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Continuity Programs – The Ultimate Upsell?

lmoulton | 24 February, 2006 16:00

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Continuity is very attractive to the marketer when you figure that the cost of customer acquisition is tempered by the subsequent “free” orders generated by the continuity system.

There are 3 types of continuity programs:

The simplest is shipping the same item over and over again until the customer cancels. We refer to this as our "replenishment" system.

More complicated is the “Time Life” collection that starts with Volume 1 and continues on until the collection is complete (a good marketer never let’s on how many volumes there are until one has half a book case full and has not choice but to finish the collection).

Then there is the “variable” continuity where the end recipient can alter what’s being sent to them in midstream. For cosmetics one could be getting a lipstick every 3 months and might want to vary to the color-- or for nutriceuticals one could change the boost or add or delete an item to their program without canceling the original program.

The key on all these programs is the control they require to manage them without having a nightmare in customer service that boomerangs into returns / refunds / better business bureau letters and the like.. Thoroughly investigate your capabilities on the back end before venturing to quickly into this. It’s pretty easy to start it but quite another to administer.


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Tread Carefully with Continuity

admin | 14 October, 2005 11:07

Continuity programs are a lot harder to set up and manage than most marketers think. DRTV marketers with long-running continuity programs know that keeping it simple is important (e.g. don't try to shoe horn a complicated multi-pay into your already complicated continuity) and reporting is critical. Your fulfillment partner should have a good continuity system that includes robust reporting and projections.

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Pre-Authorization and Settlement Can Lead to Trouble

admin | 14 October, 2005 10:41

Websites and call centers that pre-authorize and settle before sending the order files to a fulfillment center may be overlooking several potential problems. The most important is inventory availability. Once a card is charged and settled, the fulfillment center will need to ship the order within a tight timeframe. If there is not enough inventory for all of the orders, the marketer may have to deal with chargebacks, increased customer service calls and better business bureau complaints.

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