B-to-B List Hygiene
I have worked at numerous business-to-business (b-to-b) catalogs during the years, and one problem I’ve consistently come across is getting catalogers to see the importance of list hygiene. It’s been an uphill battle to get management to spend the time and money on this important area. It never seems to make it to the top of their “to-do” lists.
But that recently has changed with the anthrax scare and postage hikes. Many experts agree with The Direct Marketing Association and U.S. Postal Service that mail will gain greater credibility and a higher opening rate if names and addresses are clean and professional-looking.
Plus, one of the best ways to increase your profitability in these recessionary times is to clean your b-to-b catalog’s database. Once it’s clean, your costly promotions will reach only businesspeople who are actually there and able to respond.
A List Hygiene “To-Do” List
Following are some strategies to get your b-to-b catalog list as clean as possible:
*Revisit your internal rules for data entry, and schedule a refresher course. Recognize and reward those employees who consistently follow the data rules. Do the same for vendors/partners who process your data. Ask your internal IT group to help you develop a daily report that both you and they can use to discern what type of changes are being made to the database and by whom.
*Standardize your business data so the same type of data appear consistently in the same place (e.g., suite numbers consistently in the same position). Names and addresses that don’t match may be considered “suspects”—that is, records that may be inaccurate. Eyeball those, and work to clean them up.
*Have your customer service and order-entry staffers take a few seconds on each customer call to confirm database information. Be sure your Web site encourages customers to update their own data on the site, prompting them to do so every time they use it.
*Ask your post office or computer house what tools are available to help clean your names and addresses. The most well-known tools are used mainly for consumer databases, but there are other tools for b-to-b.
*Send to each client company’s corporate mailroom a list of the names and addresses you have on file for that company. Ask the mailroom manager to help by sending back to you a cleaned-up list of contacts at his or her company. This technique also works well by e-mail, if you have corporate e-mail addresses and opt-in permission.
*Another way to clean a b-to-b list is to use title addresses to capture names of people who’ve changed jobs. For example, a company’s vice president of finance whose name you have on file may have left the firm. But it’s a good bet there’s a new vice president of finance working at that company. Title-address your mail, and print a request on the label to forward the mail to the right person.
*Ask your sales force to submit name and address changes for your database, making sure they receive some benefit from their investing this additional time in database hygiene.
If you don’t have the money to try all of these tips or aren’t sure where to start, invest in your best customers first. That strategy will pay back the fastest.
Mary Ann Kleinfelter is a consultant for Marketing Solutions Today, which focuses on solutions for b-to-b, catalog, customer retention/acquisition and database management. She has more than 20 years of experience in direct marketing, working for firms such as Delta Education, PaperDirect, Daytimers and Misco. She can be reached at (603) 673-6786 or by e-mail: Makleinfelter@aol.com.
