Best Practices Process Flow
Best Practices to Ensure Address Quality
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The Importance of Address Quality
Poor address quality has significant operational costs:
- Undeliverable-as-addressed (UAA) mail
- Lower marketing response rates
- Delayed payments
- Dissatisfied customers
For mailers looking to offset the latest USPS® rate increase, there are a wide variety of options that optimize the mailstream with clean, complete and deliverable address data:
- Implement real-time solutions for address quality
- Utilize address correction solutions beyond CASS™
- Resolve un-assignable addresses
- Ensure Move Update compliance
- Stay informed of USPS rule changes
Real-Time Address Validation & Correction
Many mailers batch cleanse addresses with a CASS Certified™ software solution just prior to mailing. Yet, because about 40 percent of address errors can be attributed to data entry, some companies are utilizing real-time address validation and correction systems.
These point–of–entry address building and validation routines not only reduce errors, but also decrease the number of keystrokes required to update data.
There are a variety of real-time solutions for a variety of needs:
- Hosted and in-house
- Web services or API calls from customer care and billing systems
- Certified connectors for customer-facing applications, including:
- Microsoft CRM
- SAP
- Siebel
- Salesforce.com
Beyond CASS Certification
Cleaning and validating customer address data using a service bureau or a USPS CASS Certified solution is a good first step. However, there are many more address correction options available to benefit your company.
Delivery Point Validation
When run with a CASS engine, DPV™ enables mailers to confirm an address is a delivery point for the USPS.
For example, DPV can identify an address as an empty lot and, therefore, an undeliverable address. Similarly, DPV helps with multi-dwelling units and high-rise buildings by notifying mailers if a suite or apartment number does not exist at those locations.
However, Group 1 recently found that 67 percent of our customers do not take advantage of DPV, even though it is included with their CASS software.
DPV is an essential tool for improving address deliverability. Additionally, beginning August 2007, DPV processing is required as part of the CASS process.
Reduce Residential Delivery Charges
While the USPS does not levy residential surcharges, third party carriers (FedEx, UPS) charge fees to recoup the extra handling costs of residential deliveries. By utilizing RDI™ technology, parcel shippers can reduce these residential charges by verifying whether an address is residential or business.
Companies that maintain RDI flags on customer files — and append them in real time when customers order via the Web — allow the shippers to calculate and collect the residential surcharge up front. This eliminates any address correction surcharges (as much as $15 per package, depending on the carrier), as well as the residential surcharge.
Improve Delivery to Rural Route Addresses
The USPS reports approximately 40 percent of rural route addresses cannot be delivery point validated. To improve delivery to these addresses, mailers can take advantage of the LACS service; — a database of rural route addresses converted to their city-style addresses.
Effective August 1, 2006, LACSLink™ processing is required for CASS certification. Additionally, NCOALink™ Full Service Providers are required to offer the LACSLink service and process addresses against the LACSLink database.
Exception Processing for Un-Assignable Addresses
Group 1’s benchmark data reveals that addresses frequently cannot be matched against the USPS database because of missing information or conflicting data.
The Mailers’ Technical Advisory Committee (MTAC) also reports that there isn’t an industry best practice for evaluating un-assignable addresses: It is assumed, in these cases, mailers either:
- Mail at the full rate,
- Presort at the full rate,
- Determine not to mail, or
- Contact the customer for resolution.
Resolve Data with Address Element Correction
One option for resolving un-assignable addresses is the USPS Address Element Correction (AEC) program, which parses submitted addresses into the various elements and matches those against the USPS database. Users are then provided reports of the resolved and unresolved data elements.
Utilize Non-USPS Data for Greater Matching
The USPS does not track every physical address in the United States. However, most address hygiene tools only use USPS data.
Group 1 offers a unique object-oriented database that combines USPS address data with non-USPS street network data. These combined data sources not only achieve higher match rates, but the quality of match results increases the accuracy of address data.
Incorporate Demographic Information
Group 1 can also help boost match rates with FineTune Data™. This solution augments address information by matching addresses against a consumer credit data file, appending new address information, demographics and lifestyle data.
These updated addresses are then processed through a CASS engine, where they receive a higher ZIP + 4® match rate — sometimes coding an additional 25–30 percent of the exception file. This qualifies mailers for additional postal discounts and reduces UAA mail.
Move Update Compliance
Updating customer data with change-of-address information from the NCOALink database — which covers the past 48 months of change–of–address information — is essential not only for retaining customers but staying compliant.
In fact, in order for First-Class™ mailers to take advantage of postage discounts, they must be in compliance with Move Update requirements.
Pre-mailing Move Update Solutions
Pre-mailing solutions include:
- In-house (Group 1’s VeriMove™ solution)
- Outsource (service provider)
- MLOCR (post-print)
In the pre-mailing processes, when MLOCR and service providers are used, companies neglect to update their databases with the new address. However, best practices to ensure address quality is for mailers to update their customer data with change–of–address information immediately upon receipt.
Post-mailing Move Update Solutions
Post-mailing solutions from the USPS are:
- Ancillary Service Endorsements (ASE)
- ACS™
In the post-mailing process:
- Mailers include an ACS endorsement line on the mail piece
- The USPS forwards the mail pieces and charges a fee for the service
- The USPS then returns a file of corrected addresses to the mailer
In order to stay compliant and avoid USPS penalties, companies must update their mailing list with these corrected addresses.
Future USPS Rule Changes
The USPS states it aims to reduce undeliverable mail by 50 percent.
As such, Group 1 expects the USPS will continue to announce rule changes to CASS engines to enhance address quality – such as the new rule that CASS engines cannot apply a ZIP + 4 to an address without comparing the address to the DPV database.
Proposed Move Update Changes
In addition, in the Federal Register Notice (August 28, 2003), the following Move Update changes were proposed:
- 95 day processing of Move Update
- 95 day processing of CASS
- Use of monthly directory updates for address-matching software
- Disallow Ancillary Service Endorsements as a standalone Move Update method
- Move Update for other classes of mail (First-Class represents only 50 percent of total mail volume)
Now that you've read the summary, Download the full white paper PDF.