– by guest author Christopher O’Brien, President, BCC Software
Under the leadership of PMG Louis DeJoy, the USPS® is actively implementing bold and necessary changes to the largest postal delivery network in the world as part of their Delivering For America (DFA) plan. When completed, it will transform an outdated, costly, and inefficient system into an optimized and enhanced integrated mail and package delivery network designed for future growth and sustainability.
The mailing industry has many questions about the new network and its innovative enhancements, but the real question is what the industry is doing to support and align to this bold initiative? We cannot afford to be spectators and do nothing! To get you started, here are five key actions from BCC Software — each with a Good, Better, Best approach, for you to DO SOMETHING! today to make every mailpiece count.
- DO SOMETHING! – to Reduce Undeliverable As Addressed (UAA) Mail
While progress has been made to improve address quality over the years, there were still more than 4.3 billion pieces of UAA mail in FY2023. Over 3.5 billion of that was treated as waste or returned to sender. What a waste of valuable resources, and what a lost opportunity for the mailer. So, let’s do something about that and improve the value of mail and simultaneously increase response rates with deliverable as addressed mailpieces.
Good: Use USPS CASS-certified software to make sure the address is complete and correct. This is the foundation for address quality — and with CASS Cycle O, there are new return codes you can leverage to correct address errors.
Better: Use NCOALink® and Proprietary Change of Address (PCOA) to make sure the address is current. Did you know that the USPS processes over thirty-three million changes of address (more than the entire population of Texas) each year? But it is likely only 60% of the changes are actually reported. By using a USPS full-service NCOALink provider, like BCC Software, and leveraging a PCOA service together, you can keep up with customers on the move and achieve a complete, correct, and current address.
Best: Leverage suppression services to remove ineffective mailpieces such as those sent to deceased individuals. Sending mail to a deceased individual is not only ineffective, but it may even be considered offensive. By removing these addresses, you improve the response rate, control mailing costs, and potentially replace the address with someone who can respond.
- DO SOMETHING! – to Increase The Value Of Mail With USPS Promotions
Do you want to maximize your mail value and simultaneously mitigate postage increases? Then take advantage of USPS promotions to grow your business to make every mailpiece count. You may already be eligible for these promotions or just need one more item to qualify. So, let’s maximize your mailing with USPS promotions as you may find it easier to participate than you thought.
Good: Add a call to action on the mailpiece to trigger a voice-assisted device and earn a 3% discount. This is part of the Emerging Technology promotion and has a basic and advanced level earning 3% to 4%, depending on how you implement it. Plus, you can start the six-month window anytime in 2024.
Better: Leverage Informed Delivery by uploading a color replacement image of the mailpiece to earn a 4% discount. Did you know that over fifty-two million people (more than three times the population of Florida) have already signed up for Informed Delivery? What a terrific way to bridge the high touch of mail to hi-tech messaging for multichannel marketing and earn a discount!
Best: Excite and delight the mail recipient with an interactive mailpiece element such as a clean release card or tactile sensory treatment such as glossy stock to earn a 5% discount. Another worthwhile option would be to add a full color (2 or more) personalized onsert message to your transactional document promoting a related product and earn a 3% discount.
- DO SOMETHING! – to Automate Your Mailing Workflow
Attrition or the loss of key employees can be difficult to replace quickly and can cripple your business. Presorting can often take hours to perform, especially as sortation schemes are getting more complex. There simply is not enough time in the day to grow your business unless you automate your mailing workflow. Level up your mailing workflow with an automated approach to attract and retain employees and grow your business.
Good: Add an automated script to your normal presort workflows to facilitate mail processing and ensure a consistent process.
Better: Create a hot folder that will automatically run predefined scripts for unattended processing. This is also a fantastic way to implement a web-to-print solution, which is another proven avenue to grow your business.
Best: Implement a data visualization workflow solution with extensible functionality to enable easy job setup and modifications. An intuitive interface not only helps visualize mail processing, but it can also expedite the learning curve of presorting and even attract new talent to your business.
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- DO SOMETHING! – to Manage Time Sensitive In-Home Mailings
Multichannel marketing demands specifically timed arrival of mailpieces, and with USPS network enhancements changing dynamically, mail tracking is essential. Also, by strategically inducting mail into the USPS network, you can further reduce postage and have greater control for in-home delivery of time-sensitive mailings. So, do something to increase mail visibility and control time-sensitive mailings.
Good: Use mail tracking services for accountability, visibility, and predictability of the arrival of the mailpiece.
Better: Strategically induct mail into the dynamically changing USPS network to gain destination entry discounts and control time-sensitive mailings.
Best: Use a post-presort logistics planning solution that leverages Mail.dat® to consolidate mailings for additional presort discounts and maximize destination entry discounts for commingled shipments of multiple mailings.
- DO SOMETHING! – to Mitigate Mailer Scorecard Mishaps
Eligibility for USPS presorted discounts have very tight tolerances. It often doesn’t take much to exceed the monthly allowed tolerance, and postage assessments can be costly and difficult to recoup resulting in higher postage and missed opportunities. Get proactive about mitigating Mailer Scorecard assessments to protect your postage discounts.
Good: Check your Mailer Scorecard at least 2 to 3 times per week to make sure you don’t have any surprises.
Better: Use a Mailer Scorecard monitoring service to actively monitor and alert you if you are in danger of an assessment.
Best: Enroll in Seamless Acceptance to earn $1 per thousand pieces incentive and leverage a post-presort tool leveraging Mail.dat to help resolve Mailer Scorecard assessments.
The DFA plan is the USPS response to do something about their network to ensure future growth, sustainability, and support of green initiatives to benefit our planet. What are you doing to support this bold initiative and grow your business? It’s time to DO SOMETHING! to align with the DFA and make every mailpiece count!
BCC Software and BlueCrest technologies can help you DO SOMETHING!. Contact us today to find out how.
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