Nov 27, 2007
Look Inside Your Mailbox and Join the Crowd
By Mary Ann Bennett
Still Looking for Ways to Reduce Your Postage Costs?
Every day that passes shows more and more mailers are finding creative ways to re-design their mailpieces and reduce their postage expenses. Take a quick look in your mailbox and you will easily see that the majority of your mail has the shape of a USPS “Letter”. Current observations are that even the most unsophisticated mailers are indeed embracing direct mail and the postage incentives the US Postal Service implemented back in May of this year. The new designs (or re-designs) are spectacular in some cases and very simple in others but the bottomline remains the same for everyone----they found a way to save money.
Dimensions of a LETTER
6 1/8” high x 11 ½” long x ¼” thick
Hint: Always apply your address parallel to the long edge of your mailpiece
Where Do You Begin?
The first step is to make every effort to design your piece so it can be categorized as a letter. There are additional physical criteria that must be met (of course) for total USPS automation compatibility but you should worry about the issues (and costs) of tabbing, folding, sealing, spot-gluing, etc. AFTER you have paid attention to size & shape and identified the postage incentives for your mail class. Then you will be in a position to determine if meeting the additional criteria for total mailpiece automation-compatibility is worth pursuing.
Question: Which mailpiece could qualify as a LETTER?
a) standard #10 window envelope
b) 6” x 11” finished size catalog 120 pages
Answer: Both
Catalogers---Did You Catch That?
Yes, you can produce a catalog in such a way as to be considered a “letter” by the USPS. An awful lot of info can be designed to fit in 6 1/8 by 11 ½ by ¼ inch thick. Some companies who send catalogs to their customers have embraced new designs but this is one of the direct marketing segments that has lagged behind in claiming the savings.
Direct Mail Customer – You Hold the Power
Talk to your design vendors (printers, ad agencies, design departments, etc.) and instruct them to consider the “letter” design specs first and only move to mailpieces designed as “flats” or “parcels” after all efforts to meet “letter” specifications have been considered. Here’s the key: Request in writing that your designer provide ROI numbers indicating where your response rates will be large enough to make up for the higher postage rates you will have to pay based on the design of the mailpiece. If the numbers are there, then have at it!
Direct Mail Service Provider – Play Hero for Your Customers
Go the extra mile for your customers. Pay close attention to the design of your customer’s mailpieces. Take special notice of the flat-sized pieces and the postage charges associated with the mailing. Turn that piece over to your design department (if you have those capabilities) or even hire an agency or a contractor to re-design that mailpiece into a “Letter”. Then, go back to the clients mailing statement and identify the postage savings based on the new shape. Your salespeople will love the opportunity to talk to the client armed with a proposal that shows decreased postage, decreased processing charges and an estimation of faster in-house delivery times. Win. Win. Win.
Don’t Forget About Delivery Times….
Letter sized mailpieces are the champions of postal processing---that is a simple straightforward fact. Since the post office can process “letters” faster than flat sized pieces (almost a 4:1 ratio) it stands to reason that the “letters” will get handled and delivered sooner than flat sized pieces. Yes, the USPS has gone to great expense to install new flat sorters at all of their major facilities. Those machines are impressive in size and magnificent examples of engineering----however they simply cannot move at the blazing speeds of the letter sorters.
One Mailbox
Direct mail has moved or been pushed to the front of the class and become the medium of choice for the majority of direct marketers. One item stands just outside the front door or at the bottom of every driveway in America. The mailbox is an image and a perception that is interwoven into the fabric of America. It is part of the landscape of our neighborhoods, communities and, most importantly, our homes. Our homes may have access to hundreds of television channels and the seeming infinity of the world wide web however, each and every “be it ever-so humble” abode has but one mailbox.
Your Postage Savings
The Automation Plan of the U.S. Postal Service is aggressive, in place and on schedule. The abundant dollar savings and increased efficiencies are available for both private business and the post office, and these benefits are solely based on automation-compatible mail. Claiming those discounts is your responsibility; the post office will not point out unclaimed discounts, regardless of level. You control the direction of the money flow. Taking advantage of the USPS Automation Plan and all of the postage incentives will redirect the flow of money from the post office to your bottom line.