A CRASH COURSE IN TELEPHONE NUMBER APPENDING

By Keith Petersen


When I was in school, Cliff Notes could always be counted on to give 
me the important points from a book in 1/10th or less of the time it
would take to read that book. Welcome to the Cliff Notes' version of
the book on phone appending. We will cover how the process works, how
to select a vendor, what you can do to increase your success, and what
to do with those non-matches. A short open newsletter quiz will fol-
low. Let the class begin.


How the Process Works


Service bureaus that provide automated telephone number appending
start with an in-house compiled consumer and business nationwide data-
base. These compiled files usually are installations of the big com-
pilers such as Metromail, Donnelley, Polk, TRW, Database America,
among others. Most important to the appending process is the matching
logic developed to search the database and come up with a phone number
for each of your records. The matching logic should allow you to
loosen or tighten your requirements for appending a phone. Let's look
at an example below:


Vendor Database:
Nora Matches 
123 Main St. 
Local City, NE 68134

Your Record #1:
N. Matches
123 Mean St.
Local City, NE 68134

Your Record #2:
Nora Matches
865 Any St.
Local City, NE 68134

Some records match exactly, but what about our examples? Do you want 
these to be considered matches? Most companies say yes. But if 
accuracy, not quantity, is most important to you, then tighten your
matching requirements.

Some other important notes. This country moves around at a high rate.
A few of the numbers you get back will be wrong even though just a
week or month ago they were good. Another point to consider is the
growing number of unlisted phones. Some states, such as California,
have very high percentages of unlisted numbers. This will cause your
hit rate to go down because these phones are rarely on the vendors'
compiled file.

Lastly, the best phone appending vendors use the DMA, Oregon, and
Florida Telephone Preference Service files and do not give out the
phone numbers for those people who have requested not to be called.

How To Select a Phone Append Vendor

1. As with all the vendors you select, ask for, and check references.
2. Make sure the vendors are doing the work themselves and not
farming out your work. 
3. Ask which database(s) they have in-house to match against. 
4. Find out how fast they will complete your project. 
5. Find out if they will do a free test for you to see their reports 
and make sure the rollout will be cost-effective. 
6. And of course, get the pricing. See if you can get a lower price
if you commit to a yearly volume.

How To Increase Your Success

1. Keep your files in an organized, clean and professional manner. 
This may sound pretty basic but some companies have trouble 
keeping record size constant, keeping files complete or updated,
or keeping files on readable diskettes, tapes, or cartridges. 
2. Try not to send your phone append vendor diskettes with printer
commands inserted. 
3. In short, talk with your vendor to make sure the format you are
sending is acceptable.

What To Do With Nonmatches

If your product has a low margin or low conversion rate, it may not be
feasible to do anything with the nonmatches. Conversely it may be
cost-efficient to do an operator-assisted search on the nonmatches if
your product has a high margin or high conversion ratio. Operator-
assisted searches are much more expensive, so make sure you always run
an automated search first. An operator-assisted search may cost in the
30 cents per search range, while an automated search will run in the
three-cents-per-hit range. Once again a small test should provide an
answer on what is or isn't cost-effective.

The Quiz (True or False)

1. You can append phones to business records. T F
2. Always trash your nonmatches. T F
3. You only get exact matches back on an automated 
search. T F
4. All phone append vendors get the same hit rates. T F
5. Testing files and vendors is a good idea. T F
6. Unlisted numbers usually are not found. T F
7. The DMA Telephone Marketing Council considers 
phone appending the most important part of any 
telemarketing project. T F

The Answers and Conclusions

1. True
2. False
3. False
4. False
5. True
6. True
7. True

Phone appending vendors can help make your next project a success. A 
close and reliable relationship with a phone appending vendor can give
you an edge in marketing your product or, if you are a service bureau, 
help you show better results than your competition's telemarketing
campaigns. And that's what this business is all about. Class dis-
missed.

Source: Keith Petersen, director of sales at CAS Marketing.

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This resource is (c) 1996 by, and compliments of 
The Direct Marketing Association, Inc.
1120 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10036-6700 
Contact the DMA at (212) 768-7277, by fax (212) 768-4546.