This post continues our series in getting the most from your address list. To learn about address correction results, read Understanding Address Correction Results.

After processing your list through CASS and DPV, what can you do with the addresses to get the most out of your mailing? Here are some steps you can take to increase the quality of your mailings.

Step 1: Process the list through additional services

Many mailers are familiar with NCOA^Link processing, which will update addresses for people who have moved in the past 48 months. This process can also identify records where the new address wasn’t available. We will cover NCOA^Link results in another blog post.

After NCOA^Link processing, additional services can help to get more information about the addresses in your database. These services are available outside the USPS data set, but can provide valuable data about the address, and even add more information to make the address deliverable. Services available from Satori include:

• Apartment append – this service is similar to Suite^Link, which adds a suite number to a business address. For individuals, Apartment append can look up the apartment number for incomplete addresses, making the address more deliverable. This service can reduce the number of addresses with DPV problems found during CASS processing. Having this data can also result in more valid moves found during move update processing.
• ECOA (Enhanced Change-of-Address) – this service is similar to NCOA^Link, but uses data from credit bureaus, magazine subscriptions and other sources to find people who have moved, but did not file their move with USPS. Depending on the list, this process can find up to an additional 20% of moves.
• Deceased person, correctional facility and Do-Not-Mail suppression – this service, called the Suppression Suite in Satori products, identifies contacts in your database who are unwilling or unable to reply to your mail piece. By eliminating these addresses from your database, you will ensure that your message gets to someone who can respond.

Step 2: Separate good addresses from questionable and undeliverables

After getting the data back from CASS/DPV, and any additional services, you can use this data to separate the clean addresses from those that need consideration. Here are some suggested groups:

• Deliverable addresses will consist mainly of addresses “matched” during Address Correction. In Satori Software products, these addresses have an error code of 90 or less. From this set of addresses, remove any addresses with NCOA^Link errors, DPV Vacant flags or any addresses that were found using the suppression service. In Bulk Mailer products, you can use the “All Deliverable Records” group to select these addresses. These addresses have a very high probability that they will be delivered properly.
• Questionable addresses contain addresses with DPV and other errors after Address Correction. In Satori Software products, these addresses have an error code of 91 or higher. Add any NCOA^Link errors to this group. These addresses were either not complete, or for another reason were not found in the USPS data set. These addresses need some additional information to make them deliverable.
• Undeliverable addresses include addresses with DPV Vacant status, records that have moved with no forwarding information (especially foreign moves), and any addresses noted during suppression. These addresses are unlikely to be deliverable.

Step 3: Triage questionable and undeliverable addresses

Depending on the type of mail you are sending, this triage process can take seconds or weeks. Here are some options to consider when running triage with your questionable and undeliverable addresses:

• For advertising mail, sometimes it makes sense to remove any potentially difficult addresses from your list, and mail only to the deliverable addresses. This process can be done quickly, and prevents any printing and mailing costs to addresses that are not likely to reach the target recipient.
• For invoices, bills and other personalized mail, use alternate contact information such as a phone number or email address to get updated address information. This process can take some time, but will get the best data back into your mailing list.
• Depending on the cost or content of the mailing, you may choose to mail to these addresses anyway. If you do, print “Address Service Requested” on the mail piece to get more information about the address if it is undeliverable. USPS will return these undeliverable pieces to you, with additional information about why it was not delivered. This process will likely cause an increase of returned mail and each piece returned to you will incur a charge.

Step 4: Send the mailing and update your source data

While many address problems can be corrected, the best practice is to get any changed data back into your primary database. Maintaining correct and current addresses can be handled automatically in some cases, but it is important to capture data from all sources. The least updated data comes from manually returned mail, as the address changes require manual processing to update. Once your source data is clean, it will be ready for you to use with your next mailing.

Step 5: Keep it going

Once you have a clean set of addresses, your work isn’t over. With over 17% of the United States reporting a move every year, over two million deaths, and constant re-naming and re-zoning of streets, addresses don’t stay correct for long. Create and maintain a process to keep your list updated, at least once per quarter.

Stay tuned for our next blog, where we’ll review the possible results from NCOA^Link processing, with some tips for how to handle the different return codes.

address correction · CASS · data enhancement · DPV · error handling · NCOALink

If you’ve been in the mailing industry for awhile, acronyms like CASS, DPV and NCOA are very familiar. Perhaps you run these processes on your mailing lists every day. But after you run these processes, what should you do with the results? Many mailers will ignore the results completely, missing out on a key opportunity to cut down on their mailing costs. Today, we’ll review some of the results you’ll get after running your list through Address Correction, which includes data from CASS and DPV processing.

After CASS and DPV processing, most programs return an evaluation code for each address, letting you know what happened to the address during processing. There are three general types of return codes. Here they are, and here are some good ways to handle the addresses once the process is complete.

Matched Addresses

This return code, generally between 0 and 90 in Satori Software products, indicates that the program was able to match the address to a valid address in the USPS database. Sometimes the software makes changes to the address in order to match it. This could be added information, such as a street directional (west, northeast, etc), or corrections to the spelling of a street name or ZIP code can be made as well.

When an address has a return code indicating that the address was matched, you have a good level of certainty that anything sent to that address will be delivered. If the list you processed will be used again, either in another mailing, or as a customer database, it is always a good idea to update the source data with the updated address. This ensures that the cleaned address is available the next time you want to use it.

DPV Errors and Warnings

When the return code indicates a DPV issue (generally 91-99 and 492-493 in Satori Software products), this indicates that while the building/house number is correct, the apartment/suite number is missing or incorrect. These pieces can get delivery point information from the software, and still qualify for Automation prices, even with missing data. Because of this, many of these dubious addresses slip through validation and can result in returned mail.

Years ago, postal carriers were encouraged to try to deliver mail pieces with missing apartment or suite information. As many carriers would deliver to the same route their entire career, this process worked well. With USPS downsizing and routes changing constantly, they no longer encourage carriers to take this extra step.

Today, addresses with these return codes should be set aside and evaluated. In some cases, the mail will get to the intended recipient, but not always. In other words, these addresses should be treated like uncorrected addresses.

Other Uncorrected Addresses

There are many reasons an address can’t be corrected by CASS-certified software. Most commonly, the address has missing or misleading data that precludes a match to an address in the CASS database. Anything from missing street directionals (for example, the original address was 101 Main St, but Main St has both north (N) and south (S) designators), to poorly spelled street names can cause these errors. These addresses do not get delivery point information from your software, and do not qualify for Automation rates.

In some cases, addresses not matched can be delivered by the postal carrier. Familiarity with a route can allow a carrier to recognize what a misspelled word is meant to represent , and these mail pieces can get to their intended recipient. However, in most cases, uncorrected addresses wind up getting returned to the mailer or discarded by USPS. These addresses should be set aside and evaluated.

Depending on the reason you mail, there are several ways to handle these unmatched addresses. Watch for our next blog, where we review all of your address evaluation options.

address correction · CASS · DPV · error handling