Smaller Circ Better for Human-i-Tees Dec 3, 2003 12:00 PM
, Paul Miller
JobZone
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Through an aggressive regression analysis, Valhalla, NY-based
Human-i-Tees has seen its response rate jump 30% during the past
year. And even though the cataloger of T-shirts and gifts for school
fundraisers slashed its circulation from 600,000 copies to 200,000,
sales still increased 6%.
Working with Shelton, CT-based Market Data Retrieval, a provider of
compiled lists for the educational market, Human-i-Tees analyzed its
house file and rented lists in hopes of reducing its prospecting
mailings. Results showed that most of its buyers were now PTA
organizers rather than teachers. Therefore, Human-i-Tees
“didn’t need to mail catalogs to as many teachers in
schools as we used to,” says president/CEO Lori Genaro.
This change caps a three-year reinvention of sort for Human-i-Tees.
Prior to fall 2000, the company had mailed up to 2 million catalogs a
drop to teachers and administrators at the country’s 108,000
public and private schools. But by mailing multiple copies of catalogs
to schools to different teachers and administrators, “we felt we
were competing with ourselves,” Genaro says. “We also
realized that the catalog was only one part of the selling
process—and not a closer for us.”
Beginning with the fall 2000 mailing, Human-i-Tees reduced
circulation from the millions to the hundreds of thousands. “We
decided to use the catalog as a lead generation tool,” Genaro
says, “as opposed to a direct mail campaign and sale closer. The
catalog might attract customers’ attention, but now when our
sales reps call, they bring the rest of it to life.” The company
employs 26 inhouse sales reps as well as 80 outside distributors.
