How much time and money would your business save by using professional print and mailing services? Mailing services are a necessary evil in almost every industry. You need mailing services for statement printing and distribution. You use mailing services for promotional content distribution. You use mailing services to maintain communication and loyalty with your clients.
Some companies hand their own printing and mailing services in-house. In some situations, that makes sense. However, the capital required for the equipment is sometimes out of the question for a small business. Not to mention that the man hours (particularly for manual mail processing) can be a considerable burden. In these cases using an outsourced printing and mailing company can save a business a huge some of money, and produce more professional documents.
As with any outsourced service, not all outsourced print and mail services are equal. Before hiring a professional printing and mailing company, you should take the following factors into consideration:
Four Considerations Before Hiring an Outsourced Print and Mail Solution
- Security
Cyber security is a huge hot-button issue in our culture today. Massive corporations, such as Target and Sony have been brought to their knees because of compromised data. For a small company, a single compromised data issue could lead to debilitating consequences. When you hire an outsourced data company, you likely are entrusting them with very sensitive information about your customers. Perhaps their financial information. Maybe their health information, if you are in the medical industry. Maybe personal information such as their social security number, and obviously their name and address.
Before hiring an third party printing and mailing service, make sure that the level of security they have in place is equal to the security that you have on your customer’s personal information. And we know that you follow your industry’s best practices for data security, right? - Customer Service
If an issue arises with the printing and mailing of your customer’s statements, it’s a reflection of your business, not of the printing and mailing service you use. It is imperative to use a service that provides excellent customer service, so that any problem that arises is handled immediately.
While interviewing potential third party printing and mailing services, specifically make sure that you are given the direct line to an account specialist who is handling your business. You don’t want to be stuck on hold with a customer service agent who has no personal knowledge or investment in your success if an issue arises.
Its particularly beneficial if the mailing service you use assigns a project manager specifically to your business, so that they adeptly understand your needs, and your success is their success. - One Stop Shop
Your printing and mailing needs might require varied resources. You might need professional design services (Side note: your audience can smell home-cooked designs a mile away, make sure everything with your logo on it is professionally designed. Either in-house, or outsourced. If the print and mail services can handle it for you, it might cost less for the bundled service). You might need sorting and inserting services. You might need mail merge services. The best print and mailing services will provide all of your document handling needs in one fell swoop. - Short Turn-around Time.
It is not uncommon to have last minute print and mailing needs. Many services offer rush jobs, to meet any urgent deadline you might come upon. However, if you put your business in the hands of a print and mail service that requires a lengthy lead time, you’ll be up a creek without a paddle if something unexpected occurs (which is bound to happen every now and then). Make sure you understand your outsourced mailing company’s time requirements before putting your business in their hands.
Using a professional mailing and printing service can save your business thousands of dollars on equipment and full time staff. However, before hiring a third party, make sure that you put your business in the hands of a company that offers excellent security standards, superior customer service, a varied set of services, and the option for rushed jobs. That way, you know your business is the best hands.