Who Really Gains From Move Update?
DM News Column - February 2003
by Robert B. Swick,
Vice President Data Services, Anchor Computer, Inc.
Postal rate increases raise the collective blood pressure of
the mailing industry whenever they occur.Adapting to new equipment and procedures raises another level of angst
among mailers.But one topic that’s
destined to stay in the face of the industry for the next two to three years: Move
Update.
For the few who have been playing hermit or on assignment
out of country, Move Update – which presently relates to First-Class mailers – is
preparing to include Periodical and Standard mailers next year. As proposed, the regulation will require
mailers to update both name and address components of mail lists every 90
days. When Postal Service audits find
mailers not in compliance – that is, insufficient work share effort to earn
front-ended postage discounts – then the mailer is required to return the
unearned discount. Presently, refunding unearned discounts may extend beyond
the mailing at issue and go as far back as one year.
Expansion of the regulation and the severity of
the compliance factor are under active discussion within the postal service and
the industry’s Mailers Technical Advisory Council. The subcommittee meeting on these issues has
just submitted its findings and recommendations to postal management and the
MTAC Board. Details on essential developments such as education and communication plans to properly inform the
industry of the regulation and compliance issue and official postal
documentation that holds list owners accountable for mandatory updates will be
forthcoming as these developing efforts come closer to fruition.
Meanwhile, it must be realized that Move Update is in effect,
and compliance will begin to be enforced nationwide as early as March.
Let there be no misunderstanding, the mailer is the primary
benefactor of the Move Update regulation. The mailer saves the most upfront and
gets the greatest bang for his mailing buck through improved response by embracing
Move Update as part of his mailing procedures best practices. Here
are three present-day examples of these claims:
"[National Change of Address] has been a key tool for us in maintaining a very
clean database, something that is important to our business. When we first began
using NCOA on hotline lists, we were skeptical that there would be any benefit
because we believed hotline lists to be the most current and therefore correct
addresses. However, we have seen a real improvement to delivery on hotline lists
since implementing NCOA. NCOA has also been very helpful with the maintenance of
our suppression files. The benefit has been twofold: we’ve had better results in
our collection efforts and we’ve been to successfully eliminate these undesirable
accounts for acquisition mailings."
Ursula Winchell, manager, marketing services production, BeMusic.
"We recently purchased a list of notaries from our state agency. A test mailing of
10,000 records produced a surprising amount of returns. Our mail service provider
recommended we use NCOA before going further. The results were shocking: over 20
percent address changes of which 90-plus percent came with corrected addresses.
The NCOA process saved us thousands of dollars in postage and materials while improving
our overall rate of delivery." Darren Vermost, vice president of operations,
Vermost & Associates Insurance Agency
"We create and produce fundraising appeals for over 30 different state political organizations nationwide.
Keeping these donor files as current as possible in terms of addresses is critical to maximize our client expenditures,
not to mention ensuring the highest response rate. By conducting NCOA updates on our client
mailing information, we are able to significantly increase the delivery rate of
our mail solicitations. We see an increase in response rates by deleting records that have undeliverable
addresses, deleting records of individuals who have moved out of state, and
updating those individuals who have moved within the state."
Michael K. Milligan, vice president, Direct Mail Systems.
Move Update has been in place as a regulation for First-Class
mailers for six years. Yet, awareness of two fundamental aspects – applying
changes to lists and compliance requirements – remain unknown by many.
With compliance becoming an active ingredient to the regulation in the immediate
future, ignorance will be anything but bliss.
The irony is that every practitioner in our industry is trying to cut costs and
improve mail response, yet embracing this regulation achieves this goal. We
collectively need to clean up our (list) act.
Back to
Feature Articles
E@anchorcomputer.com
.jpg)
