Some Useful Tips
Use a database to enter your customer and/or prospect information
Word processors or spreadsheets don't offer the rigidness and consistency your data needs to be useful. You may be able to print a letter or some labels from it. But, can you sort your addresses by Zip or Postal Code, last name, company name etc? A database can.
What are fields and records?
A field contains one piece of information such as a zip code, last name, first name, phone number etc. A record is a collection of fields about someone or something. It's wise to create a field for each piece of information you wish to access individually. Plan your fields and be consistent while entering your information.
Enter the information into the right fields
Don't misuse fields. Don't mix names of individuals, companies and other information in the same field. If you do you may get letters with salutations like: 'Dear ABC Corporation'. Even worse 'Dear Deceased', 'Dear Power of attorney',... the list goes on! We found those entries in the mailing list (250,000 + addresses) of a major corporation.
When sorting and/or selecting by zip or postal codes the computer is looking ONLY in the zip code field for zip codes. Sorting your data by city is only possible if the city name is found in the city field and NOT in the second street line.
Use codes productively
If you use codes to segregate your list keep a record of them and update as needed. Want to separate clients from prospects? Create a group 'status' and enter the appropriate code. When prospects become clients you just change the status to 'Client' or 'Customer'. Coding gives you unlimited access and sorting possibilities.
Number of fields you should have
Not too many – not too few. Establish fields essential for mailings and/or whatever the purpose of your database. Think about what you'll use this list for: mailing, telemarketing etc.
Do you need response tracking? Each field you use should be maintainable. Don't fall into the trap of capturing every bit of information made available to you. It's not very useful to store information about what kind of carpet your customer has if you don't update it and never use it anyway.
Don't set up too many fields for the address block
Printing labels or using window envelopes can be a problem when too many address lines are used or lines are too long. For best results try to keep the number of lines for the name and address block to 7 or less and the number of characters per field to 50 or less.
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