Q: Whether it's booking a holiday, opening an account or paying a bill, I spend so much time spelling my name and address details that I often give up! Even when I persevere, I get mail with my details spelt incorrectly. What can I do?

A: As a customer it can be incredibly frustrating to have to spend your time trying to make sure your details enter a database correctly. Thankfully plenty of companies have now recognised that using software tools to automate this process can not only save them valuable time and money, their relationship with you, it can also prevent your from frustration.

Q: My utilities company sends me bills due from the previous tenants at my address, as well as the bills registered in my name (which I pay!). How can they have 2 accounts at one address?

A: This is exasperating for both consumers and businesses alike. It is a tricky situation as there is no new address to send a bill to, and people dodging bills often return bills with "return to sender" written on. There are tools to assist with this, from tracing software to suppression sets, or simply making small changes to billing processes. This is the business' responsibility to solve, and should be considered important for both customer service and cash flow.

Q: How can I differentiate myself as an organisation to attract and retain customers?

A: By putting your customers at the heart of everything you do, you're definitely on the right track! Have you considered how much you really know about your customers? Do you make sure you're not alienating them with inaccurate or inappropriate communications? Do you track them when their circumstances change? Do you know about their communication preferences? This kind of information helps you check that every communication with your customers is correctly targeted and relevant. Your brand reputation will also be protected as you won't send communications to people who can't or won't respond.

Q: I want to be more targeted with my marketing by profiling and segmenting customer data. However, information is held in different databases within various departments and it is impossible to collate the data. How do I tackle this?

A: This is a common issue within organisations. Not surprising when you think of the responsibility that goes with merging various sources of data together and attempting to reach a single customer view. Your organisation needs a culture of contact data excellence and have some board level responsibility for this. You might find some useful hints and advice in our white paper 10 Top Tips for Data Management.

Q: I am a Data Analyst, and my boss has asked me to identify who our best target customers are. Help, I don't know where to start.

A: This can be a daunting task when you don't know where to start. You need to know who your current customers are. We suggest you start by making sure your customer data is clean and consistent. Once your data is up to date you can start appending profiling information. This allows you to get to know your current customers; for consumers this includes knowing where they live, how old they are, what they like and how they live. For organisations this means the industries they're in, how big they are, and what they are currently worth to you. This information helps you identify your best prospects.

Q: Does the version of the Royal Mail's PAF supplied by Experian QAS for use in QAS Batch contain data for cleaning addresses on the Isle of Man?

A: The Royal mail Postcode Address File (PAF) is the most up-to-date and complete address database in the UK, containing over 28 million addresses over 1.79 million postcodes (~15 premises per postcode). It covers the entire UK including Wales, Northern Ireland, the Isle of Man and the channel islands.

For further detail on how contact data management can help organisations, read the following case studies:

	Grosvenor
	Experian provides Grosvenor Casinos with its online Authenticate service, enabling them to validate the identity of customers at the casino door in real-time, with no need for paper-based proofs. "Authenticate has proved invaluable in enabling us to improve our understanding of the customers we have using our casinos."
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	Reading Borough Council
	Reading Borough Council is a progressive and successful local authority, providing a wide range of quality services to the Reading community. "Introducing QAS Pro with CareWorks RAISE ensures we capture better quality data, first time. We are seeing fewer complaints and our carers are able to give a more appropriate and timely response."
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	Harcourt Education
	Harcourt Education uses QAS Pro Web to streamline the order process. To reduce contact data inaccuracy and improve deliveries and overall customer service, they required a solution that guaranteed absolute accuracy."We needed a customer-friendly, easy to install web solution that could support our growing online purchases and produce address details in a standard format."
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