Statement Printing

Outsourcing certified mail projects can be a very simple, yet extremely cost effective method for companies. A fully automated certified mail process eliminates labor costs, improves turnaround time, and reduces errors, which in this economy has led to a dramatic increase in the number of firms outsourcing certified mail projects.

With the existing manual process, there are significant challenges that mailers must contend with that include: high labor requirements, the inability to obtain proof of delivery or mailing, manual errors, waste, length of time to prep and mail, and the inability to get postal discounts. Take, for instance, one company that had 10,000 certified mail pieces per month. The savings achieved through outsourcing were significant: $8,700 per month in manual labor cost savings, $2,000 per month in postage, and $1,000 per month in additional presort savings by outsourcing their certified mail. These savings added up to $11,700 per month or over $140,000 annually!

As other companies outsourcing their certified mail have noted, the service pays for itself. Toshiba Medical Systems stated, “Printing and mailing certified letters is very time consuming. Outsourcing was easy to set up and seamless – we simply drop off the file. Our certified mail pieces go out faster than doing it ourselves, saving Toshiba both time and money.”

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With articles like Lousy Loan Offers Still Coming by Mail, it’s not hard to see why consumers are skeptical of direct mail pieces. This article said the mail piece the customer received “Was packed full of misleading statements, starting with the address window. It read ‘Pay to the order of:’ Well who doesn’t want to open an envelope with a check inside? And below our address, it said ‘RE: Mortgage Payment Refund.’ Inside was nothing short of garbage — on a paper with water marks of the Statue of Liberty and Bald Eagle, much like a government check, no less.”

The real lesson in this article is what an advertiser wants to avoid when sending a direct mail piece. Here’s a list of do’s and don’ts when sending direct mail:

Do:
• Be honest with your potential customers. Sure, a customer might open a piece that looks like a check, but will most likely just become irritated and not respond in a positive way.
• Chose a design that gets YOUR message across to your customers. Direct mail is great way to build your brand recognition.
• Make your offer valuable to your potential clients so they are prompted to follow-through with your call to action
Don’t:
• Try to trick your potential customers with your mailing. It usually does not work.
• Hide your message. If a potential customer can’t even tell what it is that your company is offering, how can they follow-through with the call to action?
• Use a medium that is not right for your company. Chose a direct mail piece that gets your company’s message across to your potential customers

An upfront offering on a high quality piece will get a positive reaction from customers and allow you to maximize your direct mail marketing budget.

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There are two key terms in direct mailing that are often confused. The first is “mail date”- the date a customer would like their mail piece to be delivered to USPS for distribution. The second is “in-home date”- the date the customer would like their recipients to receive their direct mail piece. The reason distinguishing between these two terms is important is that after a mail piece is delivered to USPS, it can take 5-7 days (or possibly longer) to reach homes.

The desired in-home date is important to share with your direct mail vendor for one major reason. This reason is so that your vendor can work out an accurate production schedule to meet your needs. It is important to share this information as early as possible since there are factors like seasonality, method of shipping to USPS, post office workload, and distribution of your recipients that should be factored in to the schedule.

Sharing the in-home date information is a crucial step in reducing the likelihood that your needs can’t be met and will allow for a more timely delivery of your direct mail pieces.

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Effective today, September 8, 2009, USPS has updated their letter-size booklet tabbing and size requirements. These updates apply to any letter-size booklet and the sealing of the piece. The purpose of these new requirements is to improve processing and handling for automation compatible booklets. The old rules had tab seals placed at the top of booklets, but the new rules require that the booklet have 3 sealing tabs, two seals placed on the leading edge (the edge that feeds into the machine first) and one seal be placed on the trailing edge. Seals also need to be 1.5 inches in size and non-perforated. The reason that USPS does not want seals to be perforated is that tab seals with perforations are easily broken, do not maintain their integrity, and can be damaged in transport prior to entering the mailstream. A solid paper or plastic seal will now work as the best option for this type of mailing.

The maximum allowable dimensions for booklets are now 6 inches by 10.5 inches. The paper basis weight for booklets is changing from 50 pound to 60 pound paper to 50 pound paper to 70 pound paper.

The minimum size, thickness, and piece weight for booklets are not changing.

If you outsource your printing and mailing, your vendor should be making these adjustments for you. A complete guide can be found on the USPS site or by clicking this link. It is important for your company or vendor to stay on top of these updates as you can incur surcharges if your booklets do not comply.

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