Distributors can prosper by pushing the envelope on mailers.
After making a few initial phone calls to inquire about the state of affairs for mailer products within the forms industry today, it was clear that manufacturers have mixed feelings on the issue. Some simply reported such an insignificant sale of mailers—due to too much competition and changing technology—that they preferred to not report on them at all. But, others have found a way to prosper via the mailer.
The prospering is true, despite the drastic decline of installed impact printers over the past several years, which has significantly reduced demand for continuous custom products—namely mailers. In fact, the possibilities for profiting from the sale of this product while developing strong end-user relationships are plentiful. The trick for distributors is recognizing those markets that thrive on mailers, transitioning to the demands of new technology and providing the added value needed to improve service.
Mailer Markets
According to Deanna Day, senior brand manager for documents, PrintXcel, Montrose, Ala., two of the top markets for mailers are the health-care industry and educational institutions. "Health-care is a big market for us. We provide a lot of billing statements and lab result reports—constantly in-demand products—in the form of mailers," she said. "In education, distributors can sell grade reports, class schedules and fee notices. Really, education is a very strong market for distributors."
Day explained that distributors can sell mailers to secondary schools by going through the district office, whereas the registrar or dean's office may be the point of contact for colleges. "For larger universities, distributors might find that there is a purchasing department to go through," she said. "The great thing about educational institutions is that once they decide to use mailers for one solution, they will begin to use them for many others."
Julie Randall, vice president of marketing at Caledonia, New York-based Specialized Printed Forms, said that Specialized produces both traditional data mailers and pressure-seal mailers, experiencing very good profits from both. "One of our biggest single orders is for peel-apart solicitations used as sweepstakes for subscriptions to magazines," she said. "This direct mail-type mailer is the single largest order for us, running throughout the year and bringing in up to $1 million."
A few other ideas for mailer opportunities were provided by Jane Retucci, customer sales representative, Interform Solutions, Bridgeville, Pa. "Tax mailers, per capita mailers and real estate mailers are typical products for us," she said. "They are also value-added with a return envelope for remittance."
Retucci reported that oil meter ticket mailers with cross-web gluing are yet another market in which distributors can find business. "Basically, this is a bill in the form of a mailer that is left in customers' doors," she said. "The customers just insert their payments and send the mailer back."
Add Value
While some end-users still utilize traditional mailers, many are now employing laser printers, thus transitioning to pressure-seal mailers. As a result, Day said, distributors will have to find a new, more modern way to profit from mailers. "Mailers have been a major product for years, and there used to be few competitors for traditional mailers," she said. "Now, this product is transitioning to in-house pressure-seal. Still, distributors can profit because now they can help to solve problems for their end-users … They can become consultants. And, consultants demand a higher price."
Solving problems typically comes in the form of saving time for those end-users who use in-house laser printers. According to Day, distributors can offer services such as inventory reduction and time savings via folding, stuffing and sealing services.
Randall expanded on the issue of simplifying processes. She said that if distributors sell the fact that the manufacturer will print, fold, seal and mail, "then they can offer economies of scale on larger-volume orders, such as 10,000 and up," she said. "So, it makes sense to produce everything rotary, and eliminate time- and labor-consuming processes, such as folding, stuffing and addressing."
Distributors can also up the ante by working directly with the end-user and the manufacturer to decide what type of mailer is feasible based on pricing or other aspects. "We try to work with the distributor to figure out what the end-user wants to accomplish and then help to fulfill that vision," said Randall.
Helpful Hints
In addition to adding value, distributors should also be wary of equipment used and the specific design elements of the package in order to best process orders. For instance, Day suggested that with every job, distributors should be sure to know what type of printer is being used and how thick the mailer will be. "Distributors want to make sure that the form is not too thick to run through the printer. Otherwise, they may run into cost problems with imaging," she said. "Also, be sure that information on the mailer can be read by postal carriers for outgoing mail, and that customers can read the message on the inside."
Keeping up to date on postal regulations and costs is also a must for distributors, she added. "Most distributors know this, but we alert them in the case of a change in regulations."
To ensure that distributors make an impression when selling mailers, Randall reminded them that creativity is key. "What's fun about this product is that you can be as creative as you want to be, and you can put all kinds of pieces inside of it—whether it be a traditional multi-part mailer or a pressure-seal mailer," she said. "Magnets, cards, die cuts, perforations, colors, numbering, vanishing inks, warranties with security features… There is a wide variety of elements that can be added to mailers."
While both Day and Randall recognized the recent decline in traditional mailer products, they both expressed the great potential distributors have in selling both traditional and pressure-seal with the addition of valuable services. "There is still a lot of opportunity out there for mailers," said Randall. "I think that as long as distributors take time to work closely with their end-users and their manufacturers, they themselves will become much more marketable."
By Sharon Cole