Sep 3, 2024 | Data Cleansing, Deceased Identification, Goneaway Identification
In today’s data-driven world, maintaining accurate and up-to-date customer data is crucial for any organisation. Not only does it enhance operational efficiency, but it also fosters trust and loyalty among customers. One critical aspect of data maintenance is the suppression of deceased and gone away records. This blog explores the importance of maintaining customer data, the benefits of deceased and gone away suppression, and how organisations can leverage in-situ data cleansing within their own cloud platforms.
Why Maintaining Customer Data Matters
Identity resolution is not just a feature; it’s a necessity for the success of data cleanrooms. It allows companies to:
1) Enhanced Customer Experience: Accurate data ensures that communications are relevant and timely, enhancing the overall customer experience. Misaddressed communications can lead to frustration and a negative perception of the brand.
2) Regulatory Compliance: Many industries are subject to strict data protection regulations. Maintaining accurate data helps organisations comply with laws such as GDPR, which mandate the proper handling of personal information.
3) Cost Efficiency: Clean data reduces the costs associated with undeliverable mail, incorrect billing, and wasted marketing efforts. It also minimizes the resources needed to manage and rectify data errors.
4) Improved Decision Making: Reliable data is the foundation of effective decision-making. It enables organisations to analyse trends, forecast demand, and tailor their strategies to meet customer needs.
The Role of Deceased and Gone Away Suppression
1) Respect and Sensitivity: Sending communications to deceased individuals can be distressing for their families. Suppressing these records demonstrates respect and sensitivity, preserving the organisation’s reputation.
2) Data Accuracy: Removing outdated records ensures that the database reflects the current customer base, leading to more accurate analytics and insights.
3) Fraud Prevention: Deceased records can be exploited for fraudulent activities. Suppressing these records helps mitigate the risk of identity theft and fraud.
4) Resource Optimisation: By eliminating gone away records, organisations can focus their resources on engaging with active customers, improving the efficiency of marketing and customer service efforts.
Benefits of In-Situ Data Cleansing in the Cloud
In-situ data cleansing refers to the process of cleaning and maintaining data within the organisation’s own cloud platform. This approach offers several advantages:
1) Real-Time Updates: In-situ cleansing allows for real-time updates, ensuring that the data is always current and accurate. This is particularly important for dynamic customer databases.
2) Enhanced Security: Keeping data within the organisation’s cloud platform reduces the risk of data breaches and unauthorised access. It ensures that sensitive information is handled in compliance with security protocols.
3) Cost Savings: In-situ cleansing eliminates the need for third-party data cleansing services, reducing costs associated with data transfer and external processing.
4) Customisation: Organisations can tailor the cleansing process to their specific needs, incorporating custom rules and algorithms that align with their business objectives.
5) Scalability: Cloud platforms offer scalable solutions that can grow with the organisation. In-situ cleansing ensures that data management processes can adapt to increasing volumes of data without compromising performance.
Proactive Data Management: A Strategic Imperative
Proactive data management is not just about maintaining accuracy; it’s about anticipating and addressing potential issues before they arise. By implementing in-situ data cleansing and deceased and gone away suppression, organisations can:
- Build Trust: Demonstrating a commitment to data accuracy and customer respect fosters trust and loyalty.
- Enhance Efficiency: Streamlined data processes lead to more efficient operations and better resource allocation.
- Drive Growth: Accurate data supports informed decision-making, enabling organisations to identify opportunities and drive growth.
And finally…
The Ark are well placed to help organisations address the problem of deceased and gone away suppression with our National Deceased Register and Re-mover Gone Away suppression files. These datasets can also be delivered proactively through our JetStream data cleanroom solution, providing a cloud-based in-situ solution for organisations looking to maintain their customer data.
Take a look at JetStream in our video:
The takeaway? Maintaining customer data is a strategic imperative for modern organisations. By proactively managing data through in-situ cleansing and deceased and gone away suppression, businesses can enhance customer experience, ensure compliance, and optimise resources. Embracing these practices within their own cloud platforms positions organisations for long-term success in an increasingly data-centric world.
– Martin Jaggard – Director at The Ark
Nov 11, 2016 | Comment, National Deceased Register
Some marketers seem determined to make contact with the other side, offering credit cards, discounts and special offers to the deceased. It would be an incredible achievement on the part of the marketer to get any take up on the campaign from someone who is no longer living, so why do some companies not remove the deceased from their mailing lists?
There is a potential issue of fraud and identity theft here; reports of direct mail being sent to people who have died appear in the media with alarming regularity, and according to a study conducted by Wilmington Millennium with ex-offenders, 79% of these people believed that identity theft was an easy way to obtain cash fraudulently. Fraudsters intercept credit card offers and similar pieces of direct mail after checking obituaries or graveyard activity, and use these details to open credit accounts and run up a huge bill using the personal details of someone who has died. This is very distressing to the relatives of the deceased, as they are left to deal with the authorities alongside the bereavement process.
As well as the issue of criminal activity related to these erroneously sent communications, there is also the issue of negative impact on the reputation of a company that continues to mail out to the deceased. Elderly relatives that lived in a family home will have played a very important part in daily family life, and to be reminded of that loss with every piece of direct mail can be distressing for the family left behind. Dealing with unsubscribing from these companies’ mailing lists will not be a priority for the family, so the responsibility for managing the removal of the deceased from the mailing lists rests firmly with the marketer. When you consider that around two thirds of people would not consider dealing with a company that has sent direct mail to a deceased relative, it is even more important to get a removal process in place.
Companies whose products and services are aimed at the elderly have a much greater responsibility than most to get this right, as their database will have a higher proportion of deceased contacts (and goneaways where the elderly person has moved into a residential or nursing home) than most. Charities are especially susceptible to a high rate of deceased records due to the older average age of their donors, so proactively managing the suppression process and managing final communications can improve the brand image, whilst addressing the need for removing the deceased and goneaways from their databases. Charities can take the opportunity to pay tribute to a valuable donor; an action that can provide comfort for the relatives in a distressing time and potentially recruit new donors to continue the good work that was funded by the late donor. It is a sensitive issue, but when managed correctly can lead to more donors, and a positive reinforcement of the brand image.
Using up to date deceased contact lists is not an onerous task and the small effort required to make sure the database is cleansed against this list, far outweighs the potential negatives of leaving people on there that can no longer receive or read mail. With that in mind, can any organisation really afford to overlook such a simple, yet important component of data hygiene strategy?
Nov 8, 2016 | GDPR
With the looming introduction of the EU General Data Protection Regulation in 2018 there has never been a better time for marketers to improve their practices and work towards the industry standards by which all direct marketers will have to conduct business. GDPR represents the most significant overhaul of Data Protection legislation for over 25 years, it will require many organisations to completely reengineer core processes to become GDPR ready.
In this brave new world marketers will require opted-in permission from consumers to market to them and the old opt-out model will no longer apply. Penalties include staggering fines of up to up to 4% of global turnover.
The new opt-in permissions are likely to have a large impact on new customer acquisition as traditional data sources decrease in size and become costlier and legally complex. Maintaining permission to market to your existing customers will therefore be critical, as will retaining opt-in permission from multiple channels and keeping track of your customers as they move home to avoid diminishing returns from a continually shrinking database.
If a customer, who has previously opted in to receive postal communications, moves house and does not inform those companies who were sending mail, can that record still be considered as a strong opt-in? What steps can marketers take to ensure their campaign material still reaches the intended recipient? If the marketers can obtain the new address of an opted in customer then this can still be considered as a strong opt-in under current regulations, and there are existing products to provide marketers with this data. Using these products will reduce the proportion of direct mail that does not reach the customer, and improve the health of the database. It also increases the value of the database, as details are correct and up to date.
Using a goneaway suppression file such as Re-mover ensures that direct mail campaigns are not sent to addresses that an opted in customer has left, lowering the potential incidence of identity fraud. These actions lead to better compliance with data protection regulations and improve the reputation and image of the originating company as well as the direct mail sector over all. Re-mover is up to date with over 90% of house moves in the UK, 65% of which happen within the previous 30 days, making it the most current and reliable goneaway suppression file available.
Similarly, the National Deceased Register is equally current and provides reliable and accurate data on the recently deceased; it is most often cases of companies mailing people that have been dead for years that make the national press and contribute to the negative image of the direct mail sector, so with up-to-date suppression files available there is no excuse for marketers to bypass best practices. Ignoring the issues of identity fraud and crime that have been associated with credit and loan applications sent to those who are deceased or who have moved only furthers the impression that direct mailing companies are irresponsible and contravenes the incoming GDPR regulations with regard to an individual’s right to data rectification.
Suppression files notwithstanding, there has never been a more pressing time for businesses to look at their opt-in policies for marketing communications, and to ensure that any data processors they outsource to also adhere rigorously to the same standards. The pursuit of industry-wide compliance with opt-in policies, data protection regulations and the rules governing the processing and sale of personal information provided by customers is a journey that must be started very soon. Some companies will have more work to do in this area than others, and should commence the process of database maintenance as soon as possible. Ark Data are leading the way in accurate data suppression files that enable direct mailing contractors and companies managing large customer databases to meet the standards that the public deserve.
0370 334 1510 