If you watch sports, you’ve seen a “pre-event routine” in action.

In baseball, major-league batters will go through their pre-event routines before every pitch. Watch them and you’ll see some batters come to the plate, take two swings and then tap the edge of the plate with their bat before each pitch. The routines vary with each batter, but practically every major leaguer has an established routine.

You’ll see the same thing in basketball. The next time you see a player taking a foul shot, watch what they do. The player may bounce the ball twice, hold the ball and then bounce it again before taking the shot. Whatever their routine, they will go through the same sequence of events each time they take a foul shot.

Athletes use pre-event routines to prepare for success. It gives them focus and purpose, and helps them achieve a higher level of performance. Now we need to develop our own pre-event routine to make our direct mail more profitable.

How direct marketers can use a pre-event routine

As direct marketers, we know the importance of testing. But what do we test? Dick Benson, in his book Secrets of Successful Direct Mail said, “Any idea you honestly believe can economically increase response is worth testing.”

But how do we know whether a test idea has a reasonable chance of economically increasing results?

First, let’s acknowledge that to increase our mailing’s profitability, we need to do more than increase the response rate or generate a higher average order. For our test to succeed, we must generate more net income than the control. And while we can’t always predict which test will succeed, we can insure that we don’t waste money by testing things that have little hope of increasing profitability.

Here’s a real-life example that proves the point.

Several years ago, I worked with a client whose previous agency produced a test package that everyone predicted would increase response. And it did.

The test package was creative, the graphics were incredible and the format was certain to stand out in a crowded mailbox. In fact, it was so impressive that the agency predicted that people who received the package would display the mailing on their office bookshelf. And perhaps they did.

But unfortunately, the client lost a bundle of money—and the agency lost the account—because no one bothered to price the test package’s rollout costs and determine out how much additional response would be needed to justify its higher cost.

If they had, they would have realized that this elaborate package needed—this is a true story—a 476% increase in response to break even with the control.

Now, I’m not saying that you can’t outperform the control by nearly five to one. But is it a reasonable expectation? Even if the test package doubles or triples the response rate, it’s a big loser. And this is where a pre-event routine helps.

Doing the math first

Before we invest our own money—or the client’s money—we need to do a little math and determine what results a test package must generate to justify its cost. And with this information, we can make an informed decision on whether the test can give us a reasonable expectation of economically increasing response.

My routine is simple and works like this: If the test cost $100/M more than the control and you currently average $25 per order, then the test will need to generate four additional responses per thousand pieces mailed. Therefore, if your control is pulling a 1% response rate, your test needs a 1.4% response to break even.

Here’s a simple worksheet I use before committing to a test.

You may find this approach to be too simplistic for your needs but, regardless of our methods, we all need a pre-event routine that causes us to ask, “Is it realistic to expect this test to increase results by 40%? Is this test a good investment?”

With a pre-event routine, these questions are answered before we spend a dime on the mailing. And whatever approach your pre-event routine takes, the process is essential to getting the greatest return from your direct mail test dollars. Like professional athletes, we’ll achieve a higher level of performance with good preparation.

J. Paul Getty once said the three keys to wealth and success are, “Rise early. Work hard. And strike oil.”

That may be good advice. But for those of us who must depend upon something other than striking oil, I say the three keys to success for a direct marketer are to TEST, TEST, and TEST!

But before we test, we must recognize that not all tests are productive or cost-effective. My next post will be “What, How and When to Test” but in the meantime, here are 7 costly mistakes that you’ll want to avoid when testing:

• When you’re looking for breakthrough results, it makes no sense to test small things—the color of the return envelope, minor copy changes buried in the letter or a different paper stock, for example. When you need a breakthrough, test the big things—list, offer, format and copy—to get big results.
• Do the math first. Before you make the test mailing, you need to know how much of a “lift” you need to break even. Make sure you have a reasonable chance of winning. On the other hand, don’t conclude that the test “costs too much” without doing the math. Increasing your package cost by 50% doesn’t necessarily mean you have to increase response by 50%. Much will depend upon the size of your average order, so do the math first.
• Don’t ignore past test results. At times, we get valid test results, but they weren’t what we expected so we’re tempted to ignore them. Your test results are the voice of your customers, so listen to what they’re saying—even if it’s not what you expected to hear.
• Don’t test more than one thing at a time—or test everything. You can’t test a new format to a new list and conclude that the format made the difference. However, you can test new copy and a new format—to the same list—as long as you recognize that you’re testing the package, not the format or the copy.
• Don’t think that just because something worked for another mailer, it will work for you.
• Rather than become stuck in a “make it cheaper” mode, test adding features and benefits to your package. More often than not, you’ll increase profits by adding to the package rather than by taking away features and benefits.
• How many times have you heard, “I don’t need to test; my control is still working”? The best time to test is when your control is working. Don’t fall into the trap of complacency. Otherwise, you’re going to put a serious hurt on your cash flow.

To succeed in direct mail, you don’t need to be a rocket scientist, but you do need to understand the fundamentals of testing and have the discipline to follow the results.

Test results are like a road map, and when you follow them, they’ll lead you to success.