List Hygiene — ABCs of Improving Address Quality

There is also the more expensive AEC II, which uses Delivery Force Knowledge, or DFK, to get correct addresses. The layman term for DFK is “asking the carrier.” AEC II can take up to 60 days.

One of the best ways to have correct addresses is to start with correct addresses. For small operations, data entry staff can go to USPS.com to look up the ZIP+4 and get a correct format at the beginning. For larger companies, there are software packages and systems that can verify addresses as they are entered. Helping your clients at this early stage can be a revenue source and make you indispensable to your customers.