JLH Mail Solutions

Important Items to Consider When Using a Fulfillment Company

According to the Mailing & Fulfillment Association, these are some important items to consider when using a fulfillment company for a project or an ongoing program.

• Turnaround – A quick response to your request for a quote and to any questions you have is a positive sign of a good relationship in the making.
•  Mailing and fulfillment industry trade customs – Make sure you are familiar with basic industry trade customs and with the terms and conditions contained on written quotes. Both mailing and fulfillment trade customs are available through the MFSA web site–www.mfsanet.org.
• Make sure you have a written estimate before any work is done – Also, there should be written communication between you and the company about any changes to be made to the original quote, along with associated costs (or reductions).
• Client service – How will your account be managed? Depending on the operation, it could be the salesperson, a customer service representative, an operations manager or even the owner.
• Salesperson as consultant – You should expect your key contact people to be willing to educate you on the finer points of direct mail or fulfillment. What’s working and what isn’t? How does the design you are considering work as a mail piece or parcel? Are there changes you should consider to obtain significant discounts or ensure more efficient delivery?
• What associations do they belong to? (MFSA, PostCom, DMA, PIA, etc.) – Membership in associations usually means the company has access to relevant information to help them run their business, subscribes to a code of ethics, and has a network of knowledgeable professionals to turn to for assistance with challenging issues that arise.
• Quality control processes – What steps do they take to ensure that mailing or fulfillment jobs are handled properly?

Always remember–the company you select wants your business and sees itself as a partner in your success. Good communication is the key to any successful business relationship and chances for that success are enhanced when both parties communicate clearly and often from the first contact forward.

Getting Your Product Ready for Mass Distribution

Getting into the mass retail channel gives your product and brand prime-time visibility to the consumer, and hence the potential for your small business to become big business. However, getting the mass retailer to notice, accept, and keep your product can present a real challenge to small business owners. Often you send your products and presentations to retailer only to never hear so much as a reply. Other times, the retailer may respond, meet with you, and even decide to stock your product. Even so, your joy of success may last only few months, as the retailer later decides to de-list your product.

1. Know Your Customer

Here we’re talking about the mass retailer. Jumping to this step, assumes of course, that you already know the finer details of your product and your target audience.

Here’s a list of the general types of mass retailers.

2. Know Your Key Performance Indicators

Key Performance Indicators (KPI) help a mass retailer define and measure progress toward certain goals. To prove to the retailer that your product is hot, you need to prove that your new product will provide profitability on par or greater than that of other products of the same category sold by that retailer. There are two basic KPIs that mass retailers care about:

·      Dollar sales that your product can make on 1 square foot of shelf space per week

·      Dollar margin between the retail price the consumer pays and the list price the retailer pays you  

3. Create Buzz Before Going to the Mass Retailer

By creating momentum and building your “proof of concept”, you can significantly increase your chance the retailer will place your products on their limited and valuable shelf space. A great way to accomplish this is by proving your concept online. Not only can you start making revenue, you can collect good statistical data to demonstrate the strength of your concept.

·      Online search terms show what consumers care about

·      Search term frequency will show the demand level in the online channel

·      Click-rates for your website can show the appeal of your concept

 

Securing Double Postcards, Self-Mailers & Booklets

Tabbing requirements can be a little confusing, so here’s a quick list to help you out.

 

Double Postcard

Tabs: 1 (middle)

Folded Edge: Top or Bottom (Right & Left Edges Must be Open)

Sheets: Single

 

Folded Self-Mailer – 20 lb. Paper

Tabs: 2 (start 1 inch from edges)

Final Folded Edge: Top or bottom

Sheets: Single (must be trifolded) or Multiple

 

Folded Self-Mailer – 204lb. Paper

Tabs: 1 (middle)

Final Folded Edge: Bottom

Sheets: Multiple – at least two 8.5” x 11”

 

Folded Self-Mailer – Fold on Right

Tabs: 3 – all open edges

Final Folded Edge: Right

Sheets: Single or multiple

The Marketing Impact of Variable Data

Any marketer knows that the best way to communicate is on an individual level. You want your message to be tailored to whomever you’re talking to. Using Variable Data Printing (VDP) in direct mailers is a tried and true execution of this age-old marketing idiom. Plus with today’s technology, combined with lower costs, it’s easier than ever for business to use VDP.  

Today’s Variable Data Printing has turned a piece of mail into communication, customized specifically to the recipient.  Using data already collected about the target consumer, marketers can generate unique sales offers for their different customers that achieve unmatched results. It’s not out of the ordinary for a well-constructed VDP mailing to generate up to 5 times he response rate of a traditional direct mailing, which uses the same generic piece to mail to everyone on a list. 

Consumers process hundreds, if not thousands of messages a day. More often than not, they get filed into the junk folder. Direct mail is no different than say a magazine ad. If they see a piece of mail that catches their eye with a relevant headline and offer, they are much more likely to read on, just as they would in a magazine. Copywriters have taken this into account for years and is evident by the vast amount of research that agencies compile just to find those key 5 or 6 attention-grabbing words. VDP relies on this exact principle.

With that being said, it’s extremely important to know your consumer inside and out. That way the VDP will have the impact you’d like to see from direct mailing. Just as information fuels creativity, it does so too with Variable Data Printing. 

Supplier Diversity

As consumers and suppliers become more and more diverse, the success of an organization largely depends on their ability to understand and work with them. Diversity is the uniqueness that everyone, from suppliers to employees to corporate officers, brings to fulfill a wide spectrum of consumers. 

It has long been recognized that purchasing products from minority owned and other historically underused businesses is an important way to contribute the overall economic value of a community. But working with a diverse supplier base also makes sound business. Promoting supplier participation that reflects today’s diverse business environment will better help a company cater to the specific needs of each consumer, no matter how diverse they are as a whole.

To make a true commitment to supplier diversity, an organization should consider all suppliers of goods and services they purchase. This includes everything from raw materials and IT suppliers to legal services and janitorial supplies. Using a variety of goods and services is a powerful statement of how serious the organization really is in supporting underrepresented companies with whom they do business.

Every business or organization is always looking for competitive advantages. Supplier diversity can lead to lower costs, innovation, and a stronger connection with consumers.   

The Importance of ISO Certification

Your alarm clock rings, you get up and jump in the shower. Then you head down stairs to the kitchen and open a new box of cereal. You eat breakfast and head out the door to work. Sounds normal enough right? No big deal.

Ok, let’s try it again, this time a little differently. Your alarm clock fails to ring. You get up 20 minutes late and rush into the shower. The water doesn’t turn on. You run down stairs and grab that new, unopened box of cereal to eat in the car. You open it up. Not only is it just half full, but it’s not even the right cereal.

Now that’s definitely something to take notice of; it might just go down as the worst morning ever. My point here is that we rarely notice and sometimes take for granted when products or services meet our expectations. However, when they don’t, we shoot up a red flag. We all care when products turn out to be of poor quality, don’t fit, or are unreliable and dangerous.  In other words, when they lack standards.

When your alarm clock goes off at the right time or the shower works as it should, it is because they meet standards. The International Standards for Business, Government and Society (ISO) is the organization responsible for these standards and the thousands more that benefit the world.

 Although it ‘s not required of any ISO management system standards, a business may become ISO certified. This means that a business’ management system has been audited and verified that it conforms to the standard’s requirements. In other words, certified businesses have provided proof that they operate to the highest standards, which increases their credibility in the consumers eyes.

 

Moving Forward in a Digital Era

Moving from paper to digital storage is leading to major increases in energy consumption and surprisingly contributing to the emission of greenhouse gases.  Although a digital world seems more convenient to many, the environment suffers from the pollution that it leaves behind. 

The New York Times reported a decrease in paper consumption per capita as we are rapidly transforming into a paperless world and increasing our dependency on another resource: energy. This can be seen, as more and more people are investing in multiple computers, digital cameras, scanners, and other electronics that are often left plugged in for days at a time.  Although the decrease in paper consumption can be seen as a positive thing the large consumption of energy has its own and perhaps more significant drawbacks than printing a hardcopy.  

A recent report by McAfee researchers shows that spam-related emissions contribute a significant amount. According to the report, junk e-mails emit 0.3 grams of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide (CO2) and although that may not sound like much it adds up when you consider that about 85 to 91 percent of all email is spam. In other words, spam related emissions totaled 17 million metric tons of CO2 in 2008, according to ICF International.  This equals the energy use of Vermont, Alaska, North Dakota, Wyoming or Washington, D.C.  Not exactly a small carbon footprint. 

 

What You Should Know About the Intelligent Mail Barcode

In May 2009, the USPS required use of the new Intelligent Mail Barcode (IMB), formerly called the 4-state customer barcode, to qualify for automation-based postage discounts for all classes of mail. So how does it work? IMB facilitates address correction by providing information beyond that of the PostNET or PLANET barcodes. It is the newest attempt by the U.S. post office to make both them and their customers more efficient in preparing and handling mail.

 

This new system of IMB has many advantages and there are features of the IMB system that make it unique and invaluable. It can combine a variety of services such as OneCode ACS (Address Change Service), OneCode Confirm Service Type ID, postNET barcode and OneCode Confirm Service Type ID in a single barcode.  It also enhances the aesthetic appeal of a mail piece by simplifying the design and layout and will definitely improve readability.

 

Not only doest the IMB simplify the look of the mail piece, but it will help reduce return mail. Mailers will be able to update their records when they receive their free notices containing information about a customer move.

 

The Intelligent Mail Bar Code is great because it advances our postal system while helping us modernize and simplify the way we handle our mail.

 

USPS Rate Change Effective May 11

The United States Postal Service (USPS) has announced changes to its Mailing Services Prices as of May 11, 2009. Prices for 1st Class Mail and certain other mailing services have changed and below is a summary of the recent changes.

Overview of New USPS Changes

Prices have been modified for First-Class Mail, Standard Mail, Package Services (including Parcel Post), Special Services and International. Most Postal Service shipping services prices have already been adjusted in January and will not change the month of May.

Pricing Highlights:

• The price fo a First-Class Mail stamp increases two cents to 44 cents.
• No change in the First-Class mail single-piece additional-ounce price.
• Package Services Parcel Post Local (Zone 0) and Intra-BMC/ASF Machinable and Non-machinable are being merged into a new category named Parcel Post (Zones 1-8) and all rates are changing.
• Package Services Parcel Post Local and Intra-BMC Non-machinable surcharges have been eliminated.
• There are changes to some Standard Mail Entry Discount names and structure.

Select Price Changes:

• First-Class Mail Rates Are:
  • Single-Piece 1 oz. $0.44
  • Single-Piece 2 oz. $0.61
  • Non-Auto $0.41
  • 3-Digit Auto $0.36
  • 5-Digit Auto $0.34
  • Postcard $0.28
  • First-Class Mail large envelope (2 oz.) $0.75

For more information about this change and how this will affect your product's operational charges, contact Chris Fleiner at (775) 355-6800

How USPS Changes Will Affect You

Beginning March 29, 2009 the United States Postal Service will require new address regulations on mail pieces classified as “flats”.  As one of the USPS’s many efforts to run more efficiently and control costs, the change will allow new machinery to sort mail into delivery sequence rather than carriers having to sort manually prior to beginning each route. However with change, there are adjustments that will need to be made. In this letter, please find an explanation of the new guidelines and how they may affect your next project. As always, please feel free to contact your JLH Customer Service Representative for details on your specific project.

 

What is a flat?

Flats measure more than 11 ½ inches long, more than 6 1/8 inches high, and more than ¼ inches thick.  The maximum size of a flat is 15 inches long, 12 inches high, & ¾ inches thick.

 

I have a magazine that binds on the left, how should I design my piece?

The first thing you’ll want to do is turn the magazine over so the binding is on the right edge.  You should now be looking at the back of your magazine.  When you design space for your customers address you’ll want to make sure the address is now on the top half of the magazine.  The permit will need to be located to the upper right of the customers address.  Your return address will need to be located to the upper left of the customers address.  The address can appear either horizontal to the top of the magazine or vertically as long as it appears within the top half of the piece.

 

The address may also be located on the front cover as long as the permit/payment method is on the same side.  The address label will need to be placed upside down or vertical as shown.

 

I send out a lot of large envelopes, how will this affect me?

Instead of addressing the flat in the middle of an envelope we will simply address it to the right of the middle line.  The address now needs to be within 4 inches of the top edge, which is the shortest side.

 

I send out a lot of large envelopes, how will this affect me?

Instead of addressing the flat in the middle of an envelope we will simply address it to the right of the middle line.  The address now needs to be within 4 inches of the top edge, which is the shortest side.