Our FAQ section answers some of the most commonly asked questions we encounter. We recommend you take the time to read through them and if you have any questions that aren’t answered, don’t hesitate to get in contact.

1) Can you provide data other to that listed on your website?
Whilst we have tried to supply the most comprehensive data list possible, we understand that not everyone’s requirements can be met (e.g. international consumer data, employee numbers, company turnover etc.). As such we have our List Builder service for you to design your own lists. For more specialist data, simply contact us and we will do our best to be of assistance

2) How is my order sent to me?
As soon as you complete the online order process, you are provided with information to log into your Business mailing account. Once the account is activated, you will be able to login and download your lists.

3) Do all of your lists include the businesses’ contact details and phone numbers?
The majority of our data does include phone numbers and specific contact names, and is therefore suitable for most campaigns. You are fully able to choose which fields you require to be included in your list and make a purchase on that basis.

4) How accurate is your data and where can I find a sample?
Our data is sourced directly from a number of UK business directories, and a sample can be attained from your account area once you’ve registered. The information is gathered manually by our operators and all email addresses verified for validity through an automated SMTP relay system regularly.

5) What if my data is inaccurate?
Unlike other direct marketing companies, Business Mailing never charges you for email records that are out of date or defunct. If this is the case then we will credit your account for a future purchase. For more information, please see our Bounce Buy Back [link] option for more information.

6) Are your lists opt-in or opt-out?
The owners of the email addresses have chosen to list them in the business directories, either for marketing or advertising reasons. Some are very specific (named contacts), or they may be more generic. We cannot guarantee the ratio of specific to generic within any list. You can however choose to exclude generic addresses as required.

7) How does your verification process work?
In the main it occurs on a monthly basis, and during this period we test the addresses in comparison to domain names and run a batch script to ensure the recipient is accessible.

It should be noted, however, that in some rare cases emails may fail. We keep our costs low to accommodate these infrequencies and our bounce buy back policy comes into play. Business Mailing does not charge for inaccurate data – please see out Bounce Buy Back [link] option for more information

8) What is the difference between single and multi-use data?
When you purchase data, you are issued with a Business Mailing usage licence. A single-use licence permits you to only use that data for one-time distribution, whereas a multi-use licence permits unlimited distribution. The only exception being the removal of unsubscribed email addresses from all future mailers. Please be aware that every list is monitored to ensure it is being used in accordance with our terms and conditions. If a licence is abused, an invoice will be issued for the difference to upgrade your licence to multi-use.

9) What assurances are there against duplicate email addresses in a list?
We guarantee that there will no duplicate email addresses in any list whatsoever; during the verification process they are automatically removed. However, companies often advertise across multiple directories and if you order more than one list, there is a chance that there will be duplicate emails across both lists. We do not offer any refund if this is the case.

10) How do I actually email the people in my list?
Firstly, we recommend our Fully Managed Broadcast Service [link] which handles all the messaging for you. We advise against simply using outlook Express, or similar software, because they do not offer either reporting, or automated removed systems. More importantly, in most cases ISPs do don’t permit bulk email sending.

11) I’ve heard that from December 2003 EU legislation prevents bulk email sending; is B2B email marketing affected?

Simply: no it’s not. Email advertising is not illegal. Unwanted advertising, or spam, surrounds us everywhere – from radio and television to flyers through the letterbox. It’s not an issue of privacy, or all these other forms would be affected also.

In October 2003 new EU legislation was introduced to curb the use of spam – this legislation was put in place in an attempt to stop people sending unsolicited email in bulk and as a measure to protect people's private email addresses from vast amounts of inappropriate emails. Unfortunately since 90% of the world's spam is sent from the USA, the EU directive is unlikely to have much effect.

In order to stay within the law when using our lists please ensure you are following these simple guidelines:

• Always include a disclaimer stating that the email has been sent to targeted businesses as part of a one-time only broadcast.
• Ensure your email content is specific to your target businesses, not their employees.
• NEVER use a hidden, or altered, IP address, or falsify any of your details – this is fraud.

12) May I state in my email campaign that the list I’m using was purchased from Business Mailing?
We’re afraid not, this is strictly forbidden and we may even need to take legal action. If someone were to receive an email saying where the data was purchased they might actively seek to remove their names from our lists, which is obviously a scenario we are rather keen to avoid.

13) Is there data available for international companies?
Yes, we do have a select range of international businesses available in our database. However, this data is limited and costs significantly more. This data is not available online, so for more information, please contact us [link].

14) I am located outside the EC, does VAT at 20% still apply?
We only supply data to UK customers so VAT is charged on every transaction. If your company is exempt, you will have to take the issue up with relevant authorities to reclaim VAT.

15) Is the data you supply suitable for address labels or importing into other databases/office applications?
Yes, all our data is supplied in comma separated value (csv.) format.