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For companies that maintain mailing lists with street addresses, keeping accurate and up-to-date address data for contacts has always been a concern. As mailing costs continue to increase, it is becoming more and more important for organizations to reduce their returned mail and improve the effectiveness of their mailing lists. The solution is an address data management service that verifies the accuracy of addresses and standardizes them to accepted postal service standards.

The Challenges of Address List Management

Incomplete Address Data

Missing ZIP Codes, +4 codes, company names, apartment or suite numbers, and other segments of an address are common problems and lead to missed opportunities for an organization. Whether it loses an opportunity to follow-up on a sale with a customer or is unable to deliver a product ordered, a company's ability to communicate with contacts in its lists is impaired by incomplete address data.

Incorrect Address Data

Address data is highly susceptible to mistakes. Since the source of the data could be almost anyone, including customers and sales representatives, mistakes are common. The street name could be misspelled. An unacceptable city name could be entered. The wrong ZIP Code might be provided. Whatever the case, incorrect data in an address database will result in a higher percentage of undeliverable mail.

Outdated Address Data

Sure, a customer might file a change of address with the post office but wouldn't it be nice if a company could be notified of the change before sending out a mailing? How about knowing if a ZIP Code or street name has changed? Mailings sent with outdated address data may make it to contacts eventually, but it will require extra time to be processed and forwarded. Outdated address data is a problem especially worrisome for companies that send out time-sensitive mailings.

Updating Postal Service Data

Some companies have already implemented internal processes to validate their addresses. In these cases, maintenance becomes an issue. Address data can be very dynamic. Postal codes are added and removed. Homes are built and new streets and addresses are created. Street names and city names can even change. Most postal service agencies release updated data monthly. Companies that use this data to validate addresses must update it monthly to keep it current. Some may decide not to update it and validate their addresses with outdated data determining that some validation is better than no validation. In any case, keeping postal service data current is an issue that all organizations that work with address data face.

A solution that can validate and standardize address data with low overhead and maintenance is needed.

NEXT: Solutions for Address Management Concerns