Help clients save money and improve efficiency with mailer products.
Communication is the key. And the key to communication is being understood. If your customers can't understand you or don't want to take the time to hack their way through the dense forest of information you've sent them, then your words are falling on deaf ears.
But fear not, intrepid distributors, your savior is here—mailers. That's right, mailers. Mailers can help end-users communicate more quickly and clearly, recoup receivables faster and save money. Best of all, most of the concept work has already been done.
"Mailers are a good product to offer because of their efficiency," touted David Yost, general manager of InfoSeal, Roanoke, Va.
"They're particularly good be-cause you get a reply envelope that's pre-addressed and will often include the account number and other pertinent data," he added. "There's no way you can do that with a regular insert inside of a traditional window envelope."
Besides, who would want to? Stuffing envelopes is a long, expensive process that offers little guarantee customers will even open the envelope.
Mailers, on the other hand, often look like business correspondence or flashy, personalized affairs that make their recipients curious enough to open them—and then respond to them.
"Mailers have the power to entice people," observed John George, general manager, Caribbean Business Forms, Miami. "I had one account in Atlanta that I designed a mailer for, and that company found that its receivables increased up to 50 percent."
That's good communication. But mailers don't just help companies collect their bills, they can help companies save money too.
For instance, many universities normally send their students class schedules and bills in two separate mailings using traditional envelopes. With a two-way mailer, the same information can be condensed to a single mailer with added savings on postage.
What's more, by taking advantage of the U.S. Postal Service's CASS certification program (Coding Accuracy Support Systems) or using its National Change of Address software, end-users can earn economic rewards from the postal service for reducing the number of bad addresses on their mailing lists.
"A large percentage of the cost of mailers is postage and nearly 10 percent of all mail is undeliverable," counseled Bob McAleavey, president, Specialized Printed Forms, Caledonia, N.Y. "So the Postal Service gives out rewards for mail that has been CASS certified or checked using the NCOA software. Instead of putting 34 cents in the mail, you can get it down to 26 or 24 cents."
Perhaps the biggest challenge to distributors, though, is taking the time to cost-justify the ex-penditures with end-users.
"Most salespeople are really busy," explained McAleavey, "so if they've got an end-user who's happy with what they've got, a lot of distributors will say, 'Let's leave them be.'
"But the payoff for distributors," said McAleavey, "are more loyal end-users because they will appreciate the distributors bringing in the system. Plus, the distributors will make a higher margin on this product than they ever will with an 81⁄2x11˝."
Yost agreed. For him, the ad-vantages of switching to a mailer product far outweigh any reasons to stick with traditional window envelopes.
"There are three good reasons to switch," offered Yost. "There are fewer steps to the mail stream, faster laser printers to reduce hassles, and quicker turnaround time and lower cost for the end-user."
Though nearly every mailer permutation imaginable has been created, there are a few different categories—each one with strengths and weaknesses.
In addition to the traditional stuffed window envelope, there are multi-ply mailers, generally used for invoices and statements, and self-mailers, usually used for payroll and marketing.
Multi-ply mailers run through an impact printer and typically contain three to six parts. They require numerous production steps before they get into the mail stream and are considered more efficient than a stuffed envelope.
Self-mailers are typically one or two parts and are preferred over multi-ply mailers because they are laser printed and therefore clearer and easier to read. They also require fewer steps and less equipment to get into the mail stream, so they're the fastest and least expensive to process.
"Almost everyone who switches to a self-mailer from a regular mailer is excited," reported Yost. "They say, 'Wow, I get a clear image and it's easier to process and get in the mail stream.' "
The self-mailer market can further be broken into two groups—pressure-sealed products and wet-glue products.
Critics of wet-glue products contend that the glue can become prematurely active and cause paper jams. Its proponents say premature activation is not an issue and, in fact, say the product has twice the shelf life as pressure-sealed products and isn't desensitized by Xerox printers.
Both camps agree, though, that whichever system is chosen the best way to break in to the mailer market is to look for customers who are either unhappy with their current mailers or are using traditional stuffed envelopes for billing, statements or marketing.
"They can be used in the retail industry, or for applications in transportation, health care, manufacturing and government," said McAleavey. "They're port-able, fileable and one of the cheapest ways to get information out to a mass market."
By Allan Martin Kemler
- People:
- Bob McAleavey
- David Yost
- Places:
- Roanoke, Va.