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Capturing best customers with best quality data

by: Admin on Date: Tue, 1 Dec 2009 Time: 3:06 PM

As the largest installer of residential gas, heating and hot water equipment and the dominant provider of gas-heating service plans in New England, KeySpan Home Energy Services directs several major marketing campaigns every year. With every new initiative, Director of Marketing Mike Fusco faces a wide range of challenges in getting his company's message to the right audience. Far more than simply targeting the correct geographic area, Fusco believes that his company's marketing success springs from several crucial elements.

"Prior to my role in marketing, the company had used a variety of partners for generating consumer and business lists," Fusco recalls. "Subsequently, we began testing them on a number of levels: the efficacy of the lists, the accuracy and deliverability of names, the ease of working with their personnel, the speed of turnaround, merge-purge abilities and the ability to get the formats we wanted. Our experience was spotty, at best," he explains. 

After struggling with wide discrepancies in deliverability and unreliable turnaround times, Fusco acted on a consultant's recommendation of AccuData, the nation's largest independent data and data solutions provider.

"We found very early in our relationship with AccuData that with every mailing, there is never any question in terms of deliverability. Their lists are very, very accurate," says Fusco. "Secondly-and this is very important in our industry-we find that the lists the AccuData team provides are always representative of the total universe of names for the target we want. They consistently give us 20 percent more names than we can get from an alternative vendor."

Building a better universe of data

For KeySpan, the ideal "data universe" can change with every new marketing campaign. One of the great advantages of working with AccuData, according to Fusco, is the company's "almost miraculous" ability to identify and target his company's best prospects. 

"We get a great variety of lists from AccuData-not just generic households," he explains. "We often use precise, non-standard targeting in our lists-for example, we'll segment by income, or target certain SIC codes with specific criteria. AccuData has even generated business lists for us based on the square footage of the building! It's another way they help us market more efficiently, to get a better response rate."

AccuData's Energy Data Solutions Team adds further value to KeySpan's data by appending key information to each target. "We've come to rely on the AccuData team's ability to make the most of every list they generate," says Fusco. "When they give us names, we don't just get a raw count of the target. We get valuable information appended, including our internal sales territories, utility flags, and source tracking. Instead of relying on the mail house to take extra time sorting out a complex, three-stage mailing, AccuData provides us with a ready-to-mail list, which saves time and money."

Expanding a successful partnership

After establishing a history of proven direct mail success with AccuData, KeySpan began using the company for its outbound telemarketing efforts as well. Again, AccuData's value-added resources have paid off.

"AccuData's list of businesses includes all the specific, relevant information: contact info, fax numbers, how long they've been in business, the title of the decision-maker," Fusco says. "AccuData even found a list of homeowners with in-ground swimming pools. Any request we've made, AccuData has been able to find it. And they don't just find a list, but a good list. They get it right, and they do it quick. Their turnaround is amazing."

For Fusco, there's no question that the relationship between KeySpan and AccuData has evolved into a successful partnership in the three years since it began. "The AccuData team truly defines the word 'team,' and we, as a business, have a great working relationship with them," he says. "They've eliminated the potential for frustration and wasted time in getting our objectives met. With AccuData, we get the list we need, when we need it-every time."

About the Author

Carolyn Petrie provides editorial marketing services as well as direct marketing writing. Her company, Content 911, is based in Minneapolis, MN. Contact her at petrie911@mn.rr.com.

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