Wednesday 28 August 2013

Address Verification With Special Address Book Software

By Celina Heath


Verifying information with specialized address book software can be an important marketing process for businesses that deal with bulk mailings and other important types of marketing mail. This software compares the information entered into it with what the postal service has on official record. This verification is helpful in locating mistakes in things like street names, misspelled towns, incorrect states and incorrect zip codes.

Sometimes the information on file is just outdated, often as a result of changes that have been made by the postal service. Address components, such as zip codes, can be changed to accommodate growing populations in areas where only one zip code isn't sufficient any more for efficient mail processing. The postal service will sometimes add additional zip codes to an area to reduce the work involved in processing mail for delivery there.

Incorrect addresses can also get entered into a system because of poor handwriting. Mailing lists are sometimes created by pulling names and addresses from registration forms or information cards that have been filled out by hand. Some people's handwriting can be difficult to read. If the person that entered this information into the computer had difficulty reading some of it, errors in entry could have occurred because they misread the information given by the person.

Some companies use software that can scan, interpret and then input information from these forms. This is a highly sophisticated business tool, but it is not always reliable. The program has to make a best guess in many situations just to decipher something that resembles an address and it might not always be the correct guess. This happens rather frequently when handwritten information is involved.

Human error can else cause addresses to be entered wrong. A wrong keystroke or even a guess at how something should be spelled can result in a completely incorrect entry that is not even a real address. This can lead to returned mailings or wrong deliveries. When things like this occur, the postage spent is wasted because the mailing never made it to the person it was targeting.

Basically, there are a number of different ways for a wrong address to find its way into a system. By using software to verify this information through the postal service, the problem can be almost completely eliminated. The number of returned or wrongfully delivered mailings with verification is greatly reduced in comparison to the number when verification is not involved.

By increasing the number of mailings that are being correctly delivered, a higher rate of return is generated. A larger number of intended marketing targets will translate to a higher volume of sales. Instead of postage prices being wasted on mailings that end up in the wrong person's hands, the mailings actually make their way to where they were intended to.

Verify information with specialized address book software can become an important, and almost vital, tool for any business. The number of mistakes being made and the amount of postage being wasted will both decrease while the number of targeted consumers being reached will increase. As a result, sales will also increase and turn the mailing list into an invaluable tool for marketing, capable of greatly increasing profits.




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