Burlington, VT.

Hailing from Toronto, I enjoy keeping a close eye on my homeland. Each summer I return for my annual family vacation. When I do, I always check the B-to-B direct marketing pulse of the country.
That said, I begin by asking you to look in your customer file to see how much business you’re doing in Canada. When you look, don’t forget also to look at Burlington, Vt., Buffalo, N.Y., and Bellingham, Wash., three border cities heavily influenced by Canadian purchases. (Many Canadian businesses have delivery/mail pick-up and drop-off services in those areas.)
In recent years, the Canadian dollar has strengthened (currently, it’s virtually

Sept. 17-19 NEMOA’s Fall 2008 Conference Hilton Burlington Hotel Burlington, VT. http://www.nemoa.org/displayconvention.cfm?conventionnbr=5125 AUGUST 2008 August 4-7 E-Tail 2008, The Hilton, Washington DC. www.etail2008.com August 4, 2008, Comprehensive Email Marketing Strategies Seminar, New york, NY. http://www.the-dma.org/seminars/dmaemail/ August 5, 2008, Direct Marketing Institute, New York, NY. http://www.the-dma.org/seminars/basic/ August 7, 2008, Top Ten Things: Email Creative, online. http://www.the-dma.org/seminars/emailtechniques/20080807.shtml August 11, 2008, Direct Marketing Math & Finance, New York, NY. http://www.the-dma.org/seminars/math/ August 13, 2008, Statistics & Modeling, Boston, MA. http://www.the-dma.org/seminars/statistics/ August 14, 2008, Advanced Copywriting, New York, NY. http://www.the-dma.org/seminars/advancedcopywriting/ August 14, 2008, Determining the Optimal Loyalty Program, online. http://www.the-dma.org/seminars/loyaltyweb/20080814.shtml August 19, 2008, Database Marketing, Chicago,

Sure! According to Jack Schmid of catalog consultancy J. Schmid & Associates, you can insert a customer survey in your outgoing packages. To encourage customers to complete and return the survey, have a raffle and offer gift certificates for merchandise sold in your catalog. —This tip was offered at the fall conference, New England Mail Order Association, held in Burlington, VT, in September. Reported by Donna Loyle.

When taking consumers' orders via telephone, try to avoid asking for customer contact information before the SKU. This is especially important if you're selling to women, said Missy Park, president of Title 9 Sports, a women's athletic wear catalog. "Women like to shop. Let them do it!" Park said during her seminar at the fall conference for the New England Mail Order Association held in Burlington, VT, in September. "Women get excited about the item they've found in your catalog. Get the item number from them first, not last. "In addition," she noted, "there's nothing more deflating than giving a lot of personal information