Is your companyâ¬s â¬Å"green-nessâ¬â becoming a pivotal issue when it comes to closing the deal with your customer? If you are in the business of putting ink on paper and that printed piece is going to be delivered to a customer via the mailbox---you may have one possible "green" solution inside your company right now. Take another look at the capabilities and features of the CASS certified mailing software that you are using or utilize through an outside service. It may hold the least expensive, most efficient method for you to get into the fast lane of green initiatives for direct mail printing and processing.
The USPS has enhanced the CASS mailing software certification process by adding mailing list maintenance tools like Delivery Point Validation processing (DPV) to the toolbox. The most simplistic function of DPV is that it provides a ZIP+4 refinement to the list. Unfortunately, few in the mailing industry realize that the results of the ZIP+4 encoding process can be used to their advantage. Even fewer use DPV as the biggest weapon in their mailing list maintenance arsenal. Mailing lists that are passed through the CASS processes of ZIP+4 and DPV receive multiple return codes, markers or flags that are invaluable in performing very basic mailing list maintenance. A clean mailing list minimizes the number of your mailpieces that end up in the USPS recycle bin for undeliverable mail.
Mailpieces delivered to a mailbox⬦.not a dumpster.
The USPS is one of the most highly trusted institutions in the world. The reassuring image of the mail carrier walking our neighborhoods and placing mail in our mailboxes always appears in our minds with ease. It is much more difficult, if not impossible, for most of us to conjure up the image of a USPS forklift filling a recycling dumpster with mailpieces. What else is the post office supposed to do with a mailpiece that is undeliverable as addressed when it is mailed at Standard rates? Hereâ¬s what the rulebook says:
Treatment of Undeliverable Third-Class Bulk Business Mail
Endorsement of DO NOT FORWARD or No Endorsement
ACTION: Do not forward. Do not return. Dispose of as waste.
---Postal Bulletin Page 10, 9-29-94, 21877
No amount of time, wishful thinking or lack of attention will turn a bad address into a deliverable one. Left uncorrected, a bad address will remain in your list and will repeatedly cost you postage and processing with no results. You will continue to pay those charges again and again only to have the piece land in a recycle bin and not a mailbox. And, the USPS will continue to win national recycling awards.
To assure that your mailpieces are going to your adressee's mailboxes then you must adopt these CASS-DPV processing policies and procedures.
Mailing Customers
. Always ask for the DPV counts from your list processor.
. Consider deleting any records that cannot be Delivery Point Validated from any mailing list.
. Ask for a listing of return codes or flags from your CASS processor and work with the various codes to improve the hygiene of your mailing lists.
. Have your mailing list NCOALink (FSP) processed on a scheduled basis.
o Additional benefit - NCOALink assures that your list meets USPS Move Update requirements
. Check CASS-DPV encoding rates before ordering print quantities or determining a mailing class
o Delete or suppress from Standard Class mailings any addresses that cannot be DPV encoded
o Mail at First Class rates any addresses that cannot be DPV encoded if the addresses must be mailed to. Remember, you will not be able to claim any barcode discounts. No DPV ⬢ No Discounts
o Update your database with any information received back from those First Class pieces with the bad addresses. ⬦you paid for it.
. If renting a list from a broker, only include (and pay for) addresses that have been DP Validated. Require that CASS-DPV documentation accompany the list.
Mailing Service Providers
. Always provide your client with a hardcopy of CASS-DPV encoding results
. Ask for specific instructions for the handling of unencoded addresses. Delete, suppress or allow to remain in the list?
. Inform the customer of the financial ramifications of leaving the bad addresses in the list. Include print, processing and postage costs in your calculations and donâ¬t forget response rates. Rates will automatically increase because of the elimination of the bad addresses.
. Get specific instructions in writing with signature if the customer insists that undeliverable addresses remain in their mailing lists.
. Show your customers that address quality has a direct and significant impact on environmental issues.
Change your thinking from getting a piece produced and into the mailstream to getting a piece printed and delivered into the mailbox. Until that movement happens, these costs and charges and bad addresses and recycle awards for USPS will remain the status quo. Printer/mailers and customers can embrace green initiatives with very little expense and in a very short period of time. It may simply take a change in consciousness and perspective. New thinking. New savings. New revenues. New profits. All that and all green!
The USPS has enhanced the CASS mailing software certification process by adding mailing list maintenance tools like Delivery Point Validation processing (DPV) to the toolbox. The most simplistic function of DPV is that it provides a ZIP+4 refinement to the list. Unfortunately, few in the mailing industry realize that the results of the ZIP+4 encoding process can be used to their advantage. Even fewer use DPV as the biggest weapon in their mailing list maintenance arsenal. Mailing lists that are passed through the CASS processes of ZIP+4 and DPV receive multiple return codes, markers or flags that are invaluable in performing very basic mailing list maintenance. A clean mailing list minimizes the number of your mailpieces that end up in the USPS recycle bin for undeliverable mail.
Mailpieces delivered to a mailbox⬦.not a dumpster.
The USPS is one of the most highly trusted institutions in the world. The reassuring image of the mail carrier walking our neighborhoods and placing mail in our mailboxes always appears in our minds with ease. It is much more difficult, if not impossible, for most of us to conjure up the image of a USPS forklift filling a recycling dumpster with mailpieces. What else is the post office supposed to do with a mailpiece that is undeliverable as addressed when it is mailed at Standard rates? Hereâ¬s what the rulebook says:
Treatment of Undeliverable Third-Class Bulk Business Mail
Endorsement of DO NOT FORWARD or No Endorsement
ACTION: Do not forward. Do not return. Dispose of as waste.
---Postal Bulletin Page 10, 9-29-94, 21877
No amount of time, wishful thinking or lack of attention will turn a bad address into a deliverable one. Left uncorrected, a bad address will remain in your list and will repeatedly cost you postage and processing with no results. You will continue to pay those charges again and again only to have the piece land in a recycle bin and not a mailbox. And, the USPS will continue to win national recycling awards.
To assure that your mailpieces are going to your adressee's mailboxes then you must adopt these CASS-DPV processing policies and procedures.
Mailing Customers
. Always ask for the DPV counts from your list processor.
. Consider deleting any records that cannot be Delivery Point Validated from any mailing list.
. Ask for a listing of return codes or flags from your CASS processor and work with the various codes to improve the hygiene of your mailing lists.
. Have your mailing list NCOALink (FSP) processed on a scheduled basis.
o Additional benefit - NCOALink assures that your list meets USPS Move Update requirements
. Check CASS-DPV encoding rates before ordering print quantities or determining a mailing class
o Delete or suppress from Standard Class mailings any addresses that cannot be DPV encoded
o Mail at First Class rates any addresses that cannot be DPV encoded if the addresses must be mailed to. Remember, you will not be able to claim any barcode discounts. No DPV ⬢ No Discounts
o Update your database with any information received back from those First Class pieces with the bad addresses. ⬦you paid for it.
. If renting a list from a broker, only include (and pay for) addresses that have been DP Validated. Require that CASS-DPV documentation accompany the list.
Mailing Service Providers
. Always provide your client with a hardcopy of CASS-DPV encoding results
. Ask for specific instructions for the handling of unencoded addresses. Delete, suppress or allow to remain in the list?
. Inform the customer of the financial ramifications of leaving the bad addresses in the list. Include print, processing and postage costs in your calculations and donâ¬t forget response rates. Rates will automatically increase because of the elimination of the bad addresses.
. Get specific instructions in writing with signature if the customer insists that undeliverable addresses remain in their mailing lists.
. Show your customers that address quality has a direct and significant impact on environmental issues.
Change your thinking from getting a piece produced and into the mailstream to getting a piece printed and delivered into the mailbox. Until that movement happens, these costs and charges and bad addresses and recycle awards for USPS will remain the status quo. Printer/mailers and customers can embrace green initiatives with very little expense and in a very short period of time. It may simply take a change in consciousness and perspective. New thinking. New savings. New revenues. New profits. All that and all green!
Mary Ann Bennett, a 33-year veteran of the direct mailing industry, is nationally recognized as an expert in USPS postal automation, a frequent speaker at direct marketing conventions and communication forums and is a frequent contributor to national publications. She established The Bennett Group, Inc. and Mailing Training Institute in 2003. For more information, please email maryann@the-bennett-group.com or visit www.the-bennett-group.com.
