Direct Mail - What does response rate mean?

[Don Chambers]

I just started my first direct mail campaign. I would like to know what to expect so I don't get discouraged. My research finds that it usually takes multiple mailings to get a response rate and that rate is about 1/2%. How is the response rate calculated? Let's say I send 1,000 letters to the same list once a month. After a year I've sent 12,000 letters total, to 1,000 different people. Would that be 1/2% of the 12,000 witch is 60? Or 1/2% of the 1,000 which is 5? I know it might not really be 1/2%. I just want to get an idea of what people are talking about when they say response rate.

[Tom Cooper]

Dont worry about response rate!  At least as to how many calls you get.  The only metric that matters is deals.  Which is better?

Mail 10,000, 50 responses (.5%), 5 deals

Mail 10,000, 500 responses (5%), 1 deal

Its a no brainer.  It is about the quality of the response.  A buddy of mine had nearly 300 responses on 1000 postcards, but no deals, and the vast majority were angry "Take me off your list" calls.