Step 1 - Data Acquisition
Data
is usually downloaded from the Dealer’s in-house computer
system (ADP & Reynolds & Reynolds). It may also
be received on Disk, tape or by email
Step 2 - Convert & Standardize
All
data is CASS Coded and standardized so we can accurately
match duplicates and Change of address records.
(Example: “123 Lincoln Ave # 2” and “123 Lincoln Avenue Apt
2” Should match
Step 3 - Name Splitting
This
puts the Title, First Name, Last Name and Company information
in the correct fields. This is critical for duplicate
removal and NCOA matching. (Example: “Virginia
Finance” is a company, “Virginia Finann” is a person)
Step 4 - Make Grouping
Data
is grouped by vehicle make and treated separately. A dealership
may sell GM makes and Nissans; they would probably want to
use them for different
mailings. Other makes (non-franchised) are put in a final group and de-duped
against all the other groups.
Step 5 - Customer Number
Duplicates
A customer may own several vehicles, they
are usually stored as separate records in the dealer’s
system, but they have the same customer number.
We reduce these records to either the Newest vehicle
or
most recently
active
vehicle in the make group. We do not log these records as duplicates
Step 6 – Family
Duplicates
Duplicates where the Last Name and the
Address are the same are reduced to a single record, retaining
the newest or most recently active vehicle within
the make group
Step 7 - Change of Address
National
Change of Address (NCOA) processing matches the data with USPS
records of people who have moved in the last 4 years. We also
match with known changes
from previous work in the area, thus matching some address changes older
than 4+ years
Step 8 - Trade Address
Removal
We keep a database of over 100,000 known
Auto Trade Addresses. All records at these addresses are
deleted.
If the names says “John Smith” but
the address is that of an Auto Dealer, Body Shop or other Trade company,
the record is deleted
Step 9 - Scan for new
trade addresses
The list is searched for known Trade
strings like “Chrysler Plymouth” and “Mufflers” to
add to the Trade Addresses file. The system knows that “Ford”, “Honda”, “Suzuki” etc
are common last names. The Name Splitter separates individuals from companies
so we don’t add families to the Trade file.
Step 10 - Company Removal
Most
mailings are intended for individuals, if this is the case,
we remove all records addresses to companies.
Step 11 - Non-CASS coded
Our
USPS certified CASS (Coding Accuracy Support System) software
assigns the correct Zip Codes and Zip+4 data to each record.
If the record is ambiguous
or incomplete, it cannot make a match. We delete these records because they
are probably undeliverable and cannot be used in a pre-sorted mailing.
Step 12 – Scope the List
We
can scope the list in many ways; the most common is by distance
and vehicle model year.
Our Zip-Distance-Year report shows a cross-tabulation of vehicle model
years by Zip Code. The Zip Codes are ordered by distance from the dealership.
We
show a cumulative total to make it easy to select the closest records
