Focus USA offers customer profiling and custom-tailored modeling to help clients increase the profitability of their acquisition and retention efforts.

A customer profile looks at demographic/lifestyle characteristics or groups of characteristics individually. As a stand-alone analysis or as an initial step before a custom model, a customer profile can provide a great deal of information about the profile of a particular segment of people, whether that be good customers, responders to a recent mailing, converter/buyers, or inactive customers. Focus USA's customer profiles provide valuable information for helping to refine selection criteria for acquisition efforts.

Unlike profiling, modeling examines the interaction of characteristics. It is predictive and scientific and, depending on the marketer's objectives, a Focus USA custom-tailored model can:

• Help increase response rates by targeting only those most likely to respond
• Decrease marketing costs by eliminating those least likely to respond
• Increase profitability by acquiring customers who spend more
• Improve customer retention
• Help identify which customers should be targeted more frequently and which should be targeted less frequently.

The quality of data that goes into building a model, as well as the depth and breadth of coverage, are critical elements for the success of the model's objectives. Over the past 13 years, Focus USA has worked with and analyzed dozens of different data sources and has selected the best, most responsive of these to be included in its modeling database.

The modeling technique is the other critical component necessary for accomplishing the mailer's objectives. Because our models are custom-built, and our modelers have a hands-on role, we are not restricted to using a specific type of model. Based upon the needs of our clients and the objectives of the model, we use the best-of-breed modeling techniques which include the following:

Customer Profiling: This is a univariate profile of your customers based on 100+ characteristics which allows you to see which attributes define your customers.

Look-A-Like Models: These models look at the attributes and characteristics of your customers in order to find clones or "look-a-like" prospects in the general population.

Response Modeling: These models look at the responders and the non-responders from previous mailings and predict the likelihood that future prospects will respond.)

Conversion (or Approval) Modeling: These models predict who will respond and who will convert/buy/approve by examining the differences between responders, non-responders and converters.)

Regression modeling: These models are the purest form of response modeling and they are based on a mailing from a particular file/database whose results will be used to build a model on that same file.)