Keeping Your Database Information Current so You Reach Your Customers

There are two main areas to address when putting together your strategy for keeping your contacts information up to date in your database:

1.   Updating your ‘old’ or legacy contact information

2.   Managing your new and on-going contact information

There are a number of ways to update your legacy data.  The areas to focus on include: current mailing address, phone numbers, email addresses and specific industry information when available (ie last loan data).

Based on USPS statistics*, about 17% of American move each year, that equates to about every  1 in 6 contacts. For a database of 2000 records that is about 340 people per year.

For mailing address clean up, the most potent approach is to use a service that will run your contacts address information against USPS certified tools such as CASS and NCOA.   CASS is address matching software that will bring back address syntax and ZIP+4 information for an address.   For example,  ‘7895 Lakeview Str    Canton, OH   55412’ will be updated to ‘ 7895 Lakeview Drive    Canton, OH   55412-8945’.

NCOA (National change of address) database will bring back any address updates based on a change of address card being filled out and provided to the post office. For example, ‘Frank Russell at 326 Julian Street  Canton, OH   54311’  will come back as ‘Frank Russell at 111 Partridge Place   Canton, OH   54455-8945’.

For phone numbers, there are services available that will run your contacts name against public phone company records and come back with current home and/or mobile phone numbers. The return rate of these types of services run between 30 and 50%.

Email addresses are a bit trickier due to email service providers policies protecting email addresses. There is not currently any publicly available national database  to run against to check email addresses. I think we would all agree that is a good thing !  There are services that can run your list of emails and report back any syntax updates (ie ‘ted@.gmail.cmm’   is corrected to ‘ted@gmail.com’), as well as any identification of a bad domain. For example for  ‘susan@rainmaker.com’, the report would indicate that the domain ‘rainmaker’ is no longer a valid domain.

The only complete assurance that you have the right email is that the customer responds to an email you send.   For wrong or missing emails, the only way to update your database at this time, is to send a note or letter asking for their email, or making a call to ask for the information.  Most people do not have time to call hundreds of people in their database to get email address information, so you could do a mailing that includes asking for email addresses, or hire a college student or temp to do this for you.  A friendly script that includes something like “What is the best email to use for you to receive my monthly newsletters and market updates ? I would like the opportunity to keep you informed with new information that can help you and your family save money etc”.    You could also ask for an email address verification whenever you make or receive a call from a contact that you have not emailed or spoken to recently.

In terms of managing your new and on-going contacts information, the most obvious is to get the contacts complete address, phone and email information when you initially speak to them. This is also the time you would ask permission to send them communications via email or mail etc.

Another approach is to have your Loan Software automatically synching to your contact database to avoid you having to do duplicate data entry, as well as getting highly valid contact information to your database.  The contact information on a loan application is usually very accurate due to the information validity required in this process.

Hopefully this information is helpful in putting together a strategy for your database ‘clean up’ and day to day management of contact information.  Stay in contact with as many of your contacts as possible over time !   Having accurate contact information is a must for you to effectively work this strategy.

USPS Move Statistics*: http://pe.usps.com/businessmail101/addressing/checkingaccuracy.htm

Donna Quisenberry of Q2 Database Consulting Services.  Donna has been a database and marketing consulting specialist for over 15 years.  Donna/Q2 provides database implementation, training, automated synchronization from separate applications to ACT!, as well as automated marketing solutions. Besides staying technically current for database/CRM solutions, Donna also attends business technology and strategy events every year to stay on top of the specific best winning ideas and concepts in order to bring those same winning strategies to her customers.

Embracing Social Media with ACT!

Have you embraced Social Media yet ?  Have you had new business come to you through sites like LinkedIn, FaceBook, ActiveRain ?   

It is great to see that Sage Software sees the value of including Social Media connections as an important element of running your business. ACT! version 2010 and after,has a Web Info tab that allows you to connect to and view a contact in a variety of Social Media sites such as LinkedIn, FaceBook, ActiveRain, Google, Google Maps etc. You can also add your own links in order to have a quick connect to virtually any site you wish.

 That’s nice, but what really is the big deal with Social Media ?

For those that have been resisting the Social Media Revolution, first let me say I understand because as humans we tend to resist change, and second I must say sorry, it is time to stop avoiding the inevitable.

Social Media is here to stay and the most popular cyber connection sites will continue to swell with the tide of humanity getting on board at an astounding rate.

Fact:  96% of people in the United States between the ages of 24 to 54 belong to at least one Social Media site.  There is a great video on YouTube outlining the impact of Social Media on business.  Check it out at :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHLMGXaR0Io&kw=social+media&ad=10383246475&feature=pyv

 It is basically the fusion of Sociology and Technology.  It connects people and provides an interactive format to build relationships in many arenas including personal, political, and business.  It transforms monologues into dialogs.  Everyone is a writer, a critic, your best ally or worst enemy and it can all be played out real time via Social Media.  The world has turned into a giant community of publishers. 

One major shift in the way Social Media affects each one of us is the way information is delivered.  We have gone from phone and email which is sending information back and forth in fairly one-on-one fashion, to the Internet where you go to search for information, to the new way to connect via Social Media where the information finds you.  If you are signed up on anyone’s blog or follow anyone on Twitter you know what I mean by this. Information is pushed at you in a way never seen before.

There are 4 major reasons you should get as involved as possible in Social Media from a business standpoint:

1. New Lead Acquisition
2. Dossier and Reconnaissance
3. Electronic Intimacy – Something to Talk About
4. Hey, Look at Me !

New Lead Acquisition:  Facebook as an example. You could see a friend of a friend of a friend mention that they really would love to Refi their home loan but are not sure who to go to.  You could see a friend of a friend of another friend mention that they just found out they are having twins and need a bigger place. The list goes on.  The cool thing is that if you respond in the thread, you just took the opportunity to expose your services to not only that one person, but everyone else who is connected to that friend. You have to be present and tuned in to grab these opportunities!

Dossier and Reconnaissance:  LinkedIn as an example.  You can get all kinds of information about a person’s professional life, company contact information, comments from people who have referred this person, which of your competitors are already linked to this person etc.   You can better position yourself when selling if you know what competitors the contact is also connected to.

Electronic Intimacy – Something to Talk About.  Twitter as an example.  Say you get a new prospect. Before you call them, look them up on LinkedIn to get a quick glimpse into their professional life, and then if they have info on their Twitter account available, view their last Tweets to see what is important in their world ‘right now’. When you call you can create an instant bond. “Hi John, I see that you went to the Eagles concert last night. I love that group! How was it?” 

Hey ! Look at Me !  Many of the most popular sites are perfect for self promotion.  You can post quick articles, links to your blog(s), links to timely information URLs etc on these sites. I have seen items like the following on sites like Facebook and Twitter : “Felt great to help get a young family of 4 into their first house today ! They are delighted and relieved at how low their payments are. These are the kind of days that I just love being a Mortgage Professional!”. Keep in mind that shameless self-promotion is generally OK on these sites depending on how you approach it.

I hope you found this article helpful and would be happy to assist you with any of your database management or marketing needs!

Check out the ACT! 2010 Web Info tab below.  Connect on the fly to a multitude of Social Media sites right from within ACT!.

Donna Quisenberry
Q2 Database Consulting Services
Donnaquisenberry@sbcglobal.net
(760) 434-3431

Bringing database and marketing expertise and solutions to Business Professionals since 2001