What’s the connection between visiting a restaurant you have never been to before and buying a data list from a company you’ve never used before?
Read on!
Fact Finding
Whilst gadding about Torquay this week, it was decided to take a break from all the rampant sunshine and find a smackerel of something delicious to eat. So, off we went in search of something just right.
Now, when you visit an eatery for the first time you need a bit of confidence to give it a try don’t you? No one wants a bad meal/bad service/exorbitant prices/no atmosphere or food poisoning. Accordingly, we tend to go through a certain fact finding routine to see if it’s a place we want to spend our time and money in. It goes a little something like this:
How’s it looking? – Does the way the eatery presents itself appeal to us? Does it look like a place that’s well looked after and well decorated? Is it obvious that attention to detail is important?
Customer service – how are you greeted? This can be indicative of how you will be treated.
Is it clean? – Firstly, does it look clean and well ordered? Are there certificates of hygiene compliance?
What’s on offer – a well laid out and worded menu is a powerful deciding factor. Where the food is sourced, whether it is homemade and if the dishes are made to order are all important menu statements to make.
Ratings – a quick few minutes on the smart phone to find reviews and comments. Does the place seem popular?
Data List Provider
Going through this process in the search for somewhere just right to eat made me make the connection that a similar process could be applied by someone wishing to buy a data list. How do you know you have found a trustworthy data list provider?
How’s it looking? – Does your potential data provider have a well laid out, up-to-date and informative website and written information?
Customer service – Do they and present themselves and their company professionally? Do they take the time to understand your business and what your needs are?
Is it clean? – Do they explain to you that the data they provide you with is clean and current? Do they undertake to only provide you with ‘opted in’ contact details?
What’s on offer? – Are they flexible in their approach and informed, to ensure they provide you with the type of data that is best for your business? Do they undertake to provide data that contains no duplications? Do they offer a ‘no quibble’ guarantee so that they will replace any information that is duplicated.
Ratings – Are they members of the Direct Marketing Association, working to a code of practice and adhering to best practice guidelines? Have they published testimonials on their website to verify their level of service?
When it comes to business data or consumer data or a data cleaning service, what is most important to me is the quality of our service and the data we provide. You could say our data’s so clean you could eat off it!
Oh, and it was a lovely meal!
