The Secret to a Successful Customer Mailing: Outsource it!
“Let’s send our customers a mailing!”
This simple statement has the power to send a chill up the spine of anyone in your organization responsible for the dreaded MAIL MERGE.
If you’ve ever been tasked with taking a database of contact information and turning it into a stack of sealed and stamped letters, you know there are myriad details and components to a mass mailing that are unrecognized. Names, addresses, zip codes (what happened to the first zero?!?), salutations, variable data, folded paper, inserts, envelopes, return addresses, postage and flap adhesive…every step is a minefield, rife with pitfalls and possible errors.
If mailings are not something your company does on a regular base and yours needs to be done right, and on time, ask yourself whether your mailing is a good candidate for outsourcing.
Consider some of the benefits of working with a trusted partner on your next mass mailing:
Time is Money: Does your staff regularly handle mailings? Are they experts on the ins and outs of using the mail merge feature on your software program? If not, every step of the way stands to be a learning experience. Does investing in the development of these new skills make sense or would your staff’s hours (and possibly days) be better spend on another element of their core job?
An Eye for Detail: With so many details to keep track of and confirm, you need an expert who has an eye for detail and takes the time to make sure each step is executed correctly—the first time. Realizing the merge fields aren’t matching up or there are two commas after the salutation isn’t something you want to discover after all 1,000 letters have printed.
Confidentiality: When you work with a mailing services partner who’s in the business of mailings you can be assured that your company’s information is kept confidential. Secure file transfer portals and dedicated staff and machines are just some of the ways your confidential customer data is protected.
Business as Usual: By outsourcing your mailing services to an experienced specialist—for whom mass mailings are just business as usual—means you can get back to your business, as usual.
Branding Consistency: If you are fortunate enough to have a printer who also offers mailing services, you’ll get the benefit of being able to ensure that your brand is consistently represented across all the elements of your mailing. What could be better than having your letters, envelopes, brochures or other inserts printed and assembled in one place, under the watchful eye of someone who knows how you want it to look?
Do you have a large scale variable data mail merge coming up? Contact us to find out how we can help support your next customer communication mailing.
