listened for a few more lines expecting them to tell me what bank. Like most of the population, I use several banks. But it was obvious after a few seconds they were not going to answer that all-important question. “Who are you?”

Respected and well-known agencies cannot depend 100% on referrals for their business anymore. Frankly, I doubt that was ever the case.

The Chief Marketing Officer for a highly targetable vertical BtoB market told me that the traditional method of generating leads using direct mail plus telemarketing and Internet support was dead.

As one of its goals, this blog site explores trends in the direct marketing discipline. One such trend is the fast growing importance of the email media channel.

or the company, a customer loyalty program strives to retain existing customers and increase the profits they bring with repeat purchases. The customer wants to save money by purchasing from the same company over and over again.

As a past direct response agency executive and present direct marketing consultant, I have worked with CMOs in multiple industries. I’ve seen the good, the bad and the ugly

Once a few lists are found that work, the insurance companies mail only to these names with the mailing going to the same names over and over again. They wear out these names and experience diminishing returns.

Richard Rosen, Founder/CEO of FastCall411 made a startling revelation in his article in the December 11, 2007 issue of DM News that confirms what we all experience with the deplorable state of customer service in many US companies.

There’s a lot of talk about what makes a rented response list work. But few have written about the subject. So if you use lists or test them, perhaps you could add to some of the success steps I missed in this blog.