Contacts and channels
Keeping contacts up to date
A wrong contact costs two weeks, and it was almost always knowable in advance.
Most stalled cases are not stalled because the other side does not want to: they are stalled because the notice went to an address nobody reads any more. And the system knew that from day one.
The three things that most clutter it
| Problem | How you notice | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Bouncing addresses | The case flags it on the first send | Fix it on the contact record, not just that send |
| Duplicate contacts | The same person with two records | Merge them so the history is not split |
| People who have left | They never open anything | Ask the company for their replacement |
The review worth doing
Once a quarter, look at contacts that have bounced or have opened nothing for months. There will be half a dozen, they take twenty minutes to fix, and they are exactly the ones about to block your next case.
Watch out
Fixing the email only on one send leaves the record wrong, and the next case fails the same way. Fix the record.
Worth knowing
When a third party tells you their contact person has changed, update it that day. It is the only moment you have the right detail without hunting for it.
›Can a company have more than one contact?
Yes, and it helps: one for paperwork, another for invoicing.
›What happens to history when merging?
It joins up. That is the reason to merge rather than delete one.
›Can I import contacts from our system?
Yes, and it is the fastest way to start.
A real case
The situation
A company has eleven stalled cases and none are moving.
What you do
- Filters contacts that bounced
- Fixes seven addresses on their records
- Asks for replacements for two people who have left
What you get
Nine of the eleven cases move that week.
The situation
An email bounces and nobody corrects it.
What you do
- Updates the contact on the first bounce
What you get
Notices stop getting lost.
The situation
Each person has their own version of the contact.
What you do
- Centralises the company record
What you get
The supplier receives a coherent message.
The situation
The contact has not been updated in two years.
What you do
- Reviews contacts at every campaign
What you get
The address book reflects reality.
The situation
You discover the contact left when chasing.
What you do
- Asks for the new contact before the next round
What you get
The chase reaches somebody who can act.
The situation
There are duplicate contacts at the same company.
What you do
- Merges the duplicates
What you get
The supplier receives one, not three.
This article answers
- the supplier's email is wrong
- update contact details
- duplicate contacts
- the person no longer works there