Get Customers Data Right with Address Verification Software

Getting customer data correct is absolutely essential to doing online business. Unfortunately, when your customers enter their personal information, it is all too easy for them to transpose characters, misspell street names, or leave out important information, and these types of errors can really have an effect on your bottom line.

The Problem

When your customers give you inaccurate information, the burden is on your company to spend both time and resources trying to get the right data. In fact, you could end up shipping items to a wrong or nonexistent address or missing an opportunity to get a sales lead when an email address or phone number turns out to be false.

In both cases, there is a good chance that you may not only be losing money in the short term, but also be losing the loyalty of a frustrated customer. For these reasons and others, it is in your best interest to validate data before it becomes a problem.

The Solution

Validating data, fortunately, is something that can be done near-instantaneously. This way, bad data is never submitted to your company’s database and problems are avoided. In fact, most of the time customers do not even realize that any changes have taken place.

In the case of mailing addresses, for instance, address verification software can check the customers’ information against the United States Postal Service’s Delivery Point Validation file. This checks the entered data against a registry of all valid mailing addresses in the U.S. and makes slight corrections as necessary. If the address is not recognized, the customer can be prompted to enter different information.

A similar process works for email; with an email validator, your customers’ email information is match against addresses from known dead, malicious, or false email addresses. This eliminates the need for a “Confirm Email” process, which dramatically reduces conversion rates.

Why It Works

Getting your customers’ correct information the first time is beneficial to both you and the customer. Most of the time, address verification software works behind the scenes to correct common errors, which means that usability is not sacrificed. In the case that a customer enters data that cannot be recognized, an opportunity to correct the error is created instantly, as customers are prompted to resubmit with valid information.

No matter the size of your online business, this software can help you save time, money, and retain customers.

This guest contribution was submitted by Caitlin Laura, a senior developer with Experian QAS. She enjoys reading and writing about technology. She also enjoys travelling with her husband and two kids. If you would like to write for us, join Cyber World Community.