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The DMSI e-NEWSLETTER... Rants and raves from the database pros at DMSI.
Serving 3500+ Marketing Pros

In This Issue:

Dear Friends,

Would you like fries with that?

Yes, McDonald's made the phrase famous, and Amazon pioneered the interactive functionality. Cross sell processes are alive and well, and now available on your desktop. This month we highlight the new cross sell module in our WiseGuys Marketing Software! We are also happy to announce that I have once again been asked by DMAW to conduct a Database Marketing class, Aug. 4th in Falls Church VA. Finally, for the many users of Mail Order Manager (MOM), you will be happy to read about a new dashboard software utility we discovered.

As always, please let us know how DMSI can fit into your database plans!

Bruce Gregoire,
President and founder,
Desktop Marketing Solutions, Inc (DMSI)

Adjunct Professor, Marketing Information Systems
Johns Hopkins University Graduate School

The WiseGuys^TM CrossSell module - beats Amazon side-by-side!
Our popular WiseGuys Marketing Software has now released a CrossSell module - to boost your cross-selling capability both over the phone and over the web. The current version performs specialized analysis using product purchase information, sometimes known as Market Basket Analysis (MBA). You can also think of MBA as "Marketing By Amazon" - since they made it famous. Just like Amazon, it displays a recommended product pair, based on the current product purchase. For example, if a customer buys a baseball bat, what is the most likely other product he/she will purchase (a glove or a ball?). What it means to WiseGuys users is improved cross-selling, higher average order size (and a better bottom line)!

Beats Amazon: WiseGuys CrossSell goes further than Amazon in its analysis. A user can define the "purchasing window" within which a cross-sell opportunity can be counted (e.g. within 7 days). For instance, any bat-ball combination purchased within 7 days of each other is considered a successful cross-sell event. Additionally, the product pair results can filter out database "noise level" (such as gift purchases) using any of the following parameters:

1. Individual SKU
2. Product class - e.g. filter consumable items
3. Division
4. Sales Territory
5. Source code

From Strategic to Tactical: The current version of CrossSell displays product pair combinations with high correlation. If you are a MOM user, DMSI staff can take this display and populate your cross sell tables in MOM. This will allow a pop up screen to display the cross sell product during order entry.

In a future version, CrossSell will automatically create a list of all customers that have ordered the proverbial bat but not yet ordered the ball - and fire off an email asking for the sale.

A gentle reminder for your web shoppers: The CrossSell strategy follows the fundamental marketing concept that it is far easier to sell an additional item to an existing customer, than it is to sell to a new prospect. So if your web shopping cart can display cross sell products (just like Amazon), this approach is invaluable as a gentle reminder to web shoppers when they already have their credit card out. A gentle reminder could take the form "Did you know that 90% of our bat purchasers also buy our softball? Click here to add this item"

High capacity: WiseGuys CrossSell has been thoroughly tested with 50,000 SKUs - that is 2.5 billion product pair combinations!

Learn More: Call DMSI offices and ask for a free demo: (703) 941-8109. Better yet, if you are a user of Mail Order Manager, take advantage of our special offer: Request a demo before Sept 1st, and we will compute your top three product pairs, without charge!
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DMSI to teach "Fundamentals of Database Marketing" - Are you Data Rich and Information Poor?
The Direct Marketing Assoc. of Washington (DMAW) has once again enlisted Bruce Gregoire, DMSI to lead an all-day seminar on "Fundamentals of Database Marketing", on Wednesday, November 9, 2005. This course, to be held at the UVA Tech Center in Falls Church, VA, is designed for both entry level and experienced direct marketing professionals who want added exposure to the art and science of Database Marketing. A great deal of the material for this course is abstracted from Arthur Hughes' popular text "Strategic Database Marketing", used by Mr. Gregoire for his graduate marketing class at Johns Hopkins University.

New database topics! The course (formerly known as RFM Boot Camp) has been expanded to include new material for marketers.

• More database terminology: learn some of the industry jargon, so you can actually communicate with your tech staff (what a concept!).
• Introduction to CRM: hear from Martha Rogers about Customer Relationship Management.
• New marketing technologies: learn how to employ Google adwords, Constant Contact, and more.

And as before, you will use Microsoft Access to manipulate a sample marketing database in a hands-on environment.

Who would benefit from this course? Marketing analysts, circulation planners, direct marketers, fundraising professionals, and marketing management who want a basic understanding of how to use a marketing database.

From a recent student: "Mr. Gregoire is obviously very passionate about his field and I truly enjoyed his class and got a lot out of it."

Learn More: Click on the Calendar of Events tab at DMAW
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Introducing a MOM Dashboard: Real-time Executive level reports are just a click away.
DMSI recently discovered Gold! A visit to one of our clients revealed a "Dashboard style" display unlike we have ever seen - and the best news is that it is available to anyone who uses Mail Order Manager (MOM). If you're not satisfied with the quality of sales reporting that MOM provides, you'll be glad to know about emfluence, an interactive marketing company in Kansas City, MO. By combining Microsoft's Internet Information Server and one of several web programming languages, such as ASP, .NET or ColdFusion with MOM, emfluence can create password protected Intranet reports that will show up-to-the-minute sales figures. Exactly what your busy executive needs - a one click display without having to drill-down through the MOM menu structure.

Need to compare April 2004 to April 2005 sales? Want it broken down by retail v. wholesale v. web? Maybe you'd like a sales rep commission report? With a thorough understanding of MOM's table structure, emfluence has been able to provide this level of custom reporting for MOM users. Some general reports will get you hooked. From there you just need to know what you want and how to ask for it. To view some sample reports and get more information, click here.

Learn More: Contact David Cacioppo, emfluence Managing Partner at (816) 472-4455, and mention DMSI. Or visit www.emfluence.com
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How Desktop Marketing Solutions, Inc. can help you!
DMSI is a full-service resource for database marketing software, programming, installation and applications. Whether you're considering a new software system or just need help assessing your current one, DMSI can help. The staff at DMSI offer the rare combination of database know-how and direct marketing expertise. Our niche is small to mid-size organizations who need the power of advanced database techniques to grow their business. We provide software product installation and customization for "best of breed" marketing database and CRM packages.

And now, pick up the phone! One call gets you 15 minutes of Free Database Advice
Step 1: Call DMSI offices anytime at (703) 941-8109
Step 2: "Ask the Experts" at DMSI - give us your toughest database question.
Step 3: No charge - no obligation. 15 minutes may be all the help you need to start solving your marketing database problem.
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