"We had lists in excel, access and even mailing lists in our Outlook address book. Zapata Data came in with a plan to consolidate all of them into one unified database. Any changes made by temp staff had to go through an approval process, so no subscriber's information was ever compromised."
- Elizabeth, Circulation Manager at Colorado Expression
Managing lists of subscribers is not an unsolved mystery. For
this particular case, we needed more than just software. After a few
consultations with the owner, we soon came to the conclusion that before we could provide new
avenues for managing their subscribers, we needed to combine everything they currently had, into one big list.
Started by a sole proprietor, they had nurtured their
contact lists in Microsoft Outlook, but others were managed in Microsoft Access. Some were
lists for personal invitations, while others for their subscribers. Sounds
simple enough, right? Not really. Over time they were beginning to run into
some "cross-over" contacts that existed in both lists. Keeping the addresses
synchronized in their lists had become cumbersome and, at times, even difficult
to discern which one was the "latest and greatest".On top of this, there were growing needs for
how each contact could "flagged" and associated to a specific group or
promotion.
Needless to say, they needed more than a cell-by-cell approach
to managing their lists.
The Goal:
- Combine, de-dupe and structure various lists into one unified source
- Provide an interface to add, edit, group and export
subscribers for bi-monthly and promotional mailings
- Changes by non-administrative users must go through an
approval process. A circulation manager approves changes.
The Solution:
- Create a secure login area for administrators and staff.
- Organize their existing lists into a relational database for broader
management possibilities
- All changes to subscriber records go through an approval process
- An administrator can review all changes and export a mailing lists for the
mail house
- Add/Edit Subscribers where there is internet access
"Zapata Data really helped us fine tune the various tools we would need to manage our subscribers. Compared to before, it is much easier
for us to manage our contacts exactly how we want to, and need to. " Terry Vitale, Publisher
If you have some ideas about or need a better way to manage your subscribers,
give us a call. We'd be glad to hear about your current setup, and talk about
its advantages and it there is any room for improvement.