We’re hearing a whole lot of buzz, chatter and concern about the new USPS “Every Door Direct Mail” (EDDM) program launched in December 2011. Essentially, the program uses an old and outdated method of mailing (simplified addressing) to deliver mail to every address on a carrier route. EDDM was ostensibly designed to try and lure small-medium sized businesses (currently not direct mailing) into the mailstream with the promise of a simple and cheaper approach to putting a mailing together – the USPS idea being that eliminating so many of the obstacles to mailing (for instance acquiring an address list) will convince new mailers to dive into the direct mail pool.

Many small-medium businesses are happily jumping on the EDDM bandwagon in the quest to save a postage buck or two – seemingly without a thorough understanding of the effectiveness of this approach to direct mail. In addition, while appearing to provide a valuable tool to these companies, the initial effect of the program has been devastating for some other companies – notably Mail Service Providers (MSPs). Amidst growing complaints and reports that some list companies are seeing a 30% reduction in saturation list sales, some in the industry are questioning the USPS’ EDDM promotional techniques to existing mailers and the seeming strategy of attempting to eliminate the MSP from the business equation altogether!

Cutting through all the conflict, chaos, and concern here are some basic points to ponder and share with customers considering this approach:

EDDM Disregards “Do Not Mail” requests:
People care about waste and the environment – some concerned households are making more of an effort than ever to reduce the amount of mail they receive. Any responsible mailer respectfully honors the Direct Marketing Association’s guidelines for managing “do not mail” requests and removes these records from a potential mailing list altogether. EDDM currently has no method in place for removing these addresses. Continuing to mail to consumers who have extended great effort to be removed from mailings is not only somewhat rude, but makes for complaints and threats from some very irate customers… negative for brand image to say the least.

Not a “one size fits all” solution:
EDDM may be fine for a minority of mailers with no need for personalization or any wish to intelligently target their customer base. However for most mailers the disadvantages of this approach include not only an inability to use a name or otherwise personalize a mailpiece, but also an inability to do any demographic selections or further audience targeting at all. Even dwelling types (such as apartments or trailers) may not be excluded.

Mailpiece design & mail quantities are limited: EDDM mailpieces are limited to flats or parcels only – period. Letter size mail is not acceptable. In addition, mail quantities are limited and no more than 5,000 pieces per day may be submitted.

EDDM is the direct opposite of targeted mailing: It is not possible to personalize a mailpiece through the EDDM program. Years of experience and effort have taught marketers that it is vital to target our message personally and clearly to those customers most likely to find value in our products/services. Reverting to blanket generic “postal customer” approach to mailing flies in the face of everything we have learned about the known value and proven results of defining our target market and making our marketing messages as personal and relevant as possible.

EDDM still requires a basic understanding of postal requirements: Businesses go to a MSP because they want to avoid the hassle of preparing direct mail. Not only do EDDM users have to deliver everything to the appropriate post office(s), they still have to print “Postal Customer” on a mailpiece, bundle the mailpieces, download the route information, fill out postal paperwork and deal with postal employees… in short everything that our Mail Service Providers are here for!

Every Door Direct Mail… A little more than meets the eye? Perhaps. At the very least it benefits anyone involved to carefully consider the limited cost cutting advantages of this throwback approach to direct mail before utilizing it – and to remember the hard won lessons we’ve learned in terms of a focused, targeted and strategic approach gaining the best response levels overall.

Mary McCarty
List Services Director
Compact Information Systems

Compact’s commitment to customer care is the #1 reason cited for the loyalty of our returning customers. Our customers know we will listen closely to their needs, be flexible, help resolve problems and be readily available when questions and concerns come up. Want to know how we do it?

It all starts at the top: Customer care is paramount. From the “top of the ladder” on down, priority for excellent customer service completely permeates our work culture here at Compact. Each one of our top managers or executives will take the time out to address any kind of customer service issue that comes up – and often do!

Our customers run the show: No, really. We pride ourselves on meeting customers’ needs even when they are outside of our standard service offerings – often resulting in the creation of new products and services! If a customer wants something new or special, and we create an awesome solution for them – we immediately try to figure out how we can make all the rest of our customers benefit from it.

If it’s our fault – we fix it: No two ways about it. It’s hard to be wrong or make a mistake… but it happens. When a problem arises we don’t waste time making pointless excuses or arguing about who is to blame – we know that is a waste of everyone’s time – what we do is get straight to work on resolving the issue to our customer’s satisfaction.

When it’s not our fault – we still fix it: In this business, so many different entities and variables come together to make our customers successful. Many of these are far beyond our control. Whether it is an issue with hardware, software compatibility, vendors or other issues – rather than pass the buck and point the finger elsewhere, we work closely with our customer and strive to make ourselves part of the solution rather than part of the problem – regardless of who created it.

Our CSR’s love their jobs: Let’s face it… customer service is not for everyone! It takes a special kind of person to thrive on dealing with the numerous issues, questions, concerns and conversations that come up every day. Our friendly customer service folks are a great group that enjoys the variety of different issues they come across in any given day and are enthusiastic about meeting the unique needs of all customers, large and small.

We don’t “over-promise” then “under-deliver”: We strive to be realistic about turn times and don’t put the quality of work we provide into jeopardy by providing overly optimistic estimates. We are upfront about the amount of time, energy and resources that will be needed to accomplish each task. We do however; constantly challenge ourselves to surpass our “personal best” because we know that it’s much more fun to pleasantly surprise our customers with an early turn around based on a realistic timeframe than explain why we weren’t able to meet a deadline that was “wishful thinking” in the first place…

Customer Service Heroes: Compact knows customer service is as important as any other function in the company – be it sales, marketing, development, programming or finance. Our CSRs are deeply involved with all aspects of the company – having their input into all of our processes, web site development and key operational issues means the voice of the customer is always present at every meeting and in every key decision we make.

As always, we’ll be here when you need us.

Mary McCarty
List Services Director

With Compacts acquisition of Data Solutions of America (DSOA) we have acquired a sales and service office in Cape Coral, Florida – which now completes our coast to coast customer service offering to all of our clients. We will soon have all of our customer service reps trained up on all of our new products, as well as the new CSR’s in Florida trained up on Compacts core database products. Customers will be able to call any office during standard business hours for that time zone and receive excellent service.

We are so excited about the launch of the Compact National Auto List (CNAL), customers can purchase the list by contacting us directly for the time being, and then in a few short weeks the data will go live on the Compact Consumer List website.

Vehicle data can be tricky to compile and to source online – there are lots of laws and amendments to laws that cover the use of vehicle data and how it may be used… But rest assured, our list is 100% “permission-able use” (compliant with regulations) and our Automotive List team are experts in all the ins and outs, whys and how’s of using the information to its fullest.

If you want information on CNAL or any other Compact product or service don’t hesitate to ask us, whether you are on the east coast, west coast or in the middle of the country, there is an office in your time zone!

Mary McCarty
List Services Manager

Here at Compact we spend a lot of time helping customers track and research individual address information. One of the most common questions we hear is “Why didn’t this address show up on my list?”

One of the main challenges in answering this question can be the fact the USPS.COM web site (which many of us rely on for address lookup help) may show the address in question as being valid when in fact it is not currently being posted to the USPS CDS (Computerized Delivery Sequencing) database. Basically, the USPS site is confirming the validity, not the deliverability of the address!

Here is a sampling of the different reasons an address may not appear on our Resident file:
-The address is currently unoccupied (vacant)
-The address is new construction and hasn’t been added to CDS yet
-The address is on our permanent suppression file
-The address is temporarily undeliverable (e.g. storm/flood damaged areas)
-The address is permanently undeliverable (e.g. condemned, shut down)
-The address does not receive mail service (e.g. many businesses, retail locations)
-The address is a “throwback” (resident receives mail at a PO Box)
-The address is in an exclusive gated community that refuses bulk mail delivery

In short, there are many different scenarios that affect the deliverability of an address and whether it will appear on your mailing list. We’re happy to help investigate your particular address dilemma – Just let us know what help you need!

Mary McCarty
List Services Manager

Sooner than we realize, it will be that time again. Spring really is right around the corner, next thing you know summer will be here! At this time of year we frequently get asked about “seasonal addresses”. What exactly are they and how do they affect your Residential mailing list?

The simplest way to think about seasonal addresses is as “non-permanent”. There are approximately 900,000 addresses coded as “seasonal” by the USPS. Rather than widespread and spotty, these addresses are pockets of the country where in general the population increases significantly – but not permanently – on a seasonal basis… typically the winter or summer months.

No matter the time of year or geographic location, seasonals are addresses where the resident does not permanently reside. Most of us are familiar with the “snowbirds” who winter down in the sunny southern parts of the country like Florida, however seasonals crop up in many parts of the country at different times of the year, such as summer vacationers in Nantucket, winter skiers in Aspen and so on.

The challenge in working with seasonal addresses usually comes down to timing. For these traveling households the permanent address is never coded as seasonal and the corresponding seasonal address is never coded as vacant. That is why for affected areas it is critical to consider the impact including seasonal addresses may have on your mailing list deliverability. For instance, a mailing to apartments on the Jersey Shore in the middle of winter could greatly increase the amount of undeliverables if seasonal addresses are not excluded! Mailers really need to remember that “seasonals” are an address type that will not be coded as “vacant” when not occupied.

Compact’s Resident List site allows you to review seasonal counts and include or exclude seasonal addresses in any list order. For zips that include seasonal addresses we also provide you with the months they are typically occupied as well – in short, our online tools allow you to make the most informed decision possible regarding these addresses. For further discussion on “seasonals” and the impact they might have on your mailing, give us a call!

Mary McCarty
List Services Manager

Did you know that when you purchase a USPS Walk Sequence/Saturation Address file, your list may contain the same exact address more than once? Most people would ask, “Wouldn’t those records be duplicates?”

Technically there is no way for us to provide you with a “duplicate” address. Each address record we output has been designated as a separate USPS delivery in walk sequence by the postal carrier. These are delivery points or receptacles that service multiple families or businesses. Although the address field is the same, each address will have its own unique walk sequence number in the file.

Sometimes referred to as “Drops” or “Drop Stops”, duplicated addresses can be found in several different scenarios, for example:

Duplex
Fourplex
Boarding House / Fraternity
SFDU with a rental unit attached
Apartment Buildings / Lobby Drops
Gated Communities
Simplified Routes

Some data processes performed on the data after it leaves Compact may flag these records as “bad” or even remove them from the list output. It is important to remember that doing so will invalidate the USPS Qualification paperwork we have provided with our data as well as affect the saturation level attained in each route. The individual addresses included in the piece count that determines whether a route is “Saturated” does indeed include all multiple deliveries present on a given route. So, in certain circumstances removing these addresses could drop the saturation level of a route down to high density or basic rate.

The bottom line is, every address we provide is deliverable as is! In most cases your mail preparer should not be doing anything to alter the enhanced carrier route walk sequence files. Multiple drops do not mean the data is bad or inaccurate, in fact just the opposite: we would not be providing you with a complete route listing if we did not include the drops. For more information about the workings of the Walk Sequence Saturation data, please give us a call!

Thanks,
Mary McCarty
List Services Manager

Sometimes we forget that we are spending an awful lot of time slinging mailing lingo around. For some of us in the “list world” this is second nature – for others, we might as well be speaking Greek! To those who might not live and breathe the postal jargon as we do, here is a handy reference guide to a few of the most common terms you will hear when working with your list provider, printer or mailing house on a direct mail piece:

Automation-Compatible Mail
Mail that meets postal specifications concerning design, size, machine readability, and characteristics so that it can be scanned and processed by automated mail processing equipment.

Address Correction Service
If mail cannot be delivered as addressed, this service allows the sender on request, using the appropriate ancillary service endorsement, to obtain the addressee’s new (forwarding) address (if a change-of-address order was filed), or the reason the mail cannot be delivered as addressed.

Automation Discount
A postage reduction offered to mailers who barcode their letters and flats and meet addressing, readability, and other requirements for processing on automated equipment.

Bulk Mail
Mail that is generally rated for postage partly by weight and partly by the number of pieces in the mailing. A rate discount is given based on the mail preparation work done by the mailer and the place of mail deposit. To qualify as bulk mail, there must be at least 200 pieces or 50 lbs. of mail. While first class postage increases with every ounce, standard mail gives you the same low rate of postage up to 3.3087 ounces. Delivery is slower.

CDS (Computerized Delivery Sequence)
A postal product that contains all addresses. A customer of the USPS may participate in this product if they have at least 90% of the addresses in a particular ZIP code. Once certified, the USPS uses the CDS product to maintain the customer’s data.

Carrier Routes
A group of addresses to which the USPS assigns the same code to aid in mail delivery. These codes are 9 digits – 5 numbers for the ZIP code, one letter for the carrier route type and 3 numbers for the carrier route code. For example “98001C001”.

Carrier Route Sortation
The practice of sorting mail by carrier route to qualify for reduced postage rates. The term is a general descriptor of the available rates for this type of preparation, which include Enhanced Carrier Route Standard Mail, automation carrier route First-Class Mail, carrier route Periodicals, and carrier route Bound Printed Matter

CASS (Coding Accuracy Support System)
A USPS approved process which improves address deliverability and standardization.

Destination Delivery Unit (DDU) Rate
A rate available for Periodicals, Standard Mail, Parcel Post, and Bound Printed Matter that is properly prepared and entered by the mailer at the postal facility that serves the delivery address on the mail.

Domestic Mail Manual (DMM)
Postal Service manual that contains the basic standards and rates for domestic mail services.

Drop Shipment
Typically the movement of a mailer’s product on private transportation from the point of production to a postal facility closer to the destination of those pieces.

Delivery Point Barcode (DPBC)
A POSTNET barcode that represents the ZIP+4 code generally and the last two digits of the primary street address number (or post office box, etc.) and a correction digit. The DPBC allows automated sortation of mail to the carrier level in walk sequence.

Destination Entry
The process of transporting and depositing mail at the postal facilities that serve the addresses on the mailpieces in a mailing. The mailer receives additional discounts for destination entry mail. After your mail is verified and postage is paid at the facility where you hold your permit, you can take your mail to one of three places to receive a destination entry discount: a destination bulk mail center (DBMC) (or destination area distribution center [DADC] for Periodicals), a destination sectional center facility (DSCF), or a destination delivery unit (DDU). The discount you receive depends on which of these locations you choose.

ECR (Enhanced Carrier Route)
This is a subclass to standard mail. ECR has 3 rates: Basic, High Density and Walk Sequence Saturation.

Fulfillment
The actual process of stuffing envelopes, setting up a mailing list, and shipping out a mailing piece. Following up on and tracking a mailing is also part of fulfillment.

Indicia
Imprinted designations on mailpieces that indicate postage payment (e.g., metered postage or permit imprint).

Machinable
The ability of a mailpiece to be sorted by mail processing equipment. (Compare with nonmachinable.)

Merge/Purge
To combine more than one mailing list (merge), and then delete any duplicate entries (purge).

National Change of Address (NCOA)
An address correction service provided to mailers by the Postal Service through its licensees. The licensees match computerized mailing lists with change of address data, and NCOA provides current, standardized, and ZIP+4 coded addresses for all residential and business movers before the mail enters the mailstream.

Nonmachinable
Mail that cannot be sorted on mail processing equipment because of size, shape, content, or address legibility. Such mail is normally processed manually and could be subject to a surcharge.

Periodicals
A class of mail consisting of authorized magazines, newspapers, or other publications formed of printed sheets that are issued at least four times a year at regular, specific intervals from a known office of publication.

Postage Statement
Documentation provided by a mailer to the Postal Service that reports the volume of mail being presented and the postage payable or affixed, and that certifies that the mail meets the applicable eligibility and addressing standards for the rate claimed.

Presorted Mail
A form of mail preparation, required to bypass certain postal operations, in which the mailer groups pieces in a mailing by ZIP Code or by carrier route or carrier walk sequence (or other Postal Service–recommended separation).

Saturation
Refers to the level of penetration a mailing list has into each carrier route. The more deliveries on a route that are included, the better the saturation rate will be.

Seasonal Address
An address that is coded as “Seasonal” by the USPS is one where the occupant does not permanently reside. Typically these are vacation homes or addresses in areas with large increases in population during certain seasons of the year.

Sectional Center Facility (SCF)
A postal facility that serves as the processing and distribution center for post offices in a designated geographical area, defined by the first three digits of the ZIP Codes of these offices. Some SCFs serve more than one 3-digit ZIP Code range.

Simplified Addressing
An alternative addressing format used when delivery of identical mailpieces is requested to every customer on a rural route or highway contract route, or to all post office box customers at a post office without city carrier service. Instead of listing a name and address, the mailer may use “Postal Customer.” Simplified address may also be used by government agencies for official mail sent to all stops on city routes and post office boxes at post offices with city delivery service. s available for discount mail.

Standard Mail
A mailing service (class of mail) that comprises the subclasses of Regular Standard Mail, Nonprofit Standard Mail, Enhanced Carrier Route Standard Mail, and Nonprofit Enhanced Carrier Route Standard Mail. Circulars, printed matter, pamphlets, catalogs, newsletters, direct mail, and merchandise can be sent as Standard Mail.

Tray
A container used by the Postal Service and mailers to hold letters and First-Class Mail flats. It is used as a basic unit of mail quantity for purposes of preparing mail to qualify for discounted postage rates.

Walk Sequence Mail
Walk Sequenced mail is provided in the exact order in which the carrier walks or drives each route so the carrier does not need to sort the mail, which saves the USPS time and money. This savings is passed along to the mailer in the form of the lowest postal rate.

Mary McCarty
List Services Manager

One of the requests I get almost every day is to explain the difference between what is commonly called a “Consumer” list and a “Resident” list.  Both terms sound similar,  the same addresses may actually appear on each list, but there can be quite a bit of confusion over the list types and when each list should be used.  Here is a quick breakdown:

So… when should you use a Consumer List versus a Resident List?

Use a Consumer List if:

-You want a household name on every record in your list

-You require that certain demographic criteria have been confirmed on the household level such as age, income or presence of children

-Importance of targeting your list outweighs the importance of postal discounts

-Importance of targeting your list outweighs chance of slightly lower deliverability

-You are mailing first class and/or don’t mind that the file will need additional presort processing to achieve automation discounts.

-You need a list that includes phone numbers for telemarketing purposes

Consumer List Example: A luxury car dealership has a specific demographic profile for households who are likely to buy their cars: Age 40+ with a $100,000+ income within 25 miles of the dealership.  They also want the mailing to appear as personalized as possible, so showing household name on each piece is important.

Use a Resident List if:

-You want the highest possible postage discounts for sortation and saturation

-You want to make sure you blanket or “saturate” a geographic area by mailing to every available address

-Importance of postal discounts outweighs the importance of targeting your list

-Importance of highest possible deliverability outweighs the slightly lower deliverability of a targeted list

-You want a list that is already properly sorted and ready for mailing including appropriate postal paperwork

Resident List Example: A local pizza parlor knows that most households within 2 miles of their store will consume at least one pizza every 2 weeks. Using the Resident List they will saturate every address in the neighborhood with a coupon mailing.

Contact us for any other questions you may have on the details of the different list types!

Mary McCarty

List Services Manager

Here at CIS we have just launched our new Consumer List Mapping site! We are extremely proud of our new one-of-a-kind site and excited about the increased flexibility that has been built into the Consumer List selection process in terms of flow, ease of use, creating segmented orders as well as mixing geographical selections together.

The best part by far however is the updated mapping. Make sure to take a look at this awesome new tool, especially if you want to see the future of the mapping resource for the Resident site. The new map features you see now on Consumer List are coming to the Resident site, so stay tuned!

Some of the new map features include City selection, County selection and Zip+4 (street level) selection as well as new display options for these selects. Not only can you create a custom selection on the map using our editing tools, you can now combine it with other select types (such as zip, route, etc.) all in the same order, even in the same segment!

Let us know if you would like some help exploring how this new functionality can help you create more meaningful Consumer List selects for your customers. We’re here to help!

Mary McCarty
List Services Manager

The “Run Radius” function is one of the most popular selection tools our customers use for Residential Lists. This completely flexible tool allows radius runs by distance, quantity, or drive time. The origin can be specified as an address, center of a route or a latitude/longitude coordinate. In addition, we recently added a “Run Multiple Radii” option that saves literally hours of time for multi segmented orders!

Over the years we have fielded many questions on this feature and I thought it would help to compile them all in one location for everyone’s benefit. Following is a collection of the most frequently asked:

Q: How does the radius calculation work?

A: Our address data is organized by carrier route within zip code. The radius tool determines which whole routes are applicable for a given radius by running a ranking process that measures the distance from the origin to the center point of possible routes. Those with the shortest distance receive the best ranking result. The Radius tool may include routes that seem to be further away than the desired distance, especially in very rural instances. However, the tool has determined the most densely populated portions of a route and if at least 80% is within the requested zone, it may be selected.

Q: Should I run my radius by Distance or Quantity

A: It depends on the requirements for the specific radius request. Some radius runs need to reach a certain quantity regardless of distance, so the “Quantity” select will compile the closest number of records to the origin address or route using whole routes. The Quantity radius will select the farthest route to cut off to the desired quantity. In other cases “Distance” may be a more important factor rather than quantity. The radius tool will run distances of anywhere from 0.10 miles to 99 miles.

Q: How does the Drive Time radius work?

A: Rather than determining the closest records to an origin by estimating distance “as the crow flies”, the Drive Time radius uses a navigation technology database behind the scenes to calculate addresses within the shortest drive time of an origin. For instance: a long curvy residential road may result in a longer drive time than a straight thoroughfare. Drive Times can be anywhere from 1 minute to 30 minutes from the origin.

Q: What does “Origin Route Rank Not in Top 3” or “Origin Route Not in file” mean?

A: During the Radius processing, each potential route receives a ranking which is based on a measurement between the origin of the radius and the center point of each route. Sometimes the origin route itself does not receive a ranking that is in the top 3 shortest distances. In some cases, selections for the radius run may result in the originating route not be included in the radius result. For instance: a radius select is run excluding business listings but the only listings in the origin route are businesses.

Q: Why won’t the Radius Tool find my address?

A: In order for the radius tool to perform on the address level, a given address needs to be considered valid by the USPS. It also needs to be currently receiving postal delivery to be included in our system. In addition, zip+4 and latitude/longitude coordinates for each address must be available behind the scenes for our processing to function. If any one of these variables is not in place, the address may not be able to be used. Often the best solution is to find a nearby address or to run the radius from the zip & appropriate route instead of an address.

Q: Can I drop duplicates between my radius segments?

A: If multiple radius segments have been set up in an order a “Dedupe” button will appear in the top box on the Job Summary screen. Using “Dedupe” will eliminate duplicate route listings between radius segments by determining which segment using the route has the shortest distance and keeping the route in that particular segment.

Q: Can I use demographic selects to narrow down my radius?

A: Yes, a radius can be filtered by our available median route demographics of age, income, home value and % of households with children.

Q: Can I edit the results of my radius?

A: Once a radius has been run, it can be rerun at any time. Also, the results may be modified using the standard Job Summary interface used in all list orders.

Let us know if your radius question wasn’t answered here… we would be happy to cover any additional questions you may have or provide further demonstration!

Mary McCarty

List Services Manager