Your Contacts List is Golden
The almighty “List” is quite simply the most important business asset today. Its importance is beyond measure because it holds the key to countless opportunities. It contains important records about each of your clients, colleagues, customers, friends, and possibly family members. You update your list often with changes or by adding new records either manually or by use of an automated system. Your contact records may contain notes to remind yourself of the last correspondence or conversation you shared. You guard your “List,” as you should, as if it were gold.
As a Virtual Assistant who supports business owners with marketing, news distribution, or just keeping in touch, I have watched bulk e-mail services become the most popular method of communication. These sites offer more than just a quick way to reach many people at one time. Tracking reports provide much needed information about the performance of a campaign over time. Some sites offer a way to segment your contacts into sub-groups fo
r sending focused communications. All of these sites require one basic prerequisite-a successfully uploaded list of contact records. An e-mail campaign will not produce favorable results if the contact records are not complete and free of errors.
Have you ever mailed, emailed or attempted to call one of your contacts, only to find that the address or telephone number was incorrect? After perhaps a few colorful metaphors you began the daunting task of obtaining the correct information. You put on your sleuth hat and searched the Internet, made telephone calls or sent emails asking for help. You spent precious time trying to reach the contact another way or through a mutual colleague.
Surely you have received correspondence, by either mail or e-mail, with your name misspelled. Or perhaps you didn’t receive an important invitation or notice because the sender had your previous address or telephone number. There is a certain amount of confidence that is broken when you trust a company or individual with your contact information and you find that it was entered incorrectly or not maintained.
While there is limited control over online list building tools, technology has addressed a few issues such as the opt-in to avoid spam issues and the double entry of the e-mail address to guard against typographical errors. Whether your “List” is created manually or through list building services, errors just happen. Corrections however, can be a challenge. At some point your contact records will need repair and you will pay with either your time or by hiring someone with the appropriate skills to do that for you.
In order to get the most out of your “List,” take special care as you update your contact records. Or, hire an expert to update your records for you. Do all that you can to keep them free of unnecessary punctuation, typos, and extra digits in street addresses or telephone numbers. With a correct contacts list your communication project or marketing campaign will have a greater likelihood of a higher response rate.
_________________________________________________________
Tags: contacts, contacts list, bulk e-mail marketing, e-mail marketing services, contact records, online list building, response rate, marketing campaign, virtual assistant
About the author: Debbie Plummer, Owner and Virtual Assistant at Plum ExecuServices, specializes in Administrative Support and has over 25 years of experience in the corporate administrative assistant field. Prior to starting her own business, Debbie provided executive support to presidents of companies in the Dallas/Fort Worth area in the home security and health/nutrition/fitness industries. To learn more about working with a Virtual Assistant, contact Debbie through her company website at PlumExecuServices.com.
Debbie Plummer is the Founder and Owner of Plum ExecuServices: As a business owner, I am committed to providing ethical, proficient service as a Virtual Assistant specializing in Administrative Support. With a degree in Management and over 25 years of experience in the corporate administrative assistant field I bring the best, of what I have learned from the best, to my clients and their businesses.
