Address Hygiene… Want to get your message delivered or that invoice paid? It is amazing how often there are errors in addresses. Street names are misspelled, numbers in addresses are transposed, directionals (North, South, etc) are missing and suffixes are missing. (Is it First Avenue or First Street?) Poor addresses leads to undelivered or returned mail and packages. Cleaning the address as it is entered is the lowest cost way to assure message delivery. Software can be tied to your CRM or data base system to automatically correct new addresses or alert you that there is a problem with an address being entered.
Mail Management Software Basics… The software imports data, performs data hygiene. (CASS certifies and adds information necessary to print a postal bar code) The software will also compare the current information to the National Change of Address. The software will also sort the data in the order the postal service requires to qualify for discounts, compute the actual postage costs and produce all the required postal forms.
Data manipulation… Packages vary as to how much you can manipulate the data. Common utilities include case conversion (Upper to Lower, Lower to Upper) field splitting, combining fields, duplicate checking and exporting.
Mail Merges… Some packages allow you to print mail merges directly from the mailing software. Some allow you to create salutation fields needed in most mail merges.
Workstation based… Some packages are installed on your workstation. The program and directories will have to be updated at least every 60 days as required by the postal service.
Cloud Based… With this configuration you will send a file to the provider with the mailing specifications (First class, Standard mail, your permit number, etc) and the file is processed “in the cloud” and returned to you in presort sequence and with the documents required by the postal service. You will need an internet connection with reasonable speed.
Data Enhancements… Data can be appended to files (like suite numbers and phone numbers) and records can be scrubbed against lists such as do-not-call, prison and deceased.
Choosing the right package for you…
There is a wide range of software and selecting the right one for your needs can be confusing. All of the publishers claim they have the best product, no surprise there. If that was truly the case you could just buy the lowest priced package. As you probably guessed, they are not all the same and they all have strengths and weaknesses. We represent the major publishers that have a top quality product and support it. We can help you get the best package for your needs.
Want to know more? Call or email today!
alan@dsc2software.com
513-519-2495