Spring Cleaning: Tidy Up Your Data and Improve Your Mail Deliverability
Hey mailers, spring cleaning isn't just about decluttering your physical space; it's also a great opportunity to tidy up your business operations and your mailroom too! And you can start with your mailing data.
Your mail can't do its job if it isn't delivered. Clean data can improve your mail deliverability and improve your cash flow. Inaccurate or outdated data can result in mail being sent to incorrect addresses or to customers who have moved, resulting in wasted postage costs and lost opportunities to reach customers. In this article, we will share with you some tips and resources to improve your mail deliverability.
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Assess your data with CASS & NCOA Databases
Using address correction software can save time and money by reducing returned mail and ensuring mail reaches its intended recipient. This way, you’re not spending money on mail that can't reach its destination. Utilize address correction software with CASS & NCOA databases to improve data accuracy and reduce mailing costs:
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CASS checks addresses against a USPS database to verify validity, completeness, and standardization.
- NCOA matches addresses against a registry of people who filed a change of address with the USPS within the past four years.
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Aim to meet the Industry-standard UAA (Undeliverable As Addressed)
UAA mail refers to mail that is returned to the sender because the address is incorrect, incomplete, or outdated. To minimize the costs associated with UAA mail, you should aim to meet the industry standard of no more than 6-10% of mailing costs resulting from UAA. This can be achieved by implementing best practices for data management, such as regularly updating and verifying customer addresses, utilizing address correction software, and removing duplicates from mailing lists. UAA mail can result in increased mailing costs, lost revenue opportunities, and decreased customer satisfaction.
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Use USPS Address Change and Address Element Correction services
These services can help businesses save time and money and improve the accuracy of their mailing lists, making them a valuable investment.
- ACS (Address Change Service) sends electronic notifications when mail is undeliverable, reducing manual processes associated with returned mail.
- AEC (Address Element Correction) fixes inaccurate addresses that cannot be resolved with CASS-certified address-matching, preventing additional handling or manual processing.
Overall, implementing clean data practices can significantly improve mail deliverability and cash flow for businesses, making it a valuable investment. With e-Validate, you can easily cleanse your customer address list against the National Change of Address (NCOA) database, keeping your address lists current with the latest updates. Additionally, you can verify, or add customer email addresses, phone numbers, and apartment numbers, providing you with a complete and accurate customer profile. Whether you're sending out bills, invoices, statements, or other important documents, e-Validate can help ensure that your mail is delivered accurately and on time.
Resources to learn more on how to reduce undeliverable mail:
- Solution Spotlight: Get to Know e-Validate
- e-course: Reducing Undeliverable Mail
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Reduce the financial burden of undeliverable mail with e-validate
At Quadient, we’ve been staying on top of all the mailing and shipping news so we can bring you the highlights and keep you in the know. You also can keep up with the latest mailing, shipping, and postage rate news by subscribing to our newsletter mailing list. No matter what the future brings, we are here to help improve your mailing and shipping processes.
Want to learn more about e-Validate?
ConnectSuite e-Validate, part of our Impress mail management software suite, can help modernize your process today.
- Eliminates returned mail and parcels
- Updates your customer database
- Improves mail deliverability by correcting addresses
- Increases cash flow by eliminating late payments and unpaid invoices
- Reduces operational expenses resulting from wasted postage, materials and labor