November 2001
When sourcing a database for a direct mail campaign, what are the main criteria?

Accuracy has to be paramount. The wrong contact details waste time and money and thwart a successful tele-sales follow-up. Mistakes also reflect badly on the company behind the mailshot.

Flexibility to reach the markets you have so painstakingly identified for your sales campaign also has to be a priority. This targeting may be by type of business. It may be by region. Ideally it needs to be at a time when the companies you are selling to have the money and are in the right frame of mind to consider spending.

It has to be a database which is easy to use. Ask yourself who is actually going to undertake the direct mail campaign. Whoever it is has to be able to access the information and process it quickly, easily and efficiently.

Cost has to be a consideration. If sales budgets are tight do you really want to pay a premium for someone else to draw up a list specifically for you? Who knows your market best?

If your sales operation demands a regular direct mail campaign, you need to make sure that you are up to date with company expansion schemes, merges, changes in key decision makers. Your one-off database will become out of date very quickly.

Thomson Directories, with a database of over 2 million business listings, one of the largest databases available in the UK , have developed a series of B2B database products based on the above criteria. The sole aim of Thomson's Business Information portfolio is to support their customers' business growth by providing the sales and marketing solution which is right for them. Annual research to identify the latest demands and requirements of the market in terms of sourcing new business leads and potential customer contacts provides the catalyst for Thomson to upgrade existing products and develop new services.

The latest development is a unique sales lead service - Fastest Growing Companies which was launched following research that revealed demand for a B2B marketing tool that provides detailed access to the UK 's fastest growing companies. By providing the inside track on succeeding businesses, the new service can be used by any size of company to target prospects who need new products and services and are generating the income to purchase them. Selected for this new database are companies which have seen a turnover growth of 10% to 500% between their last two sets of accounts. This financial data has been sourced from Companies House and then matched with the Thomson Data.

The launch of Fastest Growing Companies, which is already receiving an encouraging response from the market, follows hot on the heels of the release of Version 9 of Business Search PRO. Also developed following intensive research, the latest version of the successful Business Search PRO CD-ROM provides real benefits to companies of any size looking for improved ways to market themselves and their products.. Business Search PRO is compiled from the Thomson Database and gives users the opportunity to create their own customised direct mail lists extremely cost effectively. This easy-to-use CD-ROM enables the user to search the database of over 2 million business listings using a variety of criteria including company name, address and postcode, and by business type. Version 9 allows users to refine searches by the nearest town and by website addresses (URLs).

It is the speed and accuracy of the products from Thomson Directories that provides the key benefits to customers. This is a particular feature of New Connections, a unique data service designed to help customers build their business. New Connections provides up-to-date information every month on all the new and relocated businesses either in a local area, or nationally. It also includes details on all businesses with a recent change of owner or new branch set up.

The information is sourced from the very latest updates to the Thomson Database, and essentially provides a selection of red hot leads that will appeal to any business looking to target potential customers that are at a key stage in their buying cycle.

For further information see www.thomsondirectories.com or please contact our Press Office.