How To Keep Increasing Your Mail Order Profits

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One thing more than any other goes towards making bigger profits than anything else. That is 'keeping and using results from records'. How many dealers spend hundreds of pounds joining clubs, MLM's and using commission circulars yet never find the answer to making profits? After six months or a year, they give up. If only they had kept proper records, the few sales they had made would have led them to finding out how they had made those sales and so enabled them to repeat them.

There is no doubt at all that certain brochures and certain adverts DO bring in more replies than others. Even more important is that some sales produce follow-up sales whilst others don't. Keeping records is so simple and so cheap that no one can be excused for not doing it. All that is needed is some cards, index cards and a box to keep them in. Details on the cards are very simple. You must have the name and address of the buyer, what they bought, and date bought, what was sent in return, where the sale originated from, how much was spent and in what way the money was paid.

My cards are made out like this:
Name (surname first) Year
Address

Post code Telephone number Fax number

Order or enquiry (O or E) Date
What was ordered or enquired about
What was sent in return (Item ordered, any extras etc)
Where originated from (magazine, own mail etc)
Amount paid and whether cheque. P.O. or cash

This is all there is to it. The cards are then filed alphabetically. If another sale is made, the same information can be abbreviated e.g. Date, Order, What ordered etc. After the first time, it only takes up two lines as the address is not needed and neither is too much description. After a few months, even if only about ten replies have been received, you can remove the cards and go through them for any pattern emerging.

Mark down on a sheet of paper what was bought and where bought from. You are sure to find a certain pattern. They will not only tell you what sells best and what is the best place to advertise but also what creates the best follow-up and what should be included in your follow-up. From this information, you can alter your mailing and advertising to create greater profits for yourself in the future.

I know that many dealers think that there is enough paperwork in mail order and this is a bit of writing that can be avoided. Some also believe that they can do the same thing from memory. However, from my experience, keeping and sorting records has been one of my greatest steps to advancement and earnings in mail order. I don't see how the information resulting from it can be obtained in any other way.