- Raising response rates (1)
- Uncategorised (37)
- 11/07/2008: Some email ads do more harm than good
- 02/07/2008: A perfect piece of useless research
- 21/06/2008: Getting leads on the internet and via email
- 12/06/2008: The psychology of perception: it doubles your response rates
- 28/05/2008: The most cost effective form of advertising I have ever seen
- 01/05/2008: What do schools want to know?
- 17/04/2008: This is just the right time to do direct mail
- 10/04/2008: Who is watching whom?
- 06/04/2008: How common sense in direct marketing can do more harm than good
- 04/04/2008:
Why are delivery dates still a problem?
Being a fair minded and reasoned sort of bloke I tend to have some sympathy for Royal Mail in December, what with all these people living in Northumbria, Tyrone and the Scilly Isles posting Christmas cards to their long lost friends in Northumbria, Tyrone and the Scilly Isles. Tricky business this postal delivery.
But then I thought, surely by now they have had enough time to get the postal service at Christmas right - what with technology and everything. I thought this particularly when I saw the Royal Mail delivery report for December 2007. It reads like this
First class delivered next day 36.6%
First class delivered two days after posting 26.8%
First class delivered three days after posting 26.8%
First class delivered four days after posting 9.8%
And I thought, that’s not really on - not after 100 years or more or Christmas cards and the like.
But then I thought - what about Amazon? Just before Christmas there was a big news story about how 133% of all people who had ordered stuff from web sites were not getting it by Christmas. Oh no, said Amazon, 99.5% of our stuff has arrived on time.
I asked some friends and they said, “no we ain’t had our stuff” - and I looked a bit further. One friend really looked into this, trying to get the delivery sorted. Day after day, before and after Xmas, the courier promised delivery, and day after day it never arrived. But when Amazon were phoned the answer was, “it has been delivered”.
“Oh no it hasn’t” said my friend
“Oh yes it has” said Amazon
I was expecting them to say “It’s behind you” but they missed that one. But in this case, in my tiny sample, Amazon helped up its delivery figures by taking the fact that the delivery firm SAID that they were delivering, as a statement of delivery.
So, just to give plenty of warning, here’s my January suggestion: We will have Christmas this December. People will post stuff. It is possible to prepare for this, now that I have told you in advance. Can the couriers get ready and continue with a normal service this year?
You can keep up to date with direct marketing information by reading the daily DMS news service. It is free and you can leave at any time. Send an email to direct-mail-secrets-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
You can find out a lot more about making direct marketing work for you on www.hamilton-house.com
Tony Attwood
Hamilton House Mailings plc reg number 2444392 VAT 354907535GB. Phone 01536 399 000.