 |
 |
|
Building on Success
|
|
 |
|
Welcome to the latest edition of QAS Insight, an update
on recent industry news and developments across
the QAS business.
A main focus for QAS this year is our group strategy
and growing the business in both the UK and internationally.
A major step in this growth was the
acquisition of Eiger Systems in June
2006. Five months post-acquisition, take a look
at how this new division of QAS is operating in
our QAS News section. |
Insight provides a great opportunity
to update you on the latest issues and developments
within the industry. I would encourage you to read our
article on the ability of retaining contact with clients
being an increasing priority. In response to this topic,
we are delighted to introduce our new solution, NameTracer
Pro, as part of the new IDentifier range of products.
NameTracer Pro helps you to trace
individuals efficiently and effectively.
QAS has also recently commissioned research, The
hidden costs of poor data management, which
provides great insight into the amount of direct mail
that does not reach the right contact or that is not
considered relevant. It reinforces the importance of
accurate customer data to a business and the huge cost
implications involved in holding bad data.
Enjoy - and don’t forget you can find more information
on our website.
Harry Meikle
Group Managing Director
back to top 
|
|
|
 |
|
Tracing technology
|
|
 |
|
If you manage a business,
maintaining close contact with your customers
is likely to be an urgent priority. Along with
controlling costs and finding and keeping hold
of good employees, accurate information on customers
is one of the key differences between success
and failure for any commercial enterprise.
Fortunately, technology holds the answer. But
even with the most sophisticated contact management
or customer relationship management (CRM) solution
available, there will still be challenges.
|
Simply by moving to a new location,
a prospective or existing customer can easily disappear
off your radar. They may not mean to, but by not notifying
you that they’ve moved, they can slip unintentionally
through your fingers. It’s an everyday problem. Some
11 per cent of the UK population moves home every year.
NOP World’s research shows that 75 per cent of these
movers go no more than 10 miles from their previous
address. But if you want to send them an incentive to
buy your goods or services, then that’s as good as 1,000
miles. With so much mobility in the population, the
consequences of losing track of individuals can be highly
detrimental to an organisation.
It’s not that easy to measure how much business you
could lose simply by not maintaining contact with your
existing customers when they move. Place this alongside
new business you don’t get, perhaps because it’s gone
to a competitor, and the massive cost of lost business
and new customer acquisition, then it is a serious situation.
There are other issues. You may be part of an industry
that requires you to maintain good, up-to-date details
on your customers in a secure manner. But what if you
don’t even know where they are? The regulatory authorities
are unlikely to be sympathetic if they uncover what
looks like careless record keeping. There may again
be customers who owe you money for goods or services
already purchased. Without necessarily intending to,
they could easily put themselves out of reach of your
credit control system.
Administering the most basic elements of a customer
database is not always an easy task. But in a world
where customer information is king, it’s a challenge
you have to meet.
To help improve business processes, QAS has a fantastic
new offering, NameTracer Pro, a desktop software
tracing solution. As part of QAS’ new IDentifier range
of products, NameTracer Pro enables you to quickly
and effectively trace individuals. Helping
identify current address details from previous name
and address information, QAS’ tracing technology accesses
the most comprehensive data available in the UK.
Find out more about NameTracer
Pro or order a FREE trial today.
back to top 
|
|
ChoicesUK case study
|
|
|
As a member of our Customer Success Programme, QAS has
worked together with ChoicesUK to produce the case study
below. Promote your organisation and earn points to
enhance your use of QuickAddress solutions by becoming
part of our customer community. Join the CSP today.
 |
“We were looking for a product
that worked, was reliable, regularly updated and
easy to use. QAS ticks all those boxes.”
Graham Lyden,
Director of Information Services at ChoicesUK. |
QAS endeavours to share its
experience at every opportunity, so others can realise
the benefits that our data strategy has brought, specifically;
better regulatory compliance, financial savings and
improved customer perception.
ChoicesUK - Committed to Customer Service Excellence
ChoicesUK is one of the UK’s leading home entertainment
retailers. The company has more than 200 retail outlets,
offering DVD movies for sale and rent, together with
videogames, games consoles and mobile phones. It also
offers mail order through ChoicesUK Direct and also
has an online store, ChoicesUK.com.
Ensuring efficient fulfilment
With its growing business and emerging channels for
interacting with customers, ChoicesUK required a data
management solution to improve and maintain the information
it holds on customers.
ChoicesUK was aware that some deliveries were not reaching
their destination and, although not quantifiable, the
company believed that having two separate customer management
systems created lots of inefficiencies. ChoicesUK also
felt that its existing address management solution had
a number of limitations. Most importantly, when a postcode
was entered, it did not offer all the potential delivery
points under that postcode, which meant staff could
not identify situations where a caller had given them
an incorrect house number or incomplete address.
Capture accurate addresses - first time, every
time
ChoicesUK selected QuickAddress Pro from QAS, to ensure
accurate address data is captured at source,
improving business efficiency and customer service.
In addition, ChoicesUK also bought QuickAddress
Batch, to
clean and verify addresses against QAS’ enhanced
version of Royal Mail’s Postcode Address File (PAF).
This enabled ChoicesUK to clean and maintain its customer
database of over two million people. By using QuickAddress
Batch to enhance address data captured in-store and
map it to correct names, it was also able to improve
its marketing activities.
Then in 2003, when ChoicesUK was introduced a new EPOS
system into its retail stores, it took the opportunity
to bring in further address capture products from QAS
to enable store staff to accurately capture customer
address details in the most efficient manner possible.
“Before we introduced QuickAddress, we had no address
management solution in-store, so we had lots of badly-formatted,
poor quality address data. Introducing QuickAddress
enabled us to capture much better-quality data, first
time.”
Benefitting from improved data accuracy
Since ChoicesUK introduced QAS software in 2001, it
has come to rely on it to ensure the accurate capture
and maintenance of customer address data. The commercial
teams also benefit greatly from improved data accuracy.
“We can confidently extract specific data – such as
customers who have rented but never purchased a product
– and deliver targeted marketing campaigns to them.”
ChoicesUK also use QuickAddress Mailsort to obtain
postal discounts on its marketing and brochure
mailings. “QuickAddress Mailsort allows us to organise
our outbound mail with the minimum effort to claim available
postal discounts.”
 |
Extending the data
quality strategy
Having seen first hand the business benefits that
QAS software offers, ChoicesUK also introduced
QuickAddress Pro in its finance department in
order to guarantee the quality of address data
when setting up new customer accounts.
The company is also looking to work with QAS to
suppress the names and addresses of customers
on their database who have passed away, moved
house, or registered with the Mailing Preference
Service. ChoicesUK also intends to extend its
data quality strategy by deploying QuickAddress
Pro Web on ChoicesUK.com to improve accurate and
complete address capture on the web. |
back to top
|
|
|
 |
|
Poor targeting costs money
|
|
 |
|
With business data proven
to decay at rapid rate, QAS commissioned a survey
with research company Dynamic Markets to find
out the real cost of failing to keep information
current.
Called The
hidden costs of poor data management,
the survey divides the issue into two parts -
direct mail that is sent to a target that has
moved on, or mail that reaches the right person
but is irrelevant to their needs. In both instances
the wasted expense can be catastrophic and the
cost to the environment huge yet preventable.
|
Only 18% of business mail addressed
to someone who has moved gets recycled, and just 15%
is returned to sender, often fostering the illusion
that it has been well targeted. Only 5% of irrelevant
mail is returned, the rest thrown away.
On average, business people receive 25 items of mail
a month addressed to previous employees. And some 89%
claim they receive mail they do not consider to be of
interest to them.
Most organisations are unaware of the true cost of all
this inaccuracy. The average wasted direct marketing
spend per company per annum in the UK could be in excess
of £100,000.
It is a pervasive problem, with only 11% of business
people saying they do not receive any unwanted mail.
The worst offenders for sending the highest volumes
of unwanted and poorly-targeted direct mail to business
people at work are, in order, promotional gift companies,
retailers and publishers.
The industry sectors thought to be best at producing
targeted B2B mailings are, in order, business services
companies, providers of financial services and corporate
events operations.
Download a FREE copy of "The
hidden costs of poor data management".
back to top 
|
|
Direct mail under fire
|
|
 |
|
The issue of unsolicited
marketing has been in the headlines recently with
the suspension of a postman by the Royal Mail
for refusing to deliver what he considered unwanted
direct mail.
As a result of direct mail’s increased media profile,
the Direct Marketing Association has been busy
putting out arguments in favour of well targeted
mail, while stressing the numerous protections
that exist for consumers who don’t want it.
|
”Our research projects [contain]
facts and statistics which refute the negative claims
and proclaim the benefits and popularity of direct marketing
as a means of buying goods and services,” said a DMA
spokesperson.
The organisation says it has been targeting the press
with figures on consumer usage levels and the extent
of responsible self-regulation within the direct marketing
industry.
It has stressed how both charities and the less mobile
often rely on direct mail to send and receive information
on goods and services. And it argues that the £27bn
value of purchases made through direct mail channels
every year proves that this form of customer interaction
is part of the way consumers live their lives.
The DMA points out that much of the criticism of direct
mail emanates from publications and politicians whose
organisations make extensive use of the medium – with
both addressed and unaddressed communications.
“We make a point of highlighting these dependencies,
as examples of how [direct mail] can help those organisations
reach their customer base,” says the body.
It believes that celebrity endorsements, such as that
of consumer champion Alice Beer, will help restore direct
mail’s embattled reputation.
back to top
|
|
|
Upcoming events
|
|
 |
|
QAS showcases its address
management and identity authentication solutions
at trade shows across the UK as well as hosting
its own seminar and webinar events geared towards
helping organisations interested in data quality
development.
Find out more information here.
|
back to top
|
|
|
|
|
QAS & Eiger Systems
|
|
 |
|
Experian recently
acquired Eiger Systems, a market-leading
provider of bank account validation and
payment processing software. Eiger Systems
will operate as a division of QAS to provide
joined up collection and validation of
name, address and bank account information
to improve the customer acquisition process
and reduce payment problems.
Founded in 1997 Eiger Systems has an impressive
customer base with over 1000 clients,
including around one-third of the FTSE
100.
|
It has established itself
as a market-leader in the development of bank
account and payment processing software with
key products BANK WIZARD, BILLER WIZARD and
EigerPAY Gateway.
BANK WIZARD and BILLER WIZARD enable organisations
to validate consumer and corporate bank details
and ensure that Direct Debit details are accurate
and submitted correctly to BACS, the UK’s clearing
house. EigerPAY Gateway has been developed as
a global payments platform with the flexibility
to handle complex payment requirements together
with multiple payment channels.
Following the acquisition, Jim Conning (pictured
above) was appointed Managing Director and will
drive international expansion with the support
and backing of QAS and Experian.
“It’s an exciting time for Eiger Systems and
we’re undoubtedly strengthened since becoming
part of the Experian group and, in particular,
part of QAS, with its focus on data accuracy
and validation. My role will be to oversee Eiger
Systems’ continued growth in the UK and to strengthen
our international presence as we seek to build
the company’s global reputation for bank data
validation.”
Building on the capabilities of QAS, this acquisition
further extends Experian’s data integrity capabilities
– now providing clients with access to both
personal and financial data accuracy software.
Harry Meikle, Group Managing Director of QAS,
stated: “The acquisition of Eiger Systems, a
successful fast growing company, reflects the
strong strategic fit between both organisations.
It also reinforces Experian’s ability to provide
clients in the UK and overseas with a suite
of complementary data accuracy software products
to ensure that the integrity of customer data
– both personal and financial – is captured
with greater precision. Together, our joint
proposition will provide significant opportunities
for future growth and add a new dimension to
the scope, scale and range of software solutions
we are able to offer our clients.”
For further information about Eiger Systems,
visit http://www.eiger.co.uk
back to top 
|
|
| 
What the Butler saw
|
|
 |
|
Leading analyst
firm Butler Group has recently conducted
a technology audit on QAS’s Batch with Suppression product.
Senior Butler analyst Sarah Burnett concluded
that the product provides easy access
to a comprehensive set of reference data,
taking away the need for customers to
liaise direct with reference data suppliers.
|
She praised the product’s
simple and clear user interface as well as the
way data can be updated from CDs or on-line
without any system disruptions.
In her report, she stressed the important role
that suppression products have to play in the
world of business data.
“Butler Group believes that without suppression,
companies risk unnecessary sales and marketing
costs, resource wastage and failure to comply
with data protection, mailing, fax and, telephone
preferences service,” she writes.
She believes that despite the importance of
data quality and integrity, many businesses
have failed to take seriously the management
and control of these issues. She says the use
of suppression technology is now being adopted
as a further element in the constant battle
to improve data quality.
“Butler believes that a properly implemented
data quality strategy will not only help these
organisations to exploit their software investments,
control internal costs, and help meet regulatory
requirements, but that it can deliver many additional
benefits and ultimately a positive, long-term
ROI,” she says.
Burnett says suppression should be viewed as
an essential part of data quality assurance
and, that companies should evaluate the cost
of suppression against that of wasted resources
and costs such as those incurred in poorly conducted
direct marketing exercises. It is also important,
she says, for companies to take into account
the hidden cost of brand damage that can arise
out of inappropriate direct mail.
“QuickAddress
Batch with Suppression offers organisations
an easy and flexible way to manage these issues
and, save time and money in the process,” she
says in her report. “The product which stems
from QAS’s many years of experience in the name
and address management arena, offers a strong
solution that brings a number of reference data
sources within the easy reach of the user on
the desktop. As such this solution is definitely
well worthy of consideration.”
Butler is respected throughout the business
world for the impartiality and incisiveness
of its research and opinion. Over 70 per cent
of the UK's top companies use its services.
Access the
Butler Group Technology audit on QuickAddress
Batch with Suppression.
back to top
|
|
|
The latest industry news
|
|
 |
|
QAS’s UK website
has been a fulcrum of activity for
almost 10 years. Every month it receives
over 100,000 visits; from users interested
in product information, technical assistance
or job opportunities.
Many changes are planned for the site
over the coming months. The first of these,
which is already live, is an industry
news feed that comprises independently
written data quality and address management
information.
|
The feed, which is updated
daily, enables readers to stay abreast of the
latest industry stories as they happen.
Visitors are encouraged to pull the stories
through to their own news readers, while partners
are also welcome to take a feed of the content
for use on their own websites. Details on how
to do this are available online.
The most topical data integrity and address
management news is now available at http://www.qas.co.uk. Have a
look today.
back to top
|
|
| | |
