Mailing Systems Technology - February 2008 - (Page 18)

Trends warning! Postal transformation may be affecting your bottom line By Jeff McKenzie ur personal lives are ﬁlled with warnings and alerts that help guide us to make changes in our behavior to keep us safe, ﬁnancially sound and productive. Consider the yellow trafﬁc light — without this warning of an impending red light, our drive to and from work would be a little more dangerous. At our annual physical, our blood pressure is taken, providing an indicator of future health problems and guiding us to make changes in our habits and routines. Even our credit card company calls to let us know about possible fraud with our personal ﬁnances or identity. Each of these alerts guides us to make changes in our behavior or take action to protect our future interests. So, how does this relate to your mail center? First, we must look at what is currently occurring within the USPS. They are in the middle of making revolutionary changes in the way they do business to ensure that they continue to be a viable player in the communications business of the future. Much of this change has been forced by radical shifts in the way in which people communicate and with the speed that this communication takes place. In 2002, the USPS published a plan to reinvent itself, called O Strategic Transformation. The basis of this plan calls for the identiﬁcation of ways to increase revenue, reduce costs, improve service and develop a performance-based culture. Some of the results of this plan can be seen today in the form of customized postage, ﬂat rate boxes/envelopes, the Forever Stamp and May 2007’s Shape Based Pricing (SBP). SBP marked arguably the most signiﬁcant change within the Postal Service since the Postal Reorganization Act of 1970, which turned the post ofﬁce into an independent governmental entity. As signiﬁcant as the changes have been under Strategic Transformation so far, there are many more changes on the horizon that the USPS will make to reach its goals. Each of these shifts has had, and will continue to have, an impact on your business. By understanding the direction the USPS is headed in and aligning your mail output with Strategic Transformation, you can not only control your costs but improve the overall value mail has on your business. Mail Already Affects Your Bottom Line The value, or impact, that mail has on an organization’s bottom line is often dis- counted or not fully understood. It is typically thought of as a cost of doing business — an afterthought in many decision makers’ minds. However, consider the impact that a poorly prepared invoice, returned to the ofﬁce “Undeliverable as Addressed,” has on receivables. The mail center quickly becomes a critical component of business processes. Unfortunately today, businesses without a document preparation or address quality strategy in place can experience as much as a 3%-7% returned mail or delayed delivery rate. The monthly impact on Days Bill Outstanding (DBO) is considerable. The impact does not stop with invoices alone. Marketing mailings with poor address quality result in opportunity loss due to these returned mail rates. However, these become even more difﬁcult to quantify due to the fact that Standard class mail is not returned, but is thrown away without consideration of the message it contains. Address quality is only one aspect of how mail can impact the bottom line. Other areas in the mail center that could be impacting it include out of shape mail, inaccurate postage application, security concerns and overall process inefﬁciencies. 18 February 2008 | WWW.MAILINGSYSTEMSTECHNOLOGY.COM http://www.MailingSystemsTechnology.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Mailing Systems Technology - February 2008

Mailing Systems Technology - February 2008 Contents Editor’s Note Peer to Peer How to Green Your Mail Center Adopting an Automated Document Factory Warning! Avoid Negative Financial Impact More Productivity, Less Expense BCC Software Formscan A Smooth Transition Kate’s Slate Products & Services Advertiser Index Sho Time

Mailing Systems Technology - February 2008

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