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Introduction to capturing contact details quickly and accurately
What is contact data capture?
This refers to the process of collecting the contact details of a
person during the first organisational interaction with them. For
example if a customer contacts your customer service department by
phone. A good way to ensure that details are captured correctly is to
use a
point
of capture tool.
What is a point of capture tool?
A point of capture tool assists with inputting contact details into a
customer database quickly and accurately. A user inputs a search using
a postcode which is verified against industry standard data and the
correct address is returned. Often there will be flexibility around the
format and method of input and the tool will be able to correct
mistakes during contact data entry. Capturing contact data correctly
first time is the primary step towards excellent data quality.
What defines "correct" contact data?
'Correct' contact data is defined by the fact that the details that
represent an individual are accurate e.g. their name is spelt correctly
and an item of post sent to them would be reliably delivered. A less
obvious definition is whether or not the data is 'standardised' or
formatted as considered appropriate by the relevant authority.
Today's organisations interact with their customers in a number of different ways. It is not uncommon to have 6 or more touchpoints with a customer. Examples are a customer service call centre, company website and a technical support department. Without a standard approach to collecting details at each touchpoint, such an organisation risks data being captured inconsistently, perhaps in a variety of different formats. This will lead to uncertainty when contacting customers, and reduce the reliability of the database making it difficult to use for business intelligence purposes.
Why is good data quality important?
Customers expect many things from businesses but at a minimum they
expect a good level of service and a stable, consistent relationship.
Communication is key to developing a good relationship with your
customers. If you do not
capture
contact details correctly and consistently in the first instance,
later communications may go astray, or contain incorrect or incomplete
details putting your relationship with your customer at risk. A point
of capture tool will help collect this data correctly and consistently.
Business benefits
The benefits of point of capture tools extend to improving service
quality and delivering more targeted promotions to customers and
prospects, making your contact data work harder for you. A standardised
approach to capturing contact data permits more effect reporting from
your database. A
QAS software user recently
expressed their happiness that their point of capture tool placed all
of the towns in the same field of their database making profiling much
easier. As a result customers are now only notified of local promotions
relevant to their area.
If you are interested in more advanced profiling or business intelligence, point of capture tools can be used to supplement your original search with additional information about your contact. Look out in forthcoming issues of Insight for more information on the enhance segment of the contact data management lifecycle.
What do QAS offer?
QAS offer a number of contact data capture products and services that
have been designed to meet your contact data requirements. As well as
offering the benefits above, these products can save you and your
customer's time, making the data capture experience a more pleasant
one. QAS also provide a product specifically developed
to
check the validity of bank account details prior to submission,
allowing the data validation process to be a seamless part of any
transaction process. Please click on the links below to learn more
about specific data capture and validation products.
What will QAS offer in the future?
In coming months, keep a look out for exciting new information about
forthcoming releases that will extend
QAS's product and service offering
in the areas of global data coverage, as well as the addition of a
fully-managed contact data capture solution, QAS OnDemand platform.
Aidan Sparrowhawk, QAS Product Manager