International List Rental Checklist (540 words)

Take nothing for granted when selecting international lists. What may be an industry standard in the United States may not exist abroad. Above all, ask as many questions as possible.

Here are 12 items to check before you rent a multinational or local, in-country list, as presented by Mike Manning, president, Manning Media International, at Direct Marketing Days in New York this May.

1. Who is the list owner? Knowing the owner's identity will prevent renting duplicate files and allow you to confirm the owner's right to sell the data. If ownership cannot be ascertained, it is possible the list has been pirated.

2. Get the cost to rent the list in writing. Some European list managers will charge a set-up fee ranging from $100 to $600, in addition to the cost per thousand names. A $200/M list could quickly become $400/M.

3. Is prepayment required? An upfront payment equal to 50 percent of the total rental cost is often required by the list manager.

4. Look for hidden selects. Recency, products purchased, credit card and gender selects may not be listed on the data card but are generally available, if you ask.

5. Determine the source of data to avoid renting duplicate files. It is common for foreign list owners to appoint multiple managers. Each manager calls the list something different. Unless you check the data source, you could waste valuable resources on duplicate files.

6. Is a contact name included? When renting business-to-business lists, ask if a contact name as well as a company name are included in the base cost per thousand. Often times, a contact name is considered a select and you will have to pay an additional fee for this information.

7. When was the list last cleaned or updated? International lists are not updated as frequently as U.S. lists. Check to see how recent are the names on the file. Bear in mind, however, that compared to the United States, consumer mobility and job turnover rates are not as high in Europe. So a list that may be out of date by U.S. standards could be fine by international standards.

8. What is the invoice due date and the currency of payment? The standard that payment is due 30 days from mail date holds only in the United States. Sometimes prepayment is required.

9. What is the label size? On average, European addresses are several lines longer than the standard U.S. address. Make sure your label is large enough to accommodate an extra line or two.

10. Do you have country line capability? A local list will not necessarily have the country line included on the file.

11. Review the data yourself. It always pays to eyeball the data. If you are renting a list of business executives in the United Kingdom or Australia, for example, and the file contains a healthy number of presidents, question the accuracy of the data. Top executives are addressed as "managing director" in these two countries.

12. Have a contingency plan. With the exception of a few of the more sophisticated foreign list markets, no list code of ethics or standard practices exist. Draw up an agreement covering list cancellations, nixies and duplicates before you receive the data.