Data On Demand builds accurate, compliant consumer data products and solutions that help organisations improve their understanding of their customers, enabling better consumer outcomes. Organisations from a range of sectors including Utilities, Telecoms, and Insurance rely on Data On Demand’s consumer database, the UK’s largest, to identify, verify, and contact their customers.
Stuart Murgatroyd, CEO of Data On Demand, and his team discovered that less than optimal address data matching was slowing growth in the reach of their database. The initial problem was that their existing address-matching solution was slow and would often stop working. During a thorough analysis of the solution, inaccuracies in the data were discovered, and further investigation uncovered areas where improvements could be made to ensure that the data they provide is best-in-class.
Stuart explains: “Our Chief Technical Officer and Chief Data Officer would set large files running on Friday night only to find on Monday that software problems had stopped the process. The hardest part was trying to get our software supplier to fix things in a timely manner. Often, the phone went unanswered, and responses took weeks. We need to move faster than that.”
It was time to find a new address-cleansing supplier. With decades of experience in the data industry, they knew who the major players were and shortlisted four alternatives – including AFD Software – which were then subject to intensive testing and evaluation.
Stuart continues: “We assessed each of the suppliers’ solutions on a wide range of criteria – we went further than most because address cleansing and matching is critical to our business and to our customers. At the end of the process, it was clear that AFD’s Refiner product was best-in-class across all evaluation criteria – including best value for money. AFD’s solution was the fastest, most accurate, simplest to integrate, and the results were much clearer to interpret than the other options.”
Stuart explains some important findings: “As we are encouraging our clients to work on a real-time basis, we need API-based solutions that can handle multiple requests and files simultaneously. Some solutions just couldn’t accommodate this – only offering legacy batch solutions requiring export, processing, and re-importing of data. Other solutions were complicated to integrate and automate and left us to interpret overly complicated results into action – rather than presenting us with a reliable decision.”
The evaluation process showed that AFD Refiner covered 95% of what was needed. The engagement and desire to look at the final 5% would reveal how committed AFD was to receive and action feedback for enhancements that would bring maximum alignment. Stuart says: “The responsiveness from the team at AFD was completely refreshing and delivered a solution bespoke to our exact requirements.”
Stuart concludes: “We are a highly technical, data specialist organisation with complex requirements. When we say that the AFD Refiner engine is best-in-class, we say so after a thorough comparison and examination of multiple dimensions.
Our previous supplier’s account management was not at the required level. From initial engagement, the team at AFD Software responded the fastest, and developed a relationship of partnership rather than transaction. This continued through testing, our bespoke development requirements, go-live, and ongoing support. If you need address data cleansing – partner with The Postcode People at AFD Software.”
If you would like to discuss your data cleansing requirements or understand the quality of your contact database, contact one of AFD’s Data Quality Consultants to discuss your specific requirements today on 01624 811711 or email postcode@afd.co.uk.
We serve thousands of organisations and a network of hundreds of partners across multiple industry sectors, enabling them to have full confidence in their contact data.