Suppression

Make sure your data is an asset, not a liability

Suppression is the removal of records from a mailing file or database that are no longer accurate, current or appropriate to mail.

There can hardly be an owner of a customer database in the world for whom this is not some sort of aspiration. I mean, who honestly wants inaccurate data lurking around in their systems? The problem is that, for many organisations, suppression is an aspiration that remains forever tantalizingly short of a priority. “If we had more staff, if we had bigger budgets, if we thought it was going to do us serious harm, we’d do it in a shot. But realistically…”.

Just in case you didn’t know, be warned, the goal posts have now moved on this one. There’s now a chance, a realistic chance, that failure to suppress could get you into hot water, especially if you use your customer database for direct mailing purposes.

In July 2003 the Direct Marketing Association signed a voluntary agreement with the UK Government to help reduce the amount of direct mail waste that’s currently brimming over in landfill sites.

A key plank of this agreement is a need to improve the targeting of direct mail and promotional material, by cutting out totally unnecessary, and in some cases inappropriate or distressing, mailings.

If the voluntary targets enshrined in the agreement are not met (and the clock is ticking), the Government has made it clear that the next step is direct intervention in the form of levies on offenders as well as legislation dictating how mail may and may not be sent – a move that can only impact hugely on the costs of every direct mailer in the country.

The first response of most organisations to the threat of new legislation is ‘Oh no, not more red tape from the interfering nanny state – when will they ever leave us alone’.

It is probably best though to try to put a more positive spin on things. Forget for a moment legislation and landfill. Wouldn’t you want to do something that cuts the cost of mailing at the same time as increasing your response rate? Wouldn’t you want to protect your organisation from the embarrassment of mailing the recently deceased? Wouldn’t you like to do your bit to cut fraud? And don’t you think it’s time direct mail’s reputation with the general public saw a bit of an upswing?

So act now to scratch names who have moved house, died, opted not to receive mailings from the record. It’s your job to suppress the data yourself. But on the plus side, it will almost certainly make you a more efficient and economically healthier organisation.