Frequently Asked Questions
Click on one of these questions to jump to it, or scroll down the page.
You're very welcome to e-mail any questions not listed above.
1. What price do you charge?
Please refer to the "COSTS" page.
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2. How do you get your names?
By taking name & address change notices from three main sources, with several sub-sources in each:
- popular magazine publishers
- credit-card operators, and
- credit bureaux.
Note that nobody reaches this list without having initiated the data recording him- or herself. So there's a strong validation.
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3. Why is there a minimum charge?
It's $15.00 for any month in which we can make a non-zero delivery, which equates (@ 45 cents/name) to 33 names & addresses. This just recovers our fixed costs, and is very low by industry standards.
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4. Why is the $150 returnable deposit required?
We're extending credit, and don't want the hassle or delay of making a check. So we use the prudent business practice of requiring this for security. It will be returned if and when an order is cancelled and the account balance cleared. Note however that it is waived for the $400 prepay option.
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5. Why should we choose Computer-Assisted Marketing?
There are five reasons:
- You get the most names, soonest. Our sourcing method provides the most timely and comprehensive newcomer list available. This far and away the most important factor in your vendor choice. For example, it includes renters as well as those who purchase their new home. Most rival lists don't.
- We deliver by e-mail; there is no faster way. No waiting for the USPS to get around to it, while the new resident finds and chooses your competitor.
- You deal with the boss. This is a family business owned by Jim Davies, and if any wrinkle arises I am only a phone call away (in Eastern business hours, anyway!)
- We've been handling this list since 1985. We know it rather well, warts and all. And we know the way you need to use it for best effect in your business, and are ready and eager to show you. Use us as consultants!
- It's our main business, not an adjunct. For us, this list is not one among many; we depend on its satisfying you, our client.
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6. How should we design a mailer?
Please refer to our page on "Mailer Design."
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7. What zip codes should we name?
Those from which you are drawing customers now, plus those from which you would like to draw customers and want to use this intelligent advertising project to try. It's easy to order a change to the set of zip codes on order, at short notice.
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8. What guarantee do you provide?
Of 95% deliverability, regardless of the error source.
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9. Why do list errors occur?
Because human beings help prepare the list.
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10. What if I get a complaint about a list error?
First, turn a sow's ear into a silk purse! You are now on the phone with a real, live prospect! Deal with the complaint as courteously as you can, see below, and then turn attention to the good things you can offer the caller.
There's no need for you, our client, to take any heat at all. Some people complain at almost any imperfection, and seem to enjoy sounding off... so deflect them to us! That's one reason we are here. Give the complainer our phone #, or give me his or hers. I'll write or call to take responsibility.
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11. In what format does the monthly file come?
Comma-delimited ASCII, tagged with a ".txt" suffix to make it easy for popular Internet Mail software to handle. Each field is separated from the next by a comma; each record ends with a line feed/carriage return. The fields are Title, First Name & M.I., Last Name, Street Address 1, Street Address 2, City, State, Zip, Z+4.
All popular word processing software can handle this format, which saw the light of day with WordStar. Sometimes that software may need to translate or convert it first, but after a one-time learning process with help from its User Guide, the monthly procedure should be very simple.
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12. Which member of the household does the address name?
The first which the sourcing method happens to encounter. So design your mailer to address the family of household, not the individual. It may be Mom, Dad, or even the newly-resident computer whiz-kid.
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13. Do you offer Exclusivity?
No. This would mean that we'd not supply your trade competitors with names & addresses in the same zip codes you had ordered. We tried it, and found there was little demand.
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14. When in the month will the names arrive by email?
No later than the 18th of the month, but in practice it's almost always a good deal earlier. In the last 12 months the average ship date was the 4th and in no month was it later than the 12th.
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15. How soon after their move do I get the names?
Because we deliver as above in the early part of each month those who moved (for the great part) in the previous calendar month, the answer in most cases is: a little under four weeks.
This is quite soon enough for most businesses. Exceptions are
very few and would be such as home-oil merchants in the winter,
who
Having the names so soon after the move is a big advantage - you get your ad in front of the newcomer before your rival does. That means more customers, more business growth.
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16. Is this service available outside the USA?
Alas, no. We can operate only with the 5-digit US zip code system.
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17. Can I share these names with my associates?
Sorry, no; they are provided for the exclusive use of the party placing the order. However,
- If you wish, you can store them and use them over and over to announce special events or offers to a growing residential database
- With the Zero Cost Option we reward you for referring associates
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18. Tell me about the options available
As well as a range of prices, there are two, on the Order Form:
- "ZIZ" - about 10% of the estimated mover volume is from one address to another in the same zip code, and at your option these can be excluded. This would zap those intra-zip movers and is a useful way to save money if you're sure your offer carries little value for those who have lived locally before, even though they recently went through a house move.
- "Scope" - a highly variable fraction of the movers go to live in a census tract (of which there are several, within each zip) having a household income below the average. This option permits their exclusion; a good choice if what you offer has no application to low-income residents.
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