By Michael Maguire
Postal address information of customers, prospects, and suppliers is ubiquitous in virtually every enterprise, both profit and non-profit. This information remains the fundamental means of contact with our constituencies even with all of the electronic means of communications at our disposal. In short, when all else fails, we can always send a letter. Correct, clean and current address information is an important intangible asset, not unlike the value associated with patents, trademarks, and copyrights.
The United States Postal Service (USPS) has promoted address standardization and ZIP + 4 coding for more than a decade with some success. In many organizations, address standardization software is as familiar as word processing and spreadsheet applications. Still, address inaccuracies and the resulting undeliverable mail are common.
24 Percent of 200 Billion
Approximately 24 percent of the nearly 200 billion pieces of mail the Postal Service handles each year have address inaccuracies. These address inaccuracies can affect delivery to varying degrees including non-delivery, slowed delivery, returned mail, and mail delivered to the wrong address.
The following “10 Immutable Laws of Postal Address Quality” illustrate improvements you can make in your customer information and fulfillment procedures.
#1 The Law of Escalation
The Law of Escalation states that: “The farther the customer or prospect transaction progresses, the more expensive it becomes to correct the address information.” The Law of Escalation is also known as the “$1.00/ $10.00/ $100.00” rule.
The premise is that with each event that occurs over the course of a customer transaction, the more dispersed, replicated and unpredictable the address information becomes. In the following example, the specific dollar amounts vary, however the relative values typically do not.
The $1.00/$10.00/$100.00 Rule
The Law of Escalation focuses on the time, resources and simple hassle of ensuring Customer X’s information is valid throughout the organization. This Law also illustrates when address information is best corrected.
#2 The Law of the Hard Dollar Discount
The USPS offers substantial postal discounts to organizations preparing mailings in a method that automates the Postal Service’s handling process. The majority of these “work sharing” programs offered by the USPS require address standardization and ZIP + 4 appending.
The Law of the Hard Dollar Discount states that: “Address correction is a necessary first step for taking advantage of most postal discount programs.”
Postal discounts can be categorized as a “hard dollar discount” as you simply pay the Post Office less to mail the same number of mail pieces. Customer goodwill, value to the organization and better delivery are important, however the numbers associated with these events are somewhat less concrete than pure postal discounts. Correcting lists with CASS Certified™ address correction software, then presorting with a complimentary postal presort product will result in a lower postage bill, perhaps as much as 35%. Taking full advantage of postal discounts requires a postal presorting software product; however, valid addresses are the first step.
#3 The Law of the Hunter
Virtually everyone involved in commerce is a hunter or gatherer. We are on a constant quest for an increase in sales, an increase in membership, or an increase in participation from our particular constituencies.
Salespeople search for, i.e. “hunt”, for leads of prospects to sell their product or service to. The leads are then refined or “processed” down to those that at are qualified and ready to purchase. We “capture” this type of data from many sources, but today the Internet is perhaps the most popular data-gathering tool.
The problem is the quality of the information captured. The Law of the Hunter states that: “Captured information has some value in its original state. It has far more value in a processed state.”
Whether we are speaking of actual game in the wild or greens from your garden, typically some type of processing occurs before use regardless of the information type. The postal address information captured from your website has some value; however, the address may or may not be correct. It probably has no ZIP + 4.
The value and usefulness of address information is heightened when it is processed with CASS Certified™ software. This software corrects misspellings, standardizes address elements, fills in missing address components and adds county name and congressional district information. Data “hunting” is the first step in creating a responsive database. Address processing is the next.
#4 The Law of the Unfulfilled
The Law of the Unfulfilled states that: “An organization’s ability to fulfill orders and literature requests is directly related to address quality.” Using the web or direct mail to initiate orders or requests for information are fundamental marketing processes. Fulfilling those requests would seem equally fundamental. The requested items are selected, boxed, addressed and shipped via UPS, Fed Ex, or the Postal Service. Seems simple, right? It should be, and for the most part it is. However, problems arise when the address on the article is incorrect or incomplete.
These can include:
#5 The Law of Speed
With the proliferation and popularity of overnight shipping, we seem to be of the mindset that all documents require immediate delivery. Chances are you’ve overheard a manager in your office direct the secretary to “overnight it” more out of convenience rather than a true sense of urgency.
First Class Mail often delivers overnight locally and can provide an excellent value for delivery cross-country. Overnight courier costs can be in the tens of dollars per delivery, while First Class Mail® is in the tens of cents per delivery.
The Law of Speed states that: “The speed that mail is delivered is directly dependent on the quality of the address.” In short, if the address is incorrect or outdated, expect some type of delivery delay. The Postal Service estimates that nearly 24 percent of all addresses in the mail stream have inaccuracies. The speed and accuracy of the delivery of this mail is proportional to the extent of the inaccuracies.
CASS Certified™ address correction software will correct many address problems and standardize the content, and it can reside on your desktop computer, waiting for you to key in a postal address in your database, word processor, or addressing software. Instantly, the address is matched against the United States Postal Service’s file of all deliverable addresses and validation of the keyed address is attempted.
#6 The Law of Precision
The Law of Precision fits hand-in-glove with The Law of Speed. Corrected address information moves letters through the mail stream faster because the Postal Service doesn’t have to “guess” the delivery point. An additional benefit is that mail is also delivered more accurately. The Law of Precision states that: “The accuracy of mail delivery is directly dependent on the quality and completeness of the address.”
Examples of corrected addresses receiving more precise delivery are everywhere. Large apartment complexes come to mind. An apartment building might have a “default” address for the building, however the “delivery point” is that address plus the apartment number. If you are mailing to a prospect or customer in that complex and the apartment number is not part of the address, there is a chance of mis-delivery.
CASS Certified™ address correction software returns “result” codes during processing. These result codes may indicate that there is a “better” address than the one that currently exists in the database. You have the opportunity to look further into the address record and actually “scroll” the Postal Service’s database to see if secondary address information such as suite or apartment number exists.
Remember, the Postal Service file only lists deliverable addresses, not those who live there. Therefore, the specific apartment number that matches your prospect must be confirmed before appending the address record.
Speed is important: Precision is critical.
#7 The Law of Duplication
The Law of Duplication states that: “Duplicate address detection success is dependent on the degree of address standardization.” Just as mailing list quality fluctuates, address standardization will affect duplicate detection to varying degrees.
Duplicate mailing remains one of the most visible problems in direct mail communication. Customers and prospects are irritated by it, mailing organizations waste resources processing it, and marketing efforts are hindered by it. While recycling efforts are helpful, duplicate mail taxes our environment as well.
Thankfully, powerful, intuitive duplicate address detection software is readily available and used by a variety of organizations. Duplicate detection or “matching” software looks for patterns and phonetic similarity between addresses, personal names, and business names within and between your databases.
When the matching software completes its investigation of your database or databases, the suspected duplicates are presented.
The easier it is for matching software to find duplicated records, the greater your success in ridding the list of the offending addresses. An instrumental first step is standardizing and correcting with CASS Certified™ software. It stands to reason that if the street names of duplicated records are standardized and spelled correctly, matching software would have a better chance at detecting them.
Through the use of this software, postage costs are saved, printing costs are saved and incalculable customer irritation is avoided.
#8 The Law of Foundation
As its name depicts, The Law of Foundation speaks to the fundamentals on which the organization is based.
The Law of Foundation states that: “Verifying and validating customer data is a fundamental business practice that impacts communication throughout the organization.” A customer mailing list remains a key conduit for retaining loyalty, interest, and continued business. A correct address is truly foundational to business retention.
#9 The Law of the Asset
The Law of the Asset states that: “An organization’s customer list is one of its most valuable assets. Address correction and validation increase that value.”
To paraphrase Immutable Law # 9, a company’s customer list is an extremely valuable asset, similar to specialized equipment or patents. Often companies are bought and sold on the basis of their customer list and little else. Stockholders “own” customer lists in a manner not unlike the ownership of any other asset. The value of this asset, however, is diminished if lists are riddled with outdated ZIP Codes, misspellings, and missing address elements.
Address information is an enterprise resource and asset whose value crosses organizational units. There is interdependence across and between departments and functions for all of the elements required to complete a successful customer transaction. Clean, updated address information is an organizational asset that helps complete this transaction.
#10 The Law of Standardization
The Law of Standardization states that: “Standardization of postal address capture directly increases data quality.” Immutable Law #10 speaks to the business rules and data definition that you as a manager, have set forth to knowledge-workers capturing raw information.
The results CASS Certified™ address correction software produces are dependent on the raw address information presented.
Capturing address information at the source in a systematic, standardized method increases data quality and eliminates the cost associated with making corrections later. Defined data collection increases the effectiveness of address correction software and other address enhancing processes such as National Change of Address (NCOA™).
Once corrected and coded, address information should reside in a single repository, then replicated from the source for other processes such as shipping or direct mail. A single source for the most accurate and updated address information is a powerful tool for management when developing marketing plans, budgeting, and general business strategy. Standardization helps models built on defined business practices perform better.
Conclusion
Postal address correction was once a process used primarily as a requirement for taking advantage of postal discounts. Postal savings is still an important reason to utilize CASS Certified™ software; however the benefit of a standardized address has transcended the mail center. With the popularity of Internet shopping, small parcel shipping has exploded. Accurate delivery relies on an accurate address. A misdirected invoice because of an erroneous address impacts cash flow.
John Wargo, Vice President of Marketing for the Postal Service® once noted the importance of a correct address:
“When was the last time you dialed the wrong number and reached the right person?”
This quote from one of the Postal Services’ most influential posts exemplifies how vital a correct address is for efficient delivery. Quality address information remains a critical component for improving customer contact, customer fulfillment and customer satisfaction.