Email, Phone and Address – FAQ

Email data quality refers to the accuracy, completeness, and relevance of the email addresses stored in a database

Email data quality is important because incorrect or outdated email addresses can lead to decreased email deliverability, decreased open rates, and decreased engagement with customers.

The common causes of poor email data quality include manual data entry errors, outdated email addresses, bounced emails, and duplicated email addresses.

Email data quality can be improved by implementing robust data quality processes, including data validation, data standardization, data enrichment, and data governance. Additionally, using email verification tools can help to identify and remove invalid email addresses from a database.

Improved email data quality can lead to increased email deliverability, increased open rates, and increased engagement with customers, which can result in increased revenue and reduced costs.

Email data quality can be measured by evaluating the accuracy, completeness, and relevance of email addresses stored in a database, using metrics such as bounce rates, open rates, and engagement rates.

Phone verification is often used as an extra security measure to prevent fraudulent or spammy accounts from being created. It also helps to ensure that the contact information provided is accurate and up-to-date.

Phone verification is a process where a CRM system sends a verification code to the phone number provided by the user. The user then enters the code into the CRM system to confirm that they have access to the phone number and that it is a valid number.

Phone verification is not always necessary, but it can be a useful tool for businesses that want to ensure that their CRM system is populated with accurate and up-to-date information. It can also help to prevent fraudulent or spammy accounts from being created.

Phone verification typically involves sending a text message or making a phone call to the phone number provided by the user. The user is then asked to enter the verification code that they received in the message or over the phone. Once the code is entered correctly, the phone number is verified.

Phone verification can help to prevent fraudulent or spammy accounts from being created in a CRM system, as well as ensuring that the contact information provided is accurate and up-to-date. It can also help to build trust between businesses and their customers by verifying that the customer is who they say they are.

While phone verification is primarily used as a security measure, businesses can also use the phone numbers collected through phone verification for marketing purposes, such as sending promotional messages or conducting surveys. However, it is important to ensure that users have given their consent to receive these messages.

International address data quality is important for effective and efficient communication with customers, accurate billing and shipping, and improved customer satisfaction. Incorrect international address data can result in lost or delayed shipments, incorrect billing, and decreased customer satisfaction

International address data quality can be improved through regular data cleansing, data validation, and data standardization. Data cleansing can help to remove duplicated records, incorrect information, and outdated information. Data validation can help to ensure that addresses are accurate and complete, and data standardization can help to ensure that addresses are consistent and easy to read.

The challenges of improving international address data quality include different address formats across countries, different address standards and requirements, and different languages and character sets.

Address data can be standardized for international use through the use of address validation and standardization tools, such as postal code databases, address verification software, and global address formatting standards.

The best practices for ensuring international address data quality include regular data cleansing, data validation, and data standardization, the use of address validation and standardization tools, and the implementation of data governance policies and procedures.

• Waste reduction. because postal addresses are pre-verified and corrected before costly mailings are sent
• Duplicated addresses are easier to identify based on the standardised address
• Qualify for localised bulk mailing (postal) discounts
• Delivery delays and returns are minimised by only using valid addresses
• Reduced Fraud through improved verification of customer identity using a postally verified address
• Better customer database management by removing address errors, duplicates and filling gaps in address information to ensure your records are up to date and standardised.
• Make online transactions easier, and reduce basket abandonment with rapid address capture
• Geographic data accuracy to optimise route planning and select specific postcode/zipcode areas to improve operational efficiency and customer targeting
• Less time handling complaints about failed deliveries due to incorrect or incomplete addresses

Appending the Delivery Point Validation (DPV) or Suffix (DPS) provides the highest level of address accuracy and completeness.

In order to append a DPV or DPS the address is checked against the national or international postal reference data file to ensure that it exists as an active delivery point. Note: Not all postal authoritoes provide this capability.

Using Multiple Residence alongside PAF®, businesses can identify individual dwellings within multiple occupancy buildings that share a front door. Armed with this insight more deliveries get to the right household first time, which keeps customers happy and reduces the time is spent managing failed delivery complaints.

Using BFPO together with PAF®, businesses can provide goods and services to more than 100,000 British forces personnel serving overseas. This ensures the accurate routing of commercial and personal email helping them to maintain contact with home and to shop online.

Using Alias together with PAF®, enables businesses to identify and deliver to properties that have additional address characteristics, such as a name.

There are four types of Alias information:

County Alias records include historic county names, administrative and postal county information.

Delivery Point Alias records include additional information such as trading names and building names.

Thoroughfare records include alternative, unofficial and combination names used locally for streets and thoroughfares.

Locality records include local names and Postally Not Required (PNR) details.

Before an address can be certified as deliverable (CASS-certified), it must first be standardized.

Standardization converts an address into a standard format by correcting the address, if possible, and adding missing information, such as a ZIP or Postal code, to produce a complete address containing a street address, city, state (County), and ZIP (Postal) code.

A number of approaches are used, including:

Abbreviation – USPS and other international postal authority approved abbreviations are used whenever possible to clarify and shorten the address.

• Spelling error correction– A misspelling usually results in an undeliverable address, commonly misspelled words are corrected. These are typically, street or city names. However, whilst many variants are corrected, due to a large number of possible misspellings, not all of them can be accurately detected and corrected.
• Standardisation – Many cities have several different, commonly used names. Each ZIP or Postal Code in the Address Management System has one preferred city name and may have one or more acceptable city names.Addresses are standardized to the postal standards according to each country.

Completion – An address must be complete in order to be valid. This means that it must have a street, city, state (County) and ZIP (Postal) code. Whenever possible, incomplete addresses will have any postally required missing information added.

If a valid ZIP code is provided but the city and state are missing, the city and state names are added.

Postal address verificationn is also known as address correction, address validation, address verification, PAF validation and CASS certification.

Address data management is the process of collecting, storing, validating, and maintaining accurate and up-to-date address information for a business or organization. This can include postal addresses (locations) for customers, suppliers, partners, and employees.

Address data management is important because accurate and up-to-date address information is critical for many business processes, such as mail (postal) delivery, billing, customer service, and marketing. Poor quality address data can lead to increased costs, missed opportunities, and poor customer experiences.

Some common challenges with address data management include data entry errors, inconsistent formatting, outdated information, duplicate records, and incomplete or missing data. These issues can lead to inaccurate or incomplete address information, which can negatively impact business processes and reputation.

Some best practices for address data management include implementing data validation and verification processes, using standardized address formatting, regularly updating address information, removing duplicate records, and using address verification tools like those provided by DQ on Demand™ and DQ Address Capture™.

There are a variety of tools and technologies available for address data management, including address verification software, address standardization tools, data cleansing software, and address matching algorithms.

Address data management can be integrated with other business processes through the use of APIs, data integration tools, and CRM systems. This allows address information to be automatically updated and synced across different systems, improving accuracy and efficiency.

To achieve the above we recommend the use of DQ for Excel™, DQ Address Capture™, DQ Address Cleanse™, DQ Studio™.

Address data capture involves searching for a new address when no address information exists in the database. This typically involves the user entering some basic information, such as the street name and premise number, city, state (county), and country, to search for and capture the complete address.

Address data verification, on the other hand, involves validating and verifying existing address records in the database against postal reference data to ensure that they are accurate and up to-date.

This can involve comparing the address data to a standardized format, checking the data against official postal databases or sources, and verifying the address with the recipient or sender.

The key difference between address data capture and address data verification is that address data capture involves creating new records, while address data verification involves validating and updating existing records.

Both processes are important for maintaining accurate and up-to-date address data, but they serve different purposes.

Address data capture is typically performed when a new customer, supplier, or partner is added to the database, while address data verification is done on a regular basis to ensure that existing records remain accurate and up-to-date.

There are various third-party services available that offer address lookup APIs. You can integrate these APIs into your website to enable address lookups. Some examples of address lookup APIs include: Google Places API, Bing Maps API, and OpenStreetMap.

At DQ Global® we provide access to various data providers through a common interface DQ on Demand™ which allows users to pay based on consumption as a transaction-based model using DQ Credits.

This API service can be accessed as an API or via our DQ Power Connector™
allowing low code access to the vast ecosystem Microsoft provides.

Yes, you can find an address from a postcode or zip code using our DQ on Demand™ address Search API or address Cleanse API. They will return the address associated with the given postcode or zip code.

Yes, you can find a postcode from an address using our address Search API or Cleanse API. The API will return the postcode associated with the given address.

Yes, you can generate coordinates at the property level using our address Search API or Cleanse API. The API’s will return the latitude and longitude coordinates associated with the given address.

Yes, our Address Search API and Address Cleanse API’s offer coverage for countries worldwide.

Checking if a phone number is dialable helps to ensure that you are able to reach the intended recipient by phone. This is especially important if you are using the number for business purposes or trying to contact someone for an emergency. Verifying a phone number beforehand can help prevent frustration and wasted time if the number is incorrect or disconnected. 

To fix poor quality phone numbers, the following steps can be taken: 

1. Clean and validate phone numbers: Use a phone validation tool to remove invalid, inactive, or duplicate phone numbers, and validate the remaining phone numbers to ensure they are accurate and up-to-date. 
2. Segment your phone number list: Segment your phone number list based on customer characteristics such as demographics, purchase history, and behaviour, to personalize your phone communications and improve their relevance. 
3. Improve phone communication content: Ensure that your phone communication content is relevant, personalized, and engaging, and that it clearly communicates the value of your offerings. 
4. Monitor call quality: Monitor the quality of your phone calls to ensure that they are delivered effectively and with good sound quality, and resolve any technical issues that arise. 
5. Adhere to phone marketing best practices: Ensure that your phone marketing practices comply with telemarketing laws and regulations, and that you are obtaining consent from your customers before making phone calls. 
6. Regularly maintain and update your phone number list: Regularly maintain and update your phone number list to keep it accurate, up-to-date, and free of invalid or inactive phone numbers. 

In conclusion, fixing poor quality phone numbers requires a combination of phone list cleaning and validation, personalized content, call quality monitoring, compliance with best practices, and regular maintenance and updating. 

Bad phone numbers can negatively affect marketing efforts in several ways: 

1. Low response rate: If the phone numbers on your marketing lists are outdated or incorrect, you’ll experience low response rates from potential customers. 
2. Poor customer experience: When potential customers receive a busy signal or disconnect notice, it creates a negative perception of your brand. 
3. Wasted resources: Marketing campaigns aimed at bad phone numbers are a waste of resources and budget. 
4. Reduced ROI: With low response rates and negative customer experiences, the return on investment for marketing campaigns can be significantly reduced. 

Therefore, it’s important to regularly clean and verify your phone numbers to ensure the accuracy and effectiveness of your marketing efforts. 

Having bad phone numbers can have a significant impact on Customer Relationship Management (CRM) in several ways: 

1. Inaccurate data: Bad phone numbers can result in inaccurate data in your CRM system, reducing its effectiveness. 
2. Missed opportunities: With incorrect phone numbers, you’ll miss opportunities to connect with potential customers and resolve issues with existing ones. 
3. Poor customer experience: When customers can’t reach you by phone, it creates a negative experience, impacting their perception of your brand.
4. Inefficient processes: Attempting to reach customers with bad phone numbers can be time-consuming and cause delays in resolving customer issues. 

Therefore, it’s important to regularly clean and verify phone numbers in your CRM system to ensure that your customer data is accurate and up-to-date, leading to a better overall customer experience and improved business processes. 

How Bad Phone Numbers Can Affect Your CRM 

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is a crucial part of any business strategy, as it helps to build and maintain strong relationships with customers. However, having incorrect or outdated phone numbers in your CRM system can have a major impact on your ability to effectively connect with customers. 

Here are some of the ways that bad phone numbers can negatively affect your CRM: 

1. Inaccurate data: If the phone numbers in your CRM system are incorrect, this can lead to inaccurate customer data, which can be detrimental to your customer relationships. 
2. Missed opportunities: Bad phone numbers can result in missed opportunities to connect with potential customers and resolve issues with existing ones. 
3. Poor customer experience: When customers can’t reach you by phone, it creates a negative experience, impacting their perception of your brand. 
4. Inefficient processes: Attempting to reach customers with bad phone numbers can be time-consuming and cause delays in resolving customer issues. 

To avoid these issues and improve your CRM system, it’s important to regularly clean and verify your phone numbers. This ensures that your customer data is accurate and up-to-date, leading to a better overall customer experience and improved business processes. 

At [Company Name], we understand the importance of accurate data and customer relationships. That’s why we offer [product/service] to help businesses like yours clean and verify their phone numbers, resulting in a more efficient and effective CRM system. 

Don’t let bad phone numbers hold you back from achieving the best customer experience possible. Contact us today to learn more about how we can help improve your CRM system. 

The steps to correct telephone numbers in a database are: 

1. Data analysis: Start by analyzing your data to identify the phone numbers that are incorrect or outdated. 
2. Data cleaning: Use tools to clean the data, such as removing duplicate phone numbers and fixing formatting issues. 
3. Data verification: Verify the phone numbers using a third-party service or manual methods to ensure they are accurate and up-to-date. 
4. Update database: Update the database with the correct and verified phone numbers. 
5. Regular maintenance: Regularly maintain and update the phone numbers in your database to ensure that the data remains accurate and up-to-date. 
6. Data backup: Regularly back up your database to ensure that you have a backup of your data in case of any technical issues. 

By taking these steps, you’ll be able to effectively correct and maintain accurate phone numbers in your database, resulting in a better customer experience and improved business processes. 

It’s recommended to validate a phone number as soon as it is entered into the CRM, or before using it for communication, to ensure that it’s accurate and up-to-date. This can help prevent miscommunication and ensure that your messages reach the intended recipient. You may also want to regularly validate existing phone numbers in your CRM to ensure they are still correct. 

The responsibility for ensuring that phone numbers in a CRM are correct usually falls on the person or team managing the CRM system. This may include data entry personnel, customer service representatives, or sales teams who are inputting and using the information. Ultimately, it’s the responsibility of the organization to make sure the data in the CRM is accurate and up-to-date, so it can be used effectively for communication and decision making. 

To check if phone numbers are correct in a CRM, you can use the following steps: 

1. Access the CRM system: Log in to your CRM software and navigate to the contact or customer database. 
2. Find the contact: Search for the contact or customer whose phone number you want to validate. 
3. View contact details: Open the contact’s profile or record to view their details, including their phone number. 
4. Verify the number: Compare the phone number in the CRM to the most up-to-date information you have for the contact. This could be from another source such as a recent call or email. 
5. Update the number: If the phone number is incorrect, you can update it in the CRM to ensure that it’s accurate for future communication. 

Some CRM systems may also have built-in validation tools that can automatically check the accuracy of phone numbers as they are entered or updated. 

There could be various reasons why CRM users may not prioritize phone data quality: 

1. Lack of awareness: Some users may not be aware of the importance of accurate phone data and may not understand the consequences of using incorrect phone numbers. 
2. Data entry error: Data entry personnel may make mistakes when entering phone numbers, leading to incorrect information in the CRM.
3. Lack of resources: Organizations may lack the resources or manpower to regularly validate and update phone numbers in the CRM.
4. Priority on other tasks: CRM users may have other priorities and may not consider data quality as a high-priority task. 
5. Reliance on unreliable sources: Some CRM users may obtain phone numbers from unreliable sources such as social media or websites, leading to incorrect information in the CRM. 

It’s important for CRM users to understand the importance of accurate phone data and to prioritize the validation and maintenance of phone numbers in the CRM. This can help ensure that the information in the CRM is accurate and up-to-date, and that messages reach the intended recipients. 

The frequency of incorrect phone numbers in a CRM can vary greatly depending on a number of factors, such as: 

1. Data entry process: Incorrect phone numbers are more likely to occur if the data entry process is not carefully managed and validated. 
2. Source of the phone number: If phone numbers are obtained from unreliable sources, such as websites or social media, there is a higher likelihood that they will be incorrect. 
3. Frequency of updates: Incorrect phone numbers are more likely to occur if the information in the CRM is not regularly updated. 
4. Size of the database: The larger the database, the more likely it is that incorrect phone numbers will be present. 

It’s difficult to determine an exact frequency for incorrect phone numbers in a CRM, as it depends on the specific factors involved. However, it’s important for CRM users to regularly validate and update phone numbers to minimize the occurrence of incorrect information. This can help ensure that the information in the CRM is accurate and up-to-date, and that messages reach the intended recipients

Here are some common worst practices with phone numbers in a CRM: 

1. Relying on manual data entry: Manually entering phone numbers into a CRM increases the likelihood of typing errors and incorrect information. 
2. Not validating phone numbers: Failing to validate phone numbers before entering them into a CRM can lead to incorrect information that can negatively impact communication. 
3. Not updating phone numbers regularly: Not regularly updating phone numbers in a CRM can result in outdated information and miscommunication. 
4. Using unreliable sources for phone numbers: Obtaining phone numbers from unreliable sources, such as websites or social media, can increase the likelihood of incorrect information in the CRM. 
5. Not correcting incorrect phone numbers: Not correcting incorrect phone numbers in a CRM can lead to ongoing miscommunication and negatively impact relationships with contacts. 

It’s important to prioritize the quality of phone number data in a CRM and to avoid these common worst practices to ensure that the information in the CRM is accurate and up-to-date. This can help prevent miscommunication and ensure that your messages reach the intended recipient. 

Here are some ways to maximize the value of your CRM phone numbers: 

1. Use the data effectively: Use the phone numbers in your CRM to make effective calls and send targeted messages that engage your contacts and generate leads. 
2. Segment and personalize communications: Segment your CRM data and personalize your communications based on phone numbers and other data points to make your messages more relevant and effective. 
3. Integrate with other tools: Integrate your CRM with other tools, such as marketing automation platforms, to leverage phone numbers for targeted campaigns and personalized customer journeys. 
4. Regularly update and clean the data: Regularly update and clean the phone numbers in your CRM to ensure that the data is accurate and up-to-date. 
5. Measure and analyze results: Measure and analyze the results of your campaigns and communication efforts, and use the insights to improve your approach and maximize the value of your CRM phone numbers. 

By following these steps, you can maximize the value of your CRM phone numbers and use the data to drive better engagement, lead generation, and customer success.