PCC of Northern Nevada Lunch and Learn Series
Guest Speaker: Michael Hemphill of CSG Direct, Inc
The US Postal Service continues to 
modernize and automate steps to keep postage low and better serve its clients. Come learn about the new Business Customer Gateway from the US Postal Service.
The Business Customer Gateway gives you a single, unified landing point to access the Postal Services' online business offerings. These channels consist of the products that support intelligent Mail Full Service Mailing. This includes PostalOne!, FAST (Facility Access and Shipment Tracking), CLDS (Customer Label Distribution System) and Mailer IDs (MID).
Here is the USPS Business Customer Gateway Powerpoint (trimmed)
Speaker: Michael Hemphill of CSG Direct, Inc
Topic: Business Customer Gateway
Location: Atlantis Casino, 3800 S Virginia St, Grand Ballroom 5
Date: Thursday May 20, 2010
Time: Registration at 11:30 am, Lunch served at 12:00
Cost: $20
Reserve your seat by contacting Cindy Cornelison at 775-788-0690.
Call early to request a vegetarian meal.
Here is a scanned copy of the postcard invite from the PCC:
If you haven’t already heard, the US Postal service will be implementing new postal rates and standards for folded self-mailers and letter sized booklets – also known as “slim-jims”.
These new standards were scheduled to go into effect with the postal rate increase on May 11, but then delayed after review until Sept. 8th of this year. These new standards pose a “double-whammy” on the industry, as new size templates will need to be implemented for designs and creative for mail-pieces. The new standards will also incur much deeper penalties for mailers who are not compliant.
Instead of getting non-automation rates for non-automation compliant pieces, mailers will likely be getting hit with non-machineable rates for virtually all mailpieces that do not comply with automation standards.
The only exception to this, as I am told, will be non-barcoded mailpieces that otherwise would be automation compliant in regards to size, tabs, folds, paper stock, etc.
The new maximum size for letter sized booklets and folded self- mailers is 6” x 10.5” x .25” thick. The post office will also be enforcing new tab and paper weight standards. Please review the information to avoid problems.
It’s important to stay ahead of the changes that the US Postal Service is continually making. This is why working with mail professionals helps to ensure that your direct marketing projects are prepared and presented without costly or problematic delays.
Your projects deserve the attention that only a true direct mail marketer can provide. Putting addresses on mail pieces as a side business, as many print shops do to enhance revenue, does not qualify them as professional direct marketers.
Give us call to discuss your next mail project – In these times of extreme budget monitoring and cuts…it is crucial that you get the absolute best value for your company’s marketing dollar. We invite you to compare us to your current mail shop, you will find that we are "The Greatest Value in Direct Mail”.
The US Postal Service is having it's first 'Sale' that I have seen in my lifetime of 20 postal years. They are going to give you 30% off of your postage rates for every dollar you spent 'above your average'.
The details are best to come directly from the US Postal Service so here is the quote from the Post Office customer Relations:
"The Postal Service will offer qualifying Standard Mail customers a
30 percent discount on eligible mailings this summer. This will provide
those mailers with an incentive to prospect for new customers and
reconnect with existing customers.
We think Direct Mail has tremendous value in growing your business.
With Direct Mail accounting for 22 percent of the $250 billion spent
nationwide on advertising each year, it’s big business. Direct mail is
targeted and measurable to an extent other advertising media can’t
match.
The summer sale is currently under review by the Postal Regulatory
Commission. We plan to begin the discounted pricing July 1. The sale
will run until September 30.
Obviously, this is a new initiative for us and we’re anxious to see
how well it will work. Are any of you going to take advantage of the
summer sale?"
– Steve Kearney, senior vice president, Customer Relations
The catch is, to be eligable you must mail over 1 million pieces of mail from October 1st 2007 through March 31st 2008. From those dates a 'threshold' is being established to compare your current summer mailings to.
You will pay your full postage rates through this season and then after October 31st the US Postal Service will determine your rebate and put that back on your permit by December 31st.
So there is a Sale, but only a handful of our direct mail customers will even apply for it as the discount is 30% of the postage spent above your average amount. Of course you still have to mail at least a million pieces in the 4 months as well.
I estimate that this will affect the 'publishers clearinghouses' and 'Capital Ones' of the world the most. I just wouldn't be doing my duty if I didn't tell you about it. If you would like us to help you calculate, monitor and apply for your savings with you we will.
During difficult economic times, I find that the marketing professionals that I work with are more price-conscious than ever. Budgets are slashed, staff is reduced and expectations on marketing teams are raised. How do you do more with less?
Well, first of all you want to partner with a team that has A LOT of experience in dealing with direct mail marketing. Direct mail is the most targeted and trackable form of advertising. Savvy marketers have learned that having experienced vendors/partners is crucial when budgets are tight.
The anguish of having a budget overrun due to postage upcharges or undeliverable mail is an experience that has destroyed more than one career. One needs to analyze the true value of experience and leadership in their marketing campaigns.
You wouldn't hire an attorney or surgeon based on price. The end results are just too important. The same philosophy holds true on your marketing - the lifeblood of your company. A vendor who is less than qualified to properly assess, critique (really), analyze, and process your mail probably is not going to save you any money on your overall campaigns.
A Direct Mail specialist, such as you will find at CSG Direct; is trained and versed on postal regulations, design elements, USPS rules and regulation changes, and targeted marketing strategies. Our staff of fully certified USPS MQC (Mailpiece Quality Control) specialists often find design elements, size constraints or data problems that would get past the most experienced of mail shops.
We also offer creative solutions to save our customers money on production and postage rates, which sometimes makes an individual project less profitable for us... but we are here as a partner, for the long haul. Your projects deserve the experience and expertise that comes from seasoned mail professionals.
Let your competitors work with the inexperienced, fly by night companies while you shop for a company that makes you shine.
You will look better for two reasons:
#1) Your campaigns are effective because you found the true value of experience and expertise. The mailings are dropped in an efficient and timely manner to the intended recipients. You can track your mail through the mail stream (a CSG Direct exclusive) to identify when your target markets are receiving their mailings. You have confidence that your projects stay within budget, and are offered the tools to fully justify the mailing.
#2) You sleep well at night because you know you are working with detail oriented partners who care about your success and are certified in every avenue as meticulous professionals.
The next time you plan a mailing campaign, take a moment to reflect on who you are working with. Are you getting true value?
Are you comfortable with the experience level of your direct mail partner? Are you taking advantage of all of the benefits of a great response and postal discounts that are available?
Either way, get a quote from us so you can compare your vendors to the benchmark in direct mail. You deserve a good nights sleep!
All things being what they are, I am normally one of the first people to bash large bureaucratic entities such as the US Postal Service. The monopoly that they hold over the industry, the civil service mentality and attitude as well as the constant increases in the cost of doing business leave them as a wide-open target.
In thinking about the new Postage Rates, however, I also feel compelled to compliment the postal service for the latest developments that they have introduced. It has been quite an undertaking! Don’t get me wrong, there is a lot of room for improvement and a many areas that they can improve on. Today let’s look at some of the positives, because they deserve to be recognized.
One of the most amazing new developments with the US Postal Service is the implementation of the intelligent mail barcode systems. It is mind-boggling to think of the amount of data retrieval, data collection and data distribution that this system is capable of. This helps the post office to track delivery times and pinpoint problematic areas within their system.
It has also been a great tool for mail service providers such as CSG Direct to build systems around for individual US Mail tracking. This is a dream come true for Direct Marketing professionals to be able to track their mailings online. It allows them to gauge delivery times, track individual pieces and better plan their projects.
Another item that I believe bears consideration is the expense of fuel that has spiked and dropped several times in recent memory. As a transportation and delivery entity, the postal service is sharply affected by fuel costs. I know in my household fuel prices have strained the budget considerably. These costs cannot be absorbed for long periods of time – especially at the volumes that the USPS consumes.
I believe that the postal service is working diligently to improve service and delivery times. With some of the new requirements for NCOA standards, enhanced barcoding and ongoing customer relationship building. I am seeing great strides of improvement in a large entity that is slow to change.
If we can only get them to work in a more customer friendly atmosphere in regard to the incessant changes and rules for mailpiece design and construction. They change the rules – industry adjusts – then they change the rules because they do not like the industry adjustments. The recent flat changes are a good example of this.
In May of 2007, the flat rate increase was harsh, so the industry started changing to smaller booklets and slimjims that were subject to the letter rate category. Now the post office is implementing new rules on these types of mailers that will cost the preparers more money to process and slow down the production. This should have been taken into consideration in 2007 when the USPS raised the flat rates to get mailers to change their formats and remove some of the burden from the flat sorters.
OOPS… I am going off on a rant – not the intention here.
Let’s take a moment to appreciate some of the positive changes that the post office and the mailing industry are encountering. The new technologies are very cool, and very useful. If you are not taking advantage of these new technologies, then you are missing the boat! If you would like to learn more about US Mail Tracking, give one of the Direct Mail Specialists at CSG Direct a call. We are here to help!
We cannot claim to be the Greatest Value in Direct Mail without talking costs. Across the nation we cost less than the average mailshop for all our mailing services.
My philosophy is that if another mailshop charges more than half of what we charge, they are overpriced. How is it possible that they can charge the same price we do without giving you all the benefits, service and focus that we offer in every single job we do?
This is why once you try us you won't look back:
We are the Greatest Value in Direct Mail.
I have been in direct mail and working in mailshops and mailrooms for over 20 years now. I know what everyone is doing and I'll tell you we dance circles around almost every other mailshop. Definitely around EVERY shop working with the gaming industry.
We are very passionate about your mail and making you look good during the process. We know that with every mailing it feels like your job is on the line and you are constantly having to cover for traditional mailshops.
That is unfair to you and it gives the more advanced mail shops a bad name. You deserve a shop whose #1 focus is handling the many details of your job like true trained career professionals.
I promise you that after we get through just 2-3 mailings together (to get each others' flow down), that you will never go back to a regular mailshop again.
You know we're qualified.
I humbly ask you to try us out.
We'll work hard to make you shine!
You deserve it and it doesn't cost any more than you are already paying so there is no real reason to say no.
As a mailing services provider and someone who has helped set up many mailshops over the years, I regularly find a lack of honest communication. Too often I find clients want to hold back from revealing the full details of a project for fear of putting too much on the table.
For example, a client may need to sell 500 hotel rooms in the next two weeks for fear of losing their job (random example), but instead of sharing that, they just say "I need a bid on a postcard mailing".
Pull us into your battle! Get us involved in your mission. We have decades of experience at making things happen. Engage us!
The big crime in the scenario I just described is when they end up going with the lowest bidder because that is what they are trained to do. Then the event fails. No 500 rooms, no success - no job.
The proper bid-request should be "How can I use direct mail to fill 500 rooms in two weeks?" and then let the games begin. Now you will have idea after idea flowing your way and the good vendors quickly rise to the top. You can then make an informed decision based on your ACTUAL goals.
When you build a true relationship with a direct marketing mailing services shop as opposed to a average direct mail is an add-on vendor, you will find the direct mail success you seek.
Feel free to email me if you want to talk about it more.
I don't think there is a compelling enough reason to do personalized URLS. We are a variable data printing company and database marketers ourselves. We find PURLS are pushed by the digital press manufacturers as something expensive to sell that the buyer can use to generate business. It's expensive to buy!
There tend to be a few quick uses for it and then PURLS lose their glamour. The primary use is to get data from a client. Wow, it's got my name in it! But the fantasy wears off after the first time; especially when they find out that it's a fact-gathering expedition or survey only.
(Which is great once, but you cannot do monthly surveys without a reason.)
There are just so few reasons to use PURLS.
We focus more on personalization for increased appeal and response. There are many (much more secure) ways to get a client to interact online without PURLS.
In short, expensive gimmick, few uses for the same customer, cool only on the first day it rolled out.
I (We) have been building variable data websites since 1995 to work with direct mail campaigns. It doesn't have to be fancy to be effective and you can do it quickly with simple landing pages.
By the way, did I mention that we invented a way to track direct mail through the normally hidden mailstream? When we do a mailing you can track the production of your piece online (since 1999) and also track when it is delivered to the US Postal Service. We also let you track each piece on its journey to its end delivery post office.
There are so many more things you can do on the cheap than to rely on PURLS.
Just my take, but then again I have been doing variable data printing and database programming for over 20 years in direct mail. Not meant as plug - just a reference of experience.
If you need a variable data printing quote just let me know. It's one of the things we are famous for.
There is a common industry insider expression that I wanted to share with the rest of you. It is considered as obvious and unbreakable as the laws of gravity on our planet.
The expression poses this choice to a client:
SPEED, QUALITY, PRICE - PICK TWO.
This expression is fun to play when you realize its validity. Many vendors will promise all three and only deliver one. Most vendors aim to provide all three, only to find that competitors and customer requests prevent it. Like the law of gravity, to try and ignore the rules may be dangerous to your programs.
Some of the reasons for this are:
No low quality shop can offer the high end services of a high quality shop so they have no choice but to be cheaper. Saving $200 on an invoice may cost you $20,000 in direct mail results. It usually does.
Also, for any shop to move a project quickly they have to consider the option of overtime pay which is 150% of normal wages. So higher speed always makes for higher cost.
Let's play with a few of these:
* High Quality Print - Overnight - Costs Extra
* Low Cost Print - High Quality - Takes Time
* Low Quality Print - Done Quickly - Costs Less
Anyway, it's yours to play with and now you know an industry insider's secret.
I have tested it myself over the years and it holds true.
If a printer tells me he will print it fast and keep the costs down - the print always shows up damaged, scored wrong or with color problems.
If a vendor promises low cost, high quality work; it always shows up 3 days late. Perhaps you're all familiar with this one?
We at CSG Direct are focused on quality and speed and we use our high quality staff (25 MQC certified by the USPS) to identify ways to save money through intelligent programs. With high quality staff you have more high quality options. That is how we attempt to capture all three of the above choices. But sometimes customers just don't allow us to provide our full service and maximize this process.
Direct mail is not an industry to cut quality on, especially if you want to save money! I have seen too many low cost vendors ruin entire campaigns because they offer low prices and miss all the most important steps (maximizing every step is important.)
Direct mail is a details business. Demand quality if you want success. We'll help you find ways to balance cost and speed from there. Knowing what you're dealing with is half the battle.
As most everyone knows, the postal rates for First Class postage rates are increasing on May 11, 2009 to 44 cents. Whenever a rate change is announced that the general public sees, a lot of rates and classifications are also changed for the business mailers (mail houses). One of the significant changes being proposed is the size and handling of self mailers and letter-size booklets. Some of the proposed changes include:
Larger Tabs: The post office is seeking to require two 1" tabs on self-mailers and three 1 ½" tabs on booklets (2" on larger and heavier booklets). The placement of tabs will also be a part of the proposed rule change, with more tabs required.
Smaller Size Limitations: The postal service has determined that folded self-mailers and booklets do not process as efficiently as envelopes, and seek to require smaller dimensional tolerances. The proposed rule will limit the size of self mailers and booklets to 6" x 10 ½" x 0.25".
Perforated Tabs: Perforated tabs will be eliminated under the proposed rule changes.
Paper Stock: The paper stock that self-mailers and booklets are printed on will likely be amended, and the paper requirements will be based on the piece size.
These changes are intended to assist the postal service in processing mail more efficiently. Unfortunately, it places the burden on the direct mailer and businesses preparing the mailing. The post office will be able to run more efficiently, but everyone else will be slowed down due to increased processing and higher supply costs. Many current mailpiece designs that are set up as templates will need to be revisited as well. As I stated before, the increase in postage is merely a single facet of the changes for the businesses whose livelihood is put to the test with each regulatory change.
This is an important time to partner with an experienced Mailing Services company, such as CSG Direct. We can help guide you through these tumultuous changes. With our staff of United States Postal Service MQC (Mailpiece Quality Control) trained specialists, you can be certain that your project is in capable and caring hands. As marketing budgets grow tighter, customer response and cost-saving methodology are more important than ever. It is critical to market… but even more critical to market wisely. CSG Direct is a leader in direct marketing because we offer experience, value and cutting-edge innovation coupled with individuals who are passionate about our customer's success.
The difference isn't just noticeable…. it's obvious!
Please feel free to share your comments.
Guest blogger Dave Carsten is the general manager of CSG Direct, Inc.