Optimize Your Mail Service Providers
We help our clients make sure they are using the best providers with the most competitive rates. With the data we have gained from the visibility step, you will see drastic rate variances between providers, and we can manage a request for proposal (RFP) to ensure that you are getting the best rates. This can be done on a project-by-project basis (if you do infrequent mailings), but a best practice is to develop national agreements with fewer providers where you can get higher service levels, account management and lower costs. Here are items that we find important when selecting a service provider:
- Where are your customers? If you mail locally, you will get faster delivery times if the service provider is in your area vs. needing to send across country. On the other side, if your customers are nationwide, we may want to look for providers with multiple mailing locations that can split projects to be closer to the customer. If you are going to mail from one location, is the service provider in the center of the country or near a USPS® hub to provide better service levels. Finally, what is the cost of labor in your area? If you are in a high cost of living region, it may make sense to look at providers in less expensive parts of the country who can have offer lower pricing.
- What type of mail are you sending? Some service providers focus on transactional mail like statements or invoices, while others on marketing projects. You may want to have different vendors for these different categories. Also, some providers may focus on a specific vertical like banking or insurance that can offer a higher level of service.
- What added value services will you need? Examples include creative, transportation, web presentment, storage of stock, or on-demand mailing services with online portals and third party agreements with presort services, international remailers.
- Scope of mail spends – This has to do with the quantity, frequency and number of projects that you need to mail. Our goal is to consolidate as much mail volume into as few providers to gain leverage with rates and service levels.
Collateral
View the collateral below to learn more about how we can help you gain visibility and create savings. We work with clients in a wide variety of industries.
Contact
- 888-977-MAIL (6245)
- customerservice@postaladvocate.com
