LENSER :: Newsletter

This Month at Lenser
August 2008

PRESIDENT'S CORNER
Caring For Your Soul!
By John Lenser, President
After all my years in the industry, I have concluded that most successful catalog companies have a soul. What do I mean by soul? Soul is more than brand; it’s more than vision; it’s more than values; and it’s definitely more than merchandise focus. It is a myriad of things that all come together to make the whole of a company. Very often it is a complex reflection of the personality of the founders of the company.

When my wife Marcia and I founded the San Francisco Music Box Company in 1978, we knew little about either music boxes or retail. However, we insisted on treating our customers how we would like to be treated and provided passionate customer service. Marcia had impeccable taste when selecting product. We treated our vendors and employees like they were family. The culture of the company was formed by our values. As a result, sales in our stores were twice that per square foot of any of our competitors, as were our catalog sales.

Among our LENSER clients, David Salman, the owner of High Country Gardens, still spends Fridays working in his demonstration garden and travels the world hunting for rare plants he can bring to his customers. Frank Foster, the owner of Medals of America, was commandant of the Adjutant General Corps and is an expert on the military services and the products he sells. Their passion is reflected throughout their businesses and is recognized by their customers.

Because founders so often create the soul of their company, especially if they are the merchants, it is not surprising that many companies flounder when the founder moves on or loses autonomous control. This can be the bane of venture capitalists or new owners who invest in or buy a company only to find that in the absence of the founder, the panache and profitability of the company is soon lost. Others are savvier—such as Williams-Sonoma where Chuck Williams is still a presence in the corporate office at age 90!

Growth is also a danger to soul. Soul must be cared for and nourished. All too often with growth, owners begin to focus on finances and the nuts and bolts of the business. It is often difficult for entrepreneurs to delegate routine tasks better performed by others and focus on what really counts—innovation, product, customer service, and corporate culture.

On September 24th, 25th and 26th, we will hold our annual LENSER Summit here in San Rafael, CA. The keynote speaker, Andy Cohen, has been the driving force behind the success of some of the world’s leading brands. He will address how to nurture your brand and maintain a competitive edge by thinking differently and generating innovative solutions. Throughout the Summit, you will be given the opportunity to reflect on what you are doing to strengthen your brand and improve business performance—and nurture the "soul" of your company. Attendance at our Summit is free and by invitation only. If you have not already been invited, please give me a call.

LENSER 2008 Summit Preview
The perils and the potential of convergent channel marketing are here. With the ever present need for paper, clicks and bricks to drive business, it is critical to understand and create a coherent customer experience across multiple channels. And that is what the LENSER 2008 Summit is about!

This year's Summit will be better than ever with a strong program featuring inspiring and productive sessions on branding, website optimization, new email products, integrating marketing plans and client panels with real-world tips that will appeal to both small and large catalogers alike.

We've also rounded up a select group of hot key industry speakers willing to impart their wisdom—bestselling author and marketer/magician Andy Cohen, respected industry veteran Shelley Nandkeolyar, CEO of Blair Corp. and the not-to-be-missed wonder woman of the e-commerce world, Amy Africa of Eight-by-eight to name just a few! Click here for full Summit details.

"Our clients' success is truly our success and to that end, we encourage every one to attend and learn everything they can," says John Lenser. "And, remember, all ships rise on a rising tide. "So if you would like to attend the LENSER Summit and are not a client or have not received an invitation yet, please give Michele Salmon at LENSER a call at 415-446-2511

FEATURE ARTICLE
Are we making email marketing harder than it really is? 5 tips to ensure success with your annual email campaigns
By Larry Marmon, Partner
Are you as amazed as I am by the incredible amount of information available today about email marketing? Every day it seems like I am bombarded with print and online articles, downloads of whitepapers, direct mail—it’s today’s hot topic! But do these articles sound familiar to you? Find out why!

CASE STUDY
Finding Pockets of Gold in Your Buyer File
By Matt Morton, Senior Marketing Manager
With the current climate of increasing postage, freight and print/paper costs, many mailers are taking a hard look at how deep they will be able to mail in the upcoming fall/holiday season. It is more important than ever for catalogers to leverage the names that they have already acquired on their housefile, in addition to making prudent decisions about prospecting. For answers, click here.

CIRCULATION TIP
Advanced Hygiene as a Housefile Selection Tool
By Travis Seaton, Vice President, Multichannel Marketing Consultant
Each year 16% of the U.S. population moves, yet only 65%-70% will submit a permanent change of address request to the post office. By utilizing the service supplied by CognitiveDATA™, you can identify the customers who have moved and did not submit a change of address form with the post office. Read on to find out how!

CREATIVE TIP
Bulldozing Your Barriers—How to Remove the Obstacles to Your Customer’s Buying Decisions
By Carol Worthington-Levy, Creative Partner
Have you ever wondered why your competitor sells more of what you both sell than you do? Do you have a product or group of products that steadfastly sits on the shelf instead of being snapped up by ready customers? It may be that you’ve inadvertently set up barriers that keep your customers from wanting to take that final step to purchase from you. What are those barriers, and how can you break them down to encourage more sales? Find out—click here!

MULTICHANNEL TIPS
My Biggest Online Shopping Pet Peeves: A Holiday Primer
By Alexandra Singer, Senior Marketing Manager
Just in time for the holidays, I’m going to share with you my biggest pet peeves of the online shopping world. First, I have to tell you that by day I may be a Marketing Manager with LENSER, but by night my true talents emerge—I’m an online shopper extraordinaire! This qualifies me to impart some useful pearls of wisdom that should help you get your site in shape for the holiday shopping season: For pearls of wisdom, click here!

CLIENT HIGHLIGHT—UTRECHT ART SUPPLIES
Utrecht Art Supplies was started by two brothers, Norman and Harold Gulamerian, in 1949. They had difficulty finding quality canvas for painting. The artist's blank canvas, after all, is where it all begins, and a quality canvas is an essential step on the road to a high quality painting. The brothers began importing high-quality artists' canvas directly from Europe and soon became established as one of the premier suppliers. Read the full story.

PARTNER SPOTLIGHT—BILL NICOLAI: THE LEGEND GROWS
By Tom Blake, Senior Marketing Manager
People say that cycling is the new golf of the corporate world, and I can certainly attest to that. Here at LENSER we joke that you have a better chance of getting hired if you mention you’re a cyclist in the interview. In its first year, our cycling event drew nearly as many participants as the golf outing at the annual LENSER Summit. In addition, each fall a group of LENSER associates and clients participate in the Death Valley Century cycling event. Two of the founding members are LENSER's President, John Lenser and Bill Nicolai, LENSER Senior Partner.

Without a doubt, the most enthusiastic cyclist I have ever had the pleasure to ride with is Bill Nicolai. His love of cycling is infectious and Bill’s athletic accomplishments are the stuff of legend. He has finished several Iron Distance triathlons including one of the sport’s toughest races, Nevada’s Silverman. As of last month, Bill has a new record to add to his list of athletic accomplishments—he is the oldest person to ever complete the Race Across Oregon and subsequently has qualified for what is arguably the sport’s toughest event, the Race Across America. Read more about Bill's amazing ride...

AFFILIATE FOCUS—LENSER SUMMIT SPONSORS
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. We expect up to 120 participants from our roster of clients, as well as a few selected colleagues within the business-to-consumer and business-to-business direct marketing community. This is all made possible by the generous support of our sponsors and affiliates. Although attendees will have the opportunity to meet face-to-face with our sponsors, we'd like to acknowledge their generosity, briefly introduce their services to our entire readership, and tell you how they can help you.

NEWS BRIEF

This month LENSER welcomes Allison Baumhefner to the LENSER Team. Allison, a seasoned direct marketing professional, joins LENSER as a Senior Marketing Manager after a year-long sabbatical spent traveling the world. Please join us in welcoming Allison! To learn more about Allison, please read her bio. Click here.
Attention, LENSER clients—the time is NOW! Do not miss out. Make your reservations today for the LENSER Client Summit, scheduled for Wednesday through Friday, September 24-26, 2008, at the Embassy Suites in San Rafael, CA. Click here for details.
Don't forget to make plans to stay over the weekend in the beautiful San Francisco Bay Area if you are attending the LENSER Summit. By the middle of September, the crush is in full swing and there is no better time to experience the Wine Country at its finest that during the fall harvest. The leaves on the vines are beginning to change to bright red, yellow and orange, providing a beautiful backdrop. Many wineries have barrel tastings and unique winery tours, allowing visitors to view the crush up close and personal. For winery listings, individual events and more information, visit www.napavintners.com/wineries.
Not a LENSER Client but you want to attend the LENSER Summit? Call 415-446-2511 to find out how you can get a private invitation to the best attended hands-on, industry-focused conference! Don't wait. You don't miss out on this great learning opportunity. Call today!

To ensure delivery of your monthly eNews from LENSER, please remember to add newsletter@lenser.com to your address book. To sign up for the LENSER eNews, please contact .

PRESIDENT'S CORNER
Caring For Your Soul
By John Lenser, President

After all my years in the industry, I have concluded that most successful catalog companies have a soul. What do I mean by soul? Soul is more than brand; it’s more than vision; it’s more than values; and it’s definitely more than merchandise focus. It is a myriad of things that all come together to make the whole of a company. Very often it is a complex reflection of the personality of the founders of the company.

The LENSER Summit plays a vital role in the ongoing education and professional development of our clients and attending colleagues. "The more practical knowledge that you have, the better you are able to survive and thrive in a tough environment. We want to do everything we can to ensure that our clients are the best-educated direct marketers and employ state-of-the-art best practices in their businesses. The Summit is the one of the most effective ways to communicate en masse and in-depth with our clients and offer them a higher level of understanding and service than what might otherwise be available to them," says John Lenser, President of LENSER.

In addition to a very full day on Thursday and half a day on Friday, we're bringing back the big hit from last year—our four 3-hour intensive tracks on Wednesday afternoon with courses on Creative, Merchandising, Internet Marketing and Financial Planning, a must in today's economy!

All work and no play might make for a dull day, but not so! And just to make sure, we have two lively dinners planned and will wrap on Friday with an optional Golf Scramble or a Bike Ride through the hills of Marin County. Click here for full Summit details.

"Our clients' success is truly our success and to that end, we encourage every one to attend and learn everything they can," says John Lenser. "And, remember, all ships rise on a rising tide. " So if you would like to attend the LENSER Summit and are not a client or have not received an invitation yet, please give Michele Salmon at LENSER a call at 415-446-2511.

FEATURE ARTICLE
Are we making email marketing harder than it really is? 5 tips to ensure success with your email campaigns
By Larry Marmon, Partner

Are you as amazed as I am by the incredible amount of information available today about email marketing? Every day it seems like I am bombarded with print and online articles, downloads of whitepapers, direct mail—it’s today’s hot topic! But do these articles sound familiar to you? Well, they should, because the same best practices that have driven traditional print direct marketing for years are the ones that drive the email channel, as well.

A few years ago I was reading an article from a company called emaillabs.com where they outlined the critical components of an email campaign. Back then, alot of the things they mentioned such as deliverability, the concept of open, click and convert, and designing for the inbox were new to me.

However, as I think back over the last few years, I can now see that integrating emails into our marketing program followed a very similar pattern to the way we dealt with web-based selling. Once we got over the initial shock of dealing in a completely new electronic selling space, we found success could be achieved by rigorously applying the fundamentals that had previously made our catalog marketing efforts successful. It isn’t any different with email programs.

Look at the outlines that follow—an email marketing process compared to a catalog or typical direct marketing process—and you’ll see that there isn’t really anything new here. While the methods used to execute email campaigns are different than what is used for catalog marketing the fundamental direct marketing concepts driving them are identical!

My takeaway here is that traditional direct marketing best practices can still be used to drive your business. While the methods used to deliver your advertising might be changing, the things you need to consider to ensure success aren’t.

Email Marketing Process

Does this chart look familiar? If you change a few of the boxes like I have in the next chart, you can label this a ‘direct mail process.’ The basics elements of direct marketing such as planning, list management, a focus on creative that works, being compliant with the law, understanding what is needed to get your ad delivered and measuring results are all still operative when managing email programs.

Direct Mail Process

To extract maximum value from email marketing programs you need to manage them with the same discipline that is applied to every other direct marketing channel. As you complete your Holiday 2008 and your 2009 budget planning, can you say that your team is doing the following well enough?

Developing strategic and tactical email plans. There is no reason why the planning process for email marketing shouldn't be as robust as the process you use for catalog or web marketing efforts. Taking the time to build an annual formal email marketing plan will yield enormous dividends.

Ensuring appropriate measurement and reporting on the results from email campaigns. There is no excuse for not measuring and reporting on key email metrics. Tools exist to make this relatively easy for any size company. Key metrics that you should be tracking include open, click through and conversion rates, average order values, demand, and opt-out rates.

Building a consolidated customer contact strategy. Unfortunately, too few companies have yet to develop fully integrated customer contact strategies. The best marketers today build targeted mail and email contact strategies which enable them to maximize demand and profit from the fewest contacts.

Testing everything. One of the beauties of email marketing is that you can test new concepts quickly and at low cost. Make sure your email plans for the year test the critical variables that drive the program: frequency of contact, creative and offers.

Maximizing segmentation opportunities. Emails easily allow for micro-segmentation—something which is extremely expensive in a print environment. As you are building annual plans, consider the upside you can get from customized creative and making offers to unique customer segments. If your program is large enough, you also should consider using a recommendation engine to populate the products offered to different customers or customer segments. Using a recommendation engine to personalize product offerings is a perfect solution when you have a lot of distinct customer segments and a high SKU count.

The clients we work with who are maximizing the return from their email marketing expenditures are the ones who use the same rigorous processes and procedures to run these programs as they do with all of their other marketing programs. Once you employ best practices in your email marketing program, you’ll be positioned to make the right decision when it comes to allocating resources most effectively between your various sales channels.

CASE STUDY
Finding Pockets of Gold in Your Buyer File
By Matt Morton, Senior Marketing Manager

With the current climate of increasing postage, freight and print/paper costs, many mailers are taking a hard look at how deep they will be able to mail in the upcoming fall/holiday season. It is more important than ever for catalogers to leverage the names that they have already acquired on their housefile, in addition to making prudent decisions about prospecting.

In two cases below, we have found that we could mail deeper into certain older segments of our clients' housefile by adding additional segmentation—not just by channel (web vs. general) or product, but by taking the time to analyze the reasons their customers responded to their offer in the first place. This type of additional segmentation works best if:

You have a fairly deep buyer file with older names receiving fewer contacts throughout the year
There is a distinct difference in the diversity of offers in your catalog—For example, you may sell the exact same merchandise to a general consumer and an educational professional, but these buyers will respond very differently to your offer depending on your contact strategy
You have the ability in your enterprise database to flag groups of buyers so that your service bureau is able to segment them for merge and mailing

In the first example, the client is primarily a 3rd and 4th quarter mailer. We were using our standard RFM selections to make mail decisions on the buyer file. In most cases, we only mailed as far back as the 13-24 month names. If we did go deeper, we would send the older names to a co-op for optimization or reactivation. For years, the client had been flagging their buyers by type. In this case, the types were:

Consumer
Educational
SOHO (Small Office or Home Office)

For the Fall/Holiday season, we added the additional type segmentation (which increased the number of keycodes threefold!) to track the performance of each. While the majority of the buyer names mailed was flagged as general ‘Consumer’, there were enough names selected from the Education and SOHO groups to give us a statistically significant read on results:

Response by Buyer Type

It became quite obvious that we could go much deeper into the Education and SOHO names. It was also quite clear that we did not have enough of these names to mail!

This knowledge has impacted our client's prospecting strategy for the upcoming holiday season. We have worked with the cooperative databases and our list brokers to add additional tests of SOHO B2B models, Teachers at Home lists, etc. Even if these lists perform below the core consumer prospects, we agreed that the lifetime value generated by these Education and SOHO buyers being added to the housefile will make up for any additional cost incurred to acquire the names.

In the second case, the offer is not 3rd and 4th quarter heavy. This mailer's customers respond throughout the entire year, but for varying reasons. We had the ability to flag this buyer file by type and class. We mailed the names using our standard RFM selections for a year, and tracked the response below:

Response by Buyer Class

Response by Buyer Type

The assumption had been made that their Class 2 and Type 2 names were some of the strongest performers. Not true! They were, in fact, weaker. Looking at the results, we also surmised that we were under-mailing the Class 3 and Type 3 buyer names. In addition, we found that the response curve for both groups did not change as we mailed deeper into the buyer file.

Going forward, we are using this data when making mail selections. While we still rely primarily on standard RFM, as we delve deeper into the buyer file, the type and class of customer drives our selection process. We are also testing mailing certain groups of names straight up versus sending them to the co-ops for reactivation.

Now we have the ability to target certain groups if there is a special offer or seasonal cover creative, for example. We can also suppress groups based on the client's current merchandise offering.

By taking the extra step to analyze who, why, and when our clients' customers were responding to their offers, we are now able to identify those nuggets of gold hiding deep in the buyer files and contact them accordingly.

CIRCULATION TIP
Advanced Hygiene as a Housefile Selection Tool
By Travis Seaton, Vice President, Multichannel Marketing Consultant

Each year 16% of the U.S. population moves, yet only 65%-70% will submit a permanent change of address request to the post office. By utilizing the service supplied by CognitiveDATA™, they will identify the customers who have moved and did not submit a change of address form with the post office.

They do this by creating a PIN for every individual (somewhat like a SSN) and track them through a system of public and private databases that are related to the financial and publishing industries. Their process will usually identify an incremental 3%, leaving only 2% of yearly moves that will never be identified.

Since CognitiveDATA is tracking on a PIN level, they can easily go back in time and identify where and when any individual was “lost” and can reconnect you with a past customer. An example would be as follows:

Jane Smith
125 Main St
Anytown, CA 12345

In 2003 Jane gets married, changes her last name and consolidates households but doesn’t fill out the NCOA form with the post office. Her record would now appear as follows:

Jane Doe
654 New St
Nexttown, CA 94567

You have now “lost” Jane Smith and are marketing to someone different at the original address, no doubt killing response. With the CognitiveDATA product, they would link Jane Smith and Jane Doe by her PIN and properly identify that she is in fact the same person. You now have “found” Jane again and can start marketing to the proper person and address again.

When running CognitiveDATA, we advise using their changes as a flag to your housefile that triggers sending a catalog. Since you haven’t marketed to Jane in quite some time, chances are she is in your older housefile segment and most likely is not in your mail file selection. By flagging the changes and selecting those for mailing, it ensures that Jane will now be properly marketed to again.

It may be that you’ve inadvertently set up barriers that keep your customers from wanting to take that final step to purchase from you. What are those barriers, and how can you break them down to encourage more sales?

Over-complication. You know your product so well that it’s hard to keep from sharing everything, but everything, about it. This is a pretty costly mistake in that space on printed pages has become expensive real estate. But even with a website, too much explanation leads to your product looking more complicated than it really is.

People don’t want complication to garbage up their lives; they want things that make life more fun, more reasonable, less complicated, and just plain easier. And frankly, if you look like a complicated solution, they’ll look for something that does the same thing, but doesn’t look as difficult to deal with.

The word here is SIMPLIFY. Take your longest copy blocks and pare them down to this: What will it do for the customer—Benefit, in the YOU form, followed by What’s different about it—Features, possibly in bullet points, but keep it pared down to the top 5 to 7 and not a dozen or more.
Not describing enough. OK, so I just said telling too much is, well, too much! Now, this is the polar opposite but it also causes a breakdown in the momentum. When you are missing key information that customers need to buy, more often than not, they won’t call to ask questions.

If you’re not sure what that key information is, show your copy to someone who does not work in your company. In fact, someone who is not a current customer may be even more useful. Ask them to be candid. Have them read the copy and then feel free to ask you questions. Do this a few times and you’ll see a pattern emerge.

Likewise, talk to customer service and find out what are the most common questions people ask when they do call. These customers are your most motivated and are a good resource for finding out where the holes are in your copy. I even recommend you start a campaign inside customer service, and invite them to write down notes on questions asked, turning it into some kind of internal game with a prize at the end of the month.

Keep in mind that you don’t have to answer ALL questions in your copy, but pick the one or two that show up again and again, and you’ll be much closer to getting the sale.
Too many choices: Are you offering five different versions of the same thing? If so, you’ve got your work cut out for you. Sears had a good idea when they developed Sears Good, Sears Better and Sears Best. It gave them a way to develop a hierarchy, showing why some people just don’t need the best widget but that’s OK, the good one will do just fine. This provided Sears with a way to sell on all levels.

Years ago when working on our first home, we knew we’d be there no more than five years, so we bought Sears Good shutters with the 15-year warranty. We knew a 25-year warranty was not needed and when each shutter cost $10 more for that, we saved precious funds for other parts of our renovation project.

In the Nautilus Fitness catalog, they wisely developed a small chart with comparisons of the five different versions of a piece of fitness equipment, with check boxes down the right that included various features. It made it easy for someone to choose which level of equipment he wanted.
Lack of creds. Credibility is one of the most important aspects of your catalog or website—and particularly in the web world; it’s one that’s missing most often. Solidifying your brand and then supporting it with testimonials and historic customer satisfaction information is essential if you want to be the one a customer chooses over the competition.

For companies with hardware and software, electronics and such, creds can show up as awards logos (consumer awards and computer magazine reviews). For seeds or plants it could be the MGA Green Thumb Award, reviews on your quality, or inventory of unusual species. For furniture, it may be a designer talking about how every home should have something from your collection. Authority and fan letters breed credibility.

Does getting this take time, and does it use valuable space in a printed piece? Absolutely. Is it worth it? Without a doubt.
A closed door. I am still shocked by how difficult it is to reach a human being in some web environments. Suffice it to say, if you don’t want to talk to your customers, then they don’t want to talk to you—or buy from you. Open your doors with a clear and easy to find customer service number. Make sure your customer service folks are well trained and enthusiastic. Our client, Action Bag, is an example of a small company with a big heart—in business-to-business these folks provide some of the warmest and most approachable customer service groups ever. Aspire to that goal, and then work hard to get there.
Lack of incentive to act NOW. The final key to getting someone off the fence and getting them to order is in having an offer with a clear, defined deadline and purchase hurdle to get over.

Test your offers to find what works for your customers—then keep them rolling and change them out periodically to keep it fresh. New Pig, for example, does a great job of changing their kooky and fun offers (Pig hats, Pig Tees, Pig games…) which aren’t expensive, but do feel collectible and are always engaging.

Avoid discount offers (this doesn’t help your credibility), but do try other money savers like free gift wrap for orders over a certain size, free shipping, etc. Try some new things, too—someone in sales might enjoy a free gasoline card with a value of $25 for their order of $100 or more (you can often get them for much less). Isuzu was able to get fleet managers to agree to meetings when offered a fabric laptop case set that had a value of $25, but cost them only $10—leading to sales calls worth millions of dollars.

Taking all of this on may seem like a big job. Think of it as an investment that history proves will pay off. With that in mind, just try one improvement at a time, and then see how quickly you can fine-tune your selling by bulldozing those barriers and opening up the door to your eager customers!

MULTICHANNEL TIPS
My Biggest Online Shopping Pet Peeves: A Holiday Primer
By Alexandra Singer, Senior Marketing Manager

Just in time for the holidays, I’m going to share with you my biggest pet peeves of the online shopping world. First, I have to tell you that by day I may be a Marketing Manager with LENSER, but by night my true talents emerge—I’m an online shopper extraordinaire! This qualifies me to impart the following pearls of wisdom that should help you get your site in shape for the holiday shopping season:

Carts that expire too soon. This should be a no-brainer, but it happens to me all the time. I put items in my cart, I go to get a drink of water or to take a phone call, and poof! They’re gone. My recommendation is to extend shopping carts for as long as possible. If the cookie is there on the customer’s computer and the items are in stock, the cart should be full. Ideally, each site would note somewhere to the customer, “Your items will remain in your shopping cart for x days.”

All the big retailers and some of the smaller ones do this already, and it pays off. I go back to nordstrom.com a week after I last shopped there, and lo and behold, my items are still there! On the other hand, a major retailer lost my sale just the other day when they emptied the cart a mere hour after I placed items in it.
No abandoned cart email. I know, some retailers are very sensitive to burdening their customers with more emails, but if you have an email address and you have a cart with merchandise in it, why would you not send a gentle reminder? I welcome an email like that, especially when it includes an additional incentive. It’s a good opportunity for upselling and cross-selling, too. This is a trigger-based, personal email, and it can be very lucrative for the company that exploits it skillfully.
Backordered or pre-ordered items with no expected ship date. Merchants and inventory planners may cringe at this one, but it’s only natural that a customer would expect to know when an item might arrive. I pre-ordered a book online from a small publisher’s site a month ago and received an order confirmation, but no notice of the book’s release date. It’s also nowhere to be found on the web page for that book.
Not being able to see shipping charges until I sign in. This is definitely getting more common, but sometimes I just want to price out an item and see how much my shipping and tax will amount to. Those sites that make it easy to type in your zip code and get a quick estimate have my loyalty. The others, the ones where you have to go through multiple registration steps just to get that total cost, do not.
No telephone number on the home page. If your customer has to call you to ask a question, giving you an opportunity to both upsell them and show how good your customer service is, thereby gaining their loyalty, don’t you want to make it easy for them to do so? Include the telephone number (preferably toll-free) on the home page and make it easy to spot.

We always recommend that you shop your site as a customer would, or better yet, ask people who are not connected with the company to browse and select items. You’ll be surprised what you find out—most websites could be doing a better job making the customer experience annoyance-free and convenient. And you’ll see that it pays off, both in the short- and long-term!

CLIENT HIGHLIGHT—UTRECHT ART SUPPLIES

Utrecht Art Supplies was started by two brothers in 1949. Norman and Harold Gulamerian began importing artists’ linen when they had difficulty finding quality U.S. products. The artist's blank canvas, after all, is where it all begins, and a quality canvas is an essential step on the road to a high quality painting. They began importing high-quality artists' canvas directly from their personal contacts in Europe at the request of their artist friends. Soon they had a reputation established as one of the premier suppliers. Their goal became supplying the highest quality art materials and supplies at the best price.

Their business was a success and grew quickly. Eight years later, the two brothers developed their revolutionary acrylic gesso for priming art canvas. Modern acrylic gesso is a combination of calcium carbonate with acrylic polymer medium latex, a pigment and other chemicals that ensure flexibility and long archival life when used for both sizing and priming a canvas for painting.

By the end of the early 60s, the Gulamerians had expanded the Utrecht line to include professional-grade oil paints, acrylics, and watercolor supplies for artists, all sold at manufacturer-direct prices. Utrecht still manufactures their own paints and gesso right here in the U.S. at their plant in Brooklyn, NY. Their product mix also has expanded to a wide assortment of materials and supplies from the leading national brands.

Today you can purchase Utrecht’s art supplies by phone, on the web, or at any of their 38 retail locations. For students taking an art class, Utrecht’s online art supplies program works with over 130 leading universities and schools to be a one-stop-shop so that you can be prepared for your first day of class!

To see their broad product selection, or to find a retail store near you, or to just be inspired to start painting for yourself, please visit Utrecht Art Supplies’ at www.utrecht.com.

PARTNER SPOTLIGHT—BILL NICOLAI: THE LEGEND GROWS
By Tom Blake, Marketing Manager

People say that cycling is the new golf of the corporate world, and I can certainly attest to that. Here at LENSER we joke that you have a better chance of getting hired if you mention you’re a cyclist in the interview. In its first year, our cycling event drew nearly as many participants as the golf outing at the annual LENSER Summit. In addition, each fall a group of LENSER associates and clients participate in the Death Valley Century cycling event. Two of the founding members are LENSER's President, John Lenser and Bill Nicolai, LENSER Senior Partner.

Without a doubt, the most enthusiastic cyclist I have ever had the pleasure to ride with is Bill Nicolai. I’ve ridden many times with Bill, including 130 miles through Death Valley last October, and to say that he is like a kid in a candy store would be an understatement. His love of cycling is infectious.

Bill’s athletic accomplishments are the stuff of legend. He has finished several Iron Distance triathlons including one of the sport’s toughest races, Nevada’s Silverman. As of last month, Bill has a new record to add to his list of athletic accomplishments—he is the oldest person to ever complete the Race Across Oregon and subsequently has qualified for what is arguably the sport’s toughest event, the Race Across America.

The Race Across Oregon is one of cycling’s most grueling events. It is a 538-mile course that treks over Oregon’s highest peaks and includes 43,000 feet of climbing. To put that into perspective, Bill cycled the equivalent of riding from sea level to the top of Mount Everest and then a third of the way back up again. Oh, and perhaps I should mention that he did this in just under the cut-off time of 48 hours. This was all achieved with only three naps of 10 minutes each!

To accomplish such a feat you clearly need a team behind you. A support crew follows each competitor throughout the weekend, providing sustenance and aid. Bill put together one of the best possible support teams one could imagine and recruited a legend in endurance sports, Steve Born, to be his crew chief. Steve Born is indeed a legend in the world of endurance cycling and a member of the Ultra Cycling Hall of Fame. Steve has raced and won some of the most difficult endurance cycling events in existence—he completed three Race Across America events, got a win and a second place in the Furnace Creek 508 endurance event, and was the first and only person to complete a double of the Furnace Creek 508 race.

As a huge fan of cycling and endurance sports in general, I had a great interest in following Bill’s progress throughout the race. But I also wanted to get some inside perspective, so I called Steve Born to fill me in. Steve has known Bill for years through his work as the Senior Technical Advisor with Hammer Nutrition, a LENSER Client. Bill not only consults with Hammer Nutrition on marketing, he also uses their products exclusively while training and competing, and writes articles relating to nutrition for their newsletter.

Due to his expertise and experience, Steve Born gets asked to crew for many events by many people, and is very selective in accepting these offers. Steve says he did not hesitate when Bill asked him to serve as his crew chief. “It was an honor to crew for him; the honor was all mine. ”

Steve told me that shortly after starting his 48-hour journey, Bill exclaimed, “How lucky am I to be able to do something like this?” Steve joked that he may have been forced to change his perspective over the course of the event.

Closer to the halfway point things were looking a bit grimmer. Bill told Steve, “I’m having a hard time staying conscious,” which was obviously a big concern to Bill’s crew. Always meticulous in his planning and preparation, Bill had prepared his own nutritional concoctions consisting of his “4-hour bottles” of Hammer products to provide him with all the calories he would need to keep moving. Between the halfway point and the 4th time station at mile 405, Bill was struggling. This part of the course features some of the highest elevations of the race, yet somehow Bill found the strength to forge ahead.

“It was without a doubt the toughest thing I have ever seen,” says Steve. “This is something that no one has ever done before. I have never seen someone grind it out like that. It was a complete turnaround!” Steve says that “the Q word” never came up.

We are all proud of Bill for his incredible accomplishment, and wish him a speedy recovery. “It’s like recovering from a surgical procedure,” says Bill. “I have slept a lot and am a little groggy but am feeling good now.” It won’t be too long before we’re trailing him for 200 miles at Death Valley, an event that by comparison will be mild for Bill. God help the rest of us!

Bill Nicolai competing in the 2008 Race Across Oregon.

To learn more about Bill Nicolai, please visit his bio.

AFFILIATE FOCUS—LENSER SUMMIT SPONSORS

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. We expect up to 120 participants from our roster of clients, as well as a few selected prospects within the business-to-consumer and business-to-business direct marketing community. Much of this is made possible by the generous support of our sponsors and affiliates. Although attendees will have the opportunity to meet face-to-face with our sponsors, we'd like to acknowledge their generosity and briefly introduce their services to our entire readership.

ABACUS Direct – Gold Sponsor
Abacus is a division of Epsilon, the industry’s leading marketing services firm. Advertising Age ranks Epsilon #1 U.S. Marketing Services Firm and #1 U.S. Direct Marketing Agency. Services include strategic consulting, database and loyalty technology, proprietary data, predictive modeling and a full range of creative and interactive services including brand and promotional development, web design, email deployment, search engine optimization and direct mail production.

I-Behavior – Gold Sponsor
I-Behavior is the premier database marketing solutions provider and behavioral targeting firm for multi-channel marketers. You can create, build and maintain more profitable online and offline customer relationships with I-Behavior and its online subsidiary aCerno. I-Behavior utilizes transactional level shopping and purchase data to target individual consumers across the complete range of marketing initiatives. The aCerno transaction marketplace is an exciting channel for online retailers, capitalizing on the fact that consumers’ actual shopping and purchase behavior is the best predictor of their future behavior.

NextAction – Gold Sponsor
NextAction® partners with over 1,100 retailers, catalogers and e-retailers to develop multi-channel customer acquisition and retention programs. Leading retailers contribute their customers’ complete product-level purchase transactions for over 100 million households to the NextAction cooperative database. This powerful insight into 4 billion yearly transactions allows clients to identify valuable new customers and maximize the lifetime value of their existing customers. NextAction’s robust behavioral data, combined with proprietary modeling technology and decades of industry-wide experience, provides the right tools to optimize the channel, the timing, and the message to the most responsive consumers. NextAction will help you build a roadmap to a more profitable future.

Arandell Corporation – Silver Sponsor
Arandell Corporation is the country’s premier commercial printer. For over 85 years, the web offset printing company has been producing high-quality catalogs and custom publications for the world’s leading marketers from its state-of-the-art facility in Menomonee Falls, WI. Services include data consulting, digital imaging, printing, binding, mailing (including co-mailing) and distribution.

Graphic Communications – Silver Sponsor
Graphic Communications is the largest paper and printing broker in the U.S. , placing 1.5 million tons of paper and managing over $150 million in print services annually. Our relationships with over 25 of the world’s best mills and 20 of the foremost printers along with our knowledge means the best value, right product and world class service for our clients.

Certona – Silver Sponsor
Certona provides a hosted solution called Resonance® for automated, real-time behavioral targeting and personalization for e-commerce sites. The “self-optimizing” system is powered by a sophisticated neural networks engine so that Resonance can deliver automated, real-time product, content, and promotional offers via multiple channels—web, email, call center, and RSS. Certona's service can be rapidly implemented; no hardware or software requirements or back-end integration is needed.

Computech & Cognitive Data – Joint Silver Sponsor
Computech Direct is a traditional service bureau with a full suite of processing capabilities with an emphasis on catalog customers, servicing since 1990. Specializing in innovative solutions including merge purge, data hygiene, database systems, multichannel analytics, to name a few. It is this client partnership philosophy that we value most, and that gives us an edge on the competition.
CognitiveDATA is a marketing technology company recognized as the thought leader of data quality technology. The Company recently celebrated its six year anniversary by being named to the Inc. 500 list as the 208th fastest growing private company in the U.S. with 4-year growth rate in excess of 1000%. The company currently has over 300 direct national marketing companies using its award-winning marketing Response Technology. CognitiveDATA is a privately held corporation is headquartered in Little Rock, Arkansas.

CoLinear – Golf Sponsorship
Response by CoLinear is a powerful and richly-featured mail order and multichannel direct commerce software designed to execute and optimize the direct commerce procedures, policies and activities of small to mid-sized companies. Response expertly handles phone, mail order, retail and internet orders and provides everything you need from call center, point-of-sale and web order processing to fulfillment, inventory control, customer service, returns, management reporting and everything in between. CoLinear continually strives to be your most valuable asset—empowering you and your staff to delight and win over customers.

DMinSite – Lanyard Sponsorship
DMinSite is a Software-as-a-Service-Plus (SaaS+) provider that builds and delivers a suite of e-commerce, search and email marketing solutions that have helped our clients grow web sales at a rate that's more than double the industry average for seven years in a row. DMinSite's Mercury 6.0 software offers e-retailers an enterprise class, feature-rich web selling platform.

Kreber – Special Sponsorship
Kreber provides turnkey creative services that include design and page layout, commercial digital and film photography, electronic prepress, both digital and conventional. Unlike other agencies and design firms, Kreber hosts a complete selection of strategic, creative and production services all within one office.

Data Management Associates
Data Management Associate’s MACH 2K is software for the multi-channel marketplace including catalog, internet and retail point of sale. The fast, flexible, order processing provides a competitive advantage. The comprehensive sales analysis, purchasing and inventory control reduces costs. Expert installation, training and support provided by industry veterans. Partial Client List: Montessori Services, Exclusively Weddings, and Revival Animal Health.

Quad/Graphics
Let Quad/Graphics show you how to make better use of your customer data to deliver precisely targeted, relevant print content in more creative and cost effective ways. You'll be able to measure costs in terms of response—not just cost per thousand—and simultaneously improve your top and bottom line.

Donnelley Marketing
Donnelley Marketing is a full-service multichannel direct marketing solutions provider offering expertise in data analytics, data management, data enhancement and list processing. Our clients have come to rely on our powerful data, strategic thinking and customized solutions to increase their customer acquisition and retention.

SiteForm
SiteForm, Inc. is an e-commerce development and consulting company that specializes in building catalog-based websites. SiteForm has more than 25 active websites online, including National Wholesale, Country Casual, Chinaberry, Bullock & Jones, Competition Accessories, Harrington’s of Vermont, Carson’s Wrapped Hershey’s and Motherwear. Besides building and maintaining sites, SiteForm has worked with many clients on consulting and freelance assignments, such as evaluating and auditing a company’s current and future e-commerce programs.

Litle & Company
Litle & Co. is a leading provider of card-not-present transaction processing, payment management and merchant services for businesses that sell directly to consumers through catalog, direct response (TV, radio and phone), recurring payment and e-commerce channels. Founded in 2001, and based in Lowell, Mass. , Litle & Co. is in high-growth mode—acknowledged by No. 1 rankings on both the Deloitte New England Technology Fast 50 and the Inc. 500 in 2006.

AFMS Logistics Management Group
AFMS Logistics Management Group specializes in helping companies negotiate world class, market competitive contracts with your small parcel and freight forwarder carriers. AFMS draws its knowledge and experience from a staff comprised largely of former executives of major carriers of the industry. If DHL Home has left you out in the cold, talk to AFMS. They may be able to help.

Timberline Interactive
Timberline Interactive is a Web development firm specializing in ecommerce website design and management for catalog retailers. Timberline implements leading edge and best Web practice search engine optimization techniques to help increase online visibility. Their custom eCommerce shopping cart is built to help Internet merchandisers make better business decisions. Couple that with keen online marketing skills, such as search engine optimization (SEO), pay-per-click (PPC) and email promotions that drive traffic and generate sales.

DHL GlobalMail
DHL GlobalMail™, the single source worldwide delivery network designed to meet all of your domestic & international mail needs. Value-added services, custom solutions and the secure and reliable distribution of business mail, direct mail, catalogues, publications and parcels to over 200 countries worldwide. Need to fulfill your catalog requests fast? Yet efficiently, and for a reasonable cost? Call DHL Global Mail!

Catalog Innovations
Add value to your print project through effective planning and strategic management. With 57 years of combined print experience, Catalog Innovations is aligned with customer-focused print and distribution partners. This winning formula translates into success for turning innovative ideas into marketing reality with access to resources in every area of the print supply chain. Comprehensive knowledge of print production and distribution combined with exceptional personalized service and attention to detail enables you to achieve your goals on schedule and within budget. No projects from retail postcards, direct mail printed projects, or catalogs are beyond the focus of Catalog Innovations.

Please support these companies that are so willing to support your ongoing professional education and development through the LENSER Summit. Sign up today to attend. If you have not received an invitation to the LENSER Summit or to learn more about our LENSER Summit Sponsors or any of our other affiliates, please contact Michele Salmon at 415-446-2511 or e-mail .

NEWS BRIEF

This month LENSER welcomes Allison Baumhefner to the LENSER Team. Allison, a seasoned direct marketing professional, joins LENSER as a Senior Marketing Manager after a year-long sabbatical spent traveling the world. Please join us in welcoming Allison! To learn more about Allison, please read her bio. Click here.
Attention, LENSER clients—the time is NOW! Do not miss out. Make your reservations today for the LENSER Client Summit, scheduled for Wednesday through Friday, September 24-26, 2008, at the Embassy Suites in San Rafael, CA. Click here for details.
Don't forget to make plans to stay over the weekend in the beautiful San Francisco Bay Area if you are attending the LENSER Summit. By the middle of September, the crush is in full swing and there is no better time to experience the Wine Country at its finest that during the fall harvest. The leaves on the vines are beginning to change to bright red, yellow and orange, providing a beautiful backdrop. Many wineries have barrel tastings and unique winery tours, allowing visitors to view the crush up close and personal. For winery listings, individual events and more information, visit www.napavintners.com/wineries.
Not a LENSER Client but you want to attend the LENSER Summit? Call 415-446-2511 to find out how you can get a private invitation to the best attended hands-on, industry-focused conference! Don't wait. You don't miss out on this great learning opportunity. Call today!

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This Month at Lenser August 2008

This Month at Lenser
August 2008