Just how clean is your database?

How rigorous is your database cleaning activity? If you are not maintaining it regularly, it doesn't take long to lose much of its value to your organisation.

With close to one in five people moving home or job each year, the challenge for database managers is to be vigilant throughout the year in keeping theirs up to date.

If you have done very little updating in the past year, inaccuracy can soon exceed 10%. Not only is this costly through waste but also by failing to keep in touch with your customers if you no longer know how to reach them.

There are numerous ways you can enhance the level of accuracy.

Firstly, you can use an internal or external call centre to work their way through the file. While effective, this can be a rather expensive and slow process depending on the size of your database.

You can ensure bounced email addresses are flagged for correction along with direct mail returns however this can be a large task depending on the amount of staff and technology you have at your disposal.

Another way we can assist is through washing against an existing database. While this won't clean your entire database, it will be a quicker and a less expensive option compared with having someone employed to call those people or businesses.

The remainder can then be verified using a call centre.

Once Confidentiality Agreements are signed, typically within 24 to 48 hours we can report back to you with an itemised list of work we can undertake to enhance the accuracy of your database along with costs.

With labour and postal increases, it's never been so important to be investing in cost effective ways to clean your database.