or proofing, and more.
- A Prop master knows where to get the props that will make the shots go from boring to compelling. This person may be a stylist (see below) and will need to be budgeted for a day or so before the shoot starts in order to gather props, which can be rented or bought.
- Stylists specialize—in makeup, hair, clothing, interior accessorizing, food preparation and design, etc. Often a stylist will have a few specialties, but no stylist is good at all these things. Look for product like yours in their portfolio and see if you like how it looks.
- Desktop processor folks take raw digital files from the photographer and convert them to CMYK for proper printing format, adjust color, do silhouetting and prep for printing and sizing and retouching if needed, etc. The raw files that are being shot by your photographer cannot be moved directly into most designers’ desktop systems, and the color will very likely need to be cleaned up prior to final use, anyway.
AND OF COURSE…
- The Client gives final approvals and info about the product.
- The Art Director or Photo Director communicates the messaging and client needs and helps with all aspects of shoot. Often a great photo director is a fine stylist, too, but not always.
With all these people on the team you may be wondering, will I go broke if I do it this way?
Consider that two of our LENSER clients this year added just a stylist and a photo director to their photo shoots, and the outcome has been a phenomenal jump in terms of quality. Did it cost them more? A little. Did they get more usable photography? Absolutely. Will they spend less in retouching and post-shoot work? Yes, indeed. In the long run, a great photography team provides great value.multichannel TIP
By Todd Miller, Director of Circulation, Business-to-Business Markets
LENSER recommends initiating the following business-to-business multichannel marketing strategies:
- Assign unique 800 numbers or extensions to specific keyword landing pages. Whereas consumers may jump from search to buy in a matter of minutes, business-to-business leads can sometimes take weeks, even months, to convert to customers. Tracking these conversions requires much forethought and planning—when a lead calls your firm a week after finding you via a keyword search, you will still have visibility to which keyword deserves credit.
- Consider “dayparting” options. Business-to-business marketers know that the majority of their lead conversions occur during regular business hours. Consequently, your firm might want to turn off paid search advertisements on weekends and during lunch, dinner, and nighttime hours. Conversely, it makes sense to turn up the ads in peak conversion hours, too.
- Interdepartmental knowledge sharing. Often the marketing and sales departments of business-to-business firms operate independently—sometimes even antagonistically! Corporate executives and divisional directors cannot allow this to happen. Routinely schedule interdepartmental knowledge- and results-sharing meetings. The most successful B2B firms employ database marketers who are familiar with the shoes in which the sales staff walks, and vice versa.
CLIENT HIGHLIGHT—EDMUND SCIENTIFIC
Edmund Scientific, a leading multichannel merchant for science hobbyists and enthusiasts, is a wholly-owned business unit of Science Kit & Boreal Laboratories, a major catalog distributor to the education marketplace.
It started in 1942, when amateur photographer Norman W. Edmund turned to an order-by-mail advertisement to find a specialized lens he needed for his hobby. But finding the right lens proved difficult enough that Mr. Edmund was encouraged to place his own advertisement offering specialty lenses in a photography magazine. The lenses sold out almost immediately and the Edmund Salvage Company was born.
Business boomed in the years following World War II and with the advent of the space age, the company even went to the moon! Edmund’s inventory of surplus optics increased dramatically and specialty optical items were added. To advertise new items, Mr. Edmund mailed a monthly newsletter to his customers—the foundation for today's Edmund Scientific catalog. Through direct mail, Edmund experienced continued success and growth. And for the past 50 years, Edmund has been proud to provide the latest, most innovative and unique science-related items to hobbyists and engineering enthusiasts around the world.
However, in 2001, Edmund Scientific, as with many mature companies, began to experience soft sales. Says Tim Burns, Brand Manager for Edmund Scientific, “We thought we were missing the mark with our circulation planning, and wanted to seriously upgrade how we handled circulation planning.” After conversations with different circulation consultants, it became obvious to Tim that LENSER was the best option. “They had a less traditional and more sophisticated way of doing things, and that appealed to us and was a good fit for our aggressive growth plans.” With that in mind, Edmund Scientific signed up for LENSER services and since 2004, they have seen many successful endeavors.
According to Geoff Wolf, the LENSER partner servicing this unique client, “I enjoy working with a brand as mature and successful as Edmund Scientific. Edmund is a division of a larger educational company with multiple merchandise positions and databases. Opportunities for leveraging the other brands make things exciting and offer a lot of interesting challenges.”
So what’s next on the horizon for this scientific business? According to Tim, “We are currently engaged to explore the retail channel which offers terrific opportunities. Of course, we plan to continue our steady growth in both top line sales and profitability. “
And how will LENSER get them there? “I see LENSER’S value in the holistic approach they take to catalog marketing and the quality of the people at the firm. The partners and the circ managers don't just talk about multichannel, they actually do it,” adds Tim. Currently Edmund Scientific is leveraging various multichannel strategies in growing its market share and profits. According to Geoff, “Our intention is to combine their willingness to participate on the frontier of strategic planning with LENSER's ability to lead the way with advanced direct marketing practices.”
Through its multiple catalog titles, the www.scientificsonline.com website, and recently launched retail locations, the Edmund experience connects consumers with science and encourages exploration of the world around us. To learn more about Edmund Scientific, please visit their website at www.scientificsonline.com.EMPLOYEE SPOTLIGHT—MICHELLE FARABAUGH
Michelle Farabaugh, LENSER Partner, first met Bill Nicolai over 15 years ago when he interviewed her for one of his consulting clients, State Line Tack. “He didn’t know me, but quickly realized I had the same passion and drive to make this business work as he did. A few years later he introduced me to John Lenser and John was kind enough to share his experience and thoughts so that I could shorten the learning curve,” says Michelle. “When a recruiter called him looking for someone to run the West Marine direct business, John gave him my name. The rest, shall we say, is history.”
After several years as Chief Marketing Officer with West Marine and then Smith & Hawken, Michelle joined LENSER as a Partner in 2005. “I have been asked many times to work for vendors and service providers. I have always said no and wouldn’t even consider it; however, when John asked me to join LENSER, I didn’t have to think about it long before I agreed. LENSER is a unique firm in that we are really an extended part of our client’s marketing team. If our clients don’t succeed, we do not succeed. All of the partners and associates within the firm are some of the smartest and most progressive people I have met in the industry.”
The feeling is mutual. John Lenser and Bill Nicolai agree, “Michelle is one of the best and brightest minds in the industry today and both LENSER and our clients are fortunate to have access to her brilliance.”
With her very diverse background specializing in niche, multichannel businesses, Michelle brings many unique skills that add to the growth of LENSER. Her in-the-trenches experience in all facets of marketing—from database management to loyalty programs, creative, public relations, visual merchandising, and operations—and her ability to leverage all that expertise, can help LENSER and all of our clients grow. “We are always working on new programs that will move the industry forward, and are able to identify and weed out those programs that will not work.”
“LENSER will continue to grow and lead the industry,” predicts Michelle. “There are many new challenges facing the industry every year—rising paper and postage costs, reduced response rates, cannibalization of channels, etc. LENSER will continue to lead the cause in understanding these challenges and developing initiatives to continue to grow our client companies’ top and bottom lines.”
Is Michelle Farabaugh all work and no play? Not at all. Sailing in the San Francisco Bay is her current passion. Notes Michelle, “As many people know, I worked as the CMO of West Marine for many years and had very little time to sail. Now that my husband and I live in Marin County, we have a sailboat that we keep five minutes from our house and we try to get out for a quick sail as often as possible.”
For more on Michelle, click here.AFFILIATE FOCUS—TMS CALL CENTERS
When your phones are ringing off the hook with orders this season (a good thing!), and you don’t have enough people to answer all the calls (a bad thing!), who are you going to call for help? Call Steve Bennett at TMS Call Centers. Since 1990, TMS has been providing call center outsourcing services for a wide variety of catalogers—including several LENSER clients.
We frequently recommend outsourcing call center functions for smaller clients who are growing fast, start-ups, seasonal or promotion-driven flow and 24/7 overflow for our larger clients. And more importantly, it is critical to have an overflow facility that can take calls should a disaster occur locally or nationally. In the past few years, we have had several clients experience call center shutdowns due to severe weather events or accidents. Proper preparedness for these events is necessary in today’s world.
When companies experience the level of growth that often occurs when they work with LENSER, operational issues need to be addressed. LENSER is frequently called upon to evaluate appropriate systems and software for order processing and phone service. We work very hard to ensure that you reap the rewards of your increased response.
LENSER has developed a long-standing relationship with TMS Call Centers because their services are client-driven, flexible, and characterized by their personal handling of our clients’ special needs. They are particularly well-suited for businesses that need a quick response to changing demands—like our rapidly growing catalog clients!
TMS has 240 web-enabled workstations and a very stable, reliable, and well-trained workforce with a remarkably low attrition rate. Very little turnover in the call center gives you the experience you need at the ready. TMS charges the majority of their clients on a per-order-call basis with a low monthly minimum. Custom packages are available and they offer direct response clients a complete start-up package including 800 numbers, toll-free charges, and even scripting assistance, if needed.
Customer satisfaction is paramount at TMS and Steve Bennett is proud to tell you that they still have their very first client—Real Goods! So don’t hire “spike” help. Call for the experienced, expert help your valuable customers deserve—contact TMS Call Center.-
The LENSER Summit plays a vital role in the ongoing education and professional development of our clients, and this year's event will be even bigger and better than last year’s. The conference provides a forum for top management to discuss issues they believe are of paramount importance to their business, as well as to hear the latest on industry best practices.
This year’s featured topic is highlighted by a five-part presentation entitled, “Incorporating Your multichannel Marketing Programs Effectively,” led by LENSER Partners Michelle Farabaugh, Al Bessin, Carol Worthington-Levy and Vice President of Circulation and Client Services, Michelle Houston. Attendees will learn the benefits of building multichannel marketing strategies, effectively incorporating consistent brand messaging in your creative and understanding different channel challenges, all of which will transform your business model—and increase profits.
And there’s more! John Lenser, President, and Bill Nicolai, Senior Partner, will offer presentations on many of the major relevant issues you will face in the next year. On day two, Geoff Wolf, LENSER Partner, will present “Merchandising: The Secrets of Power Vendor Negotiations,” followed by twelve roundtables covering subjects such as internet marketing, creative strategy, fulfillment systems, business-to-business issues, merchandising, and operations.
Don’t miss this information packed two-day event! We look forward to seeing you!
For more details, please contact Michele Salmon at 415.446.2500, ext 211 or email her at michele.salmon@lenser.com. - This month we welcome A.G. Russell, Smith+Noble and Golfsmith to our family of clients.
