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Poor Discipline Kills Data Files and Costs Money.
Pricing in Proportion - An Introduction.
Pricing in Proportion - Marketing Strategies.
Your database is your most important marketing tool
Poor Discipline Kills Data Files and Costs Money
Manually typing names and addresses into a customer database is repetitive, tedious and prone to error. The desire to complete the work quickly can overcome the desire for accuracy. The operator may not realise how important it is to make sure data is entered in the correct fields or columns. Worse the operator may not care if the data is put in properly. It is just another address after all. Before long, first names end up in the surname field. Towns and cities are entered as street names, and counties or states are typed in as cities or towns. Spelling mistakes may not be spotted.
Does this really matter? Well, yes it does and here’s why:
Suppose you want to send a mailshot advertising a new product launch open day to every one of your customers who lives in Salisbury. You get your computer to search your data, looking for all records that have an entry matching Salisbury in the post town column or data field. It will not find any records where Salisbury has been entered in another column or field. It also will not find any mis-spellings e.g. Sailsbury. These customers will be left out of your mailing and they won’t attend your product launch..
Or suppose your direct mailing is a personalised letter addressed to the first name of each of your customers. If you have entered the first names of your customers in the wrong fields in your database, then you will end up with incorrectly addressed letters. The most frequent mistake is to mix up the first name and surname. So your letter to David Bryant, could end up addressed to Dear Bryant. What impression does this create of your business?
Post code records are notoriously inaccurate. Typically the number zero gets typed in as the letter O, or vice versa. Spaces are put in the wrong place or omitted altogether. This not only indicates poor record-keeping, it costs you money. Each inaccurate postcode can cost you as much as 11p more to post than an accurate code. 1000 incorrect records = £110 additional cost.
The easiest way to prevent these errors and others like them is to use a proper database program to store your addresses. Such a program will have a data entry form with labelled boxes to make typing in the addresses an easier and more structured process. However, even using such a program will not guarantee that your data doesn’t have errors if the operator isn’t disciplined when entering addresses. The problem is even worse if several operators update your database. Human error will creep in despite everyone’s best efforts. You need to take the time and effort to check your data regularly.
Mailing houses offer cost effective data checking or data cleaning services which will look at your data and make the necessary corrections, namely:
* ensure information is in the
correct columns
* check postcode accuracy
* find and add missing postcodes
* correct mis-spelt towns and
cities
* identify duplicate addresses
* update “gone aways” - people
or businesses that have moved
They will also identify addresses that need more corrective action. They can tell you what is wrong with the addresses so remedial action can be taken. Some addresses can be so inaccurate that only a phone call to the customer can determine the correct details.
Yes, it costs money to keep checking your data and maintaining it, but have you really thought about the hidden costs of not doing so, of using inaccurate customer records? It could be costing your company a great deal more.
About the Author
Copyright August 2008. Diana Lees.
