S
Sandy
Help with best practice for salutations please.
Our Access database is set up with a record for each individual contact and
each contact assigned to at least one household, even if they are the only
person in the household. The households generally consist of husband and
wife or a single individual. But we do have the option to assign an
individual to more than one household; for example, a son with POA could be
assigned to his mother’s household as well as one with his wife. Address is
assigned to the household, not the individual. Gender is assigned to the
individual. Spouses are identified.
We are struggling with what is best to do with all of the required
salutations. We mostly mail to households, but we also mail to individuals
based on gender, giving history, interests, etc.
Our first option is to set the salutations with the individual. Our list
will include household formal (Mr. and Mrs. Smith), informal (Jane and John)
and CEO special (Janey and Spur) and individual formal (Mrs. Smith) and CEO
special (Janey). The 3 household salutations would be duplicated for any
existing household partner but both partners would have his/her own
individual salutations. This is 5 salutations per person. We would then use
grouping and sorting to limit the mailings to one per household and select
the specific household salutation for that particular household mailing.
The other option would be to put the 3 household salutations under the
household (we have a separate address salutation already attached to the
household so that is not an issue) and the individual salutations with the
individual record.
What we need to know is which of the options is considered best practice by
the community and why. We are really torn with this issue and would
appreciate hearing your thoughts on and experience with either or both
options.
Our Access database is set up with a record for each individual contact and
each contact assigned to at least one household, even if they are the only
person in the household. The households generally consist of husband and
wife or a single individual. But we do have the option to assign an
individual to more than one household; for example, a son with POA could be
assigned to his mother’s household as well as one with his wife. Address is
assigned to the household, not the individual. Gender is assigned to the
individual. Spouses are identified.
We are struggling with what is best to do with all of the required
salutations. We mostly mail to households, but we also mail to individuals
based on gender, giving history, interests, etc.
Our first option is to set the salutations with the individual. Our list
will include household formal (Mr. and Mrs. Smith), informal (Jane and John)
and CEO special (Janey and Spur) and individual formal (Mrs. Smith) and CEO
special (Janey). The 3 household salutations would be duplicated for any
existing household partner but both partners would have his/her own
individual salutations. This is 5 salutations per person. We would then use
grouping and sorting to limit the mailings to one per household and select
the specific household salutation for that particular household mailing.
The other option would be to put the 3 household salutations under the
household (we have a separate address salutation already attached to the
household so that is not an issue) and the individual salutations with the
individual record.
What we need to know is which of the options is considered best practice by
the community and why. We are really torn with this issue and would
appreciate hearing your thoughts on and experience with either or both
options.