Did you know your mail center has a brand? Just like any other business, a mailing service has a distinct identity that sets it apart from its competitors. This identity, or brand, is a combin

At the end of a busy workday, consumers retreat to their homes to find a collection of mail awaiting them. The routine collection of mail is there - bills, statements, notices, and a smatterin

A batch of marketing people who are new to postal mail may be coming your way, now that direct mail has experienced a resurgence in popularity. That could present some challenges for seasoned

In today's fast-paced business landscape, print and mail service providers face a critical decision: adapt or risk a slow decline in the demand for conventional print/mail products and s

Print/mail service providers have long held the opinion that the mailing list was the client's responsibility. Yes, the mail service provider might do the CASS and NCOA processing necessary to qualif

In the world of high-volume mail production, it’s easy to get so buried in the details or caught up in handling the crisis of the day that we don’t pay much attention to the real reasons...

For as long as I can remember, print and mail operations have worked on ways to lower the cost of mail production and distribution. You’d think by now that managers couldn’t find any more...

As a print/mail service provider or in-house print/mail facility, your company probably does a great job. You make sure the mail you prepare meets postal regulations, goes out on time, and qua

What if you could increase revenue without adding more customers? As a print/mail service provider, it’s possible to sell billable services to your existing clients as a natural extension to

I don’t think it takes a great deal of insight to predict the path of direct mail over the short term. If you’ve read this column for a while, you’ll know I’ve advocated for...

Most mailing services I’ve learned about through the years could benefit from stepping up their marketing efforts. Often these companies have small management teams with no one dedicated to

If your organization is creating and distributing paper and electronic bills for your clients, who's handling the payments? Does it make sense to offer payment processing to your cl

You might call it a disaster recovery (DR) plan, redundant operations, or business continuity strategy, but your mail center should have something in place that allows you to continue processi

Back when I was in the print/mail service bureau business, we won contracts to process a company's transactional documents by doing it cheaper than their current provider. Investments we’d

What is your company doing to boost customer loyalty? Are you keeping clients informed about what's going on in the mailing industry? Suggesting ways to improve the effectiveness of their cam

Precision in mail delivery is becoming more important to retailers, event promoters, and others who depend on direct mail to inform and motivate their audiences. As more organizations leverage

There may still be some cases when sending a single version of a mailer to everyone on the mailing list makes sense. But for most marketing campaigns, this blasting approach is an antiquated p

For the most part, print/mail service providers are at the mercy of their clients regarding the accuracy of the data they receive. Companies that print and mail transactional documents can't

The mailing industry has traditionally relied on large batch jobs. Mailers receive a name and address list or print image file from an internal or external client. They create letters, transac

Many print and mail operations are doing business today with old equipment, legacy software, and outdated processes. It's too expensive to update everything. My experience with print/mail ser