Every business, regardless of its industry or size has a certain amount of customer-oriented paperwork it needs to get through. However, if you happen to be, say, a bank, a real estate company, or even a public utility, you will likely generate huge amounts of paperwork, such as loan statements, bills, and so on, that need to be printed and delivered to your customers regularly.
If you’re considering outsourcing these printing and mailing services, it’s a good call that will help you slim down your own workforce while lowering the cost of those functions for your business.
Your choice of partner is key here; there are different providers you might go with, but it’s important to bear in mind that even as ancillary services, they are customer-facing and directly affect customer experience. Here are some key considerations to go over while outsourcing your letter printing and mailing services.
What Does Outsourcing Printing and Mailing Entail?
In a nutshell, your partner will undertake to print all the customer or stakeholder communication you authorize them to and securely deliver it to the intended recipients. This can include everything from monthly utility bills to invoices, financial statements, and even court summons.
The delivery can take place either via post or via electronic means, such as email. In either case, your vendor must guarantee reliability and timeliness while making those functions appreciably cheaper to execute for you.
Key Aspects to Consider When Outsourcing Printing and Mailing
When you allow a third party to produce and deliver vital communication, you’re essentially allowing them to represent you. They’re responsible for the image you present to your customers. Here’s everything you should look into before you make a final decision.
1. Price
Price is often the first concern when outsourcing letter printing and mailing services. And a quality provider will usually be able to deliver on that. In-house printing and mailing entail huge costs, including printing equipment, repair and maintenance, space allocation, material cost, and labor. All of this can add up very quickly for what is essentially a non-core function.
With the right partner, you can achieve significant cost savings that can make your bottom line look that much more attractive.
2. Expertise
A key consideration when choosing a printing and mailing provider is the level of expertise they bring to the table. Are they new to the business or do they bring a wealth of experience and industry relationships that make their processes much more efficient? Are they able to offer a wide variety of printing services to accommodate any requirement? Do they provide tailored solutions or simply push across a catalog with standardized recommendations? Answers to these questions can determine just how effective your new provider will be.
3. Lead Times
Lead time is a vital consideration when outsourcing letter printing and mailing services. As important as the communication is the speed with which it reaches the recipient. After all, your customers can hardly be expected to pay up on a bill or an invoice if they don’t receive it on time, can they? Timeliness also helps your customers settle into a routine that can help them plan their own affairs or finances.
4. Reach and Reliability
It’s one thing to promise timeliness and another to live up to it, especially when you’re delivering, say, thousands of utility bills across the country every month.
Information Outsource, for example, guarantees complete reliability with all of our services and we deliver everywhere the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) goes. Having been in business for over 25 years, we enjoy an average customer relationship tenure of over 12 years, owing in large part to the quality, value, and reliability we demonstrate on every engagement.
5. Customer Support
Another consideration to bear in mind for choosing a print and mail provider is the kind of customer support they offer. Can they work with you to hasten a particular delivery or change some of the printing specifications at short notice? How easy is it to speak to a real person who’s trained to handle the inevitable queries that come with critical document distribution?
6. Security
Finally, think about the security mechanisms your partner has in place. Business and customer data is vulnerable at the best of times and even more so, when there is sensitive information involved. Consider a SOC 2 Type 2 certified print and mail provider. With redundancies and regular security audits in place, you know your partner is equipped to protect your private data.
Partner With a Proven Company Like Information Outsource
Are you looking to outsource your document and letter printing and mailing services? Look no further. Information Outsource is an industry veteran with a proven track record of excellence when it comes to producing and distributing vital documents. See high-quality output combined with cost-effective prices and short lead times when you work with us. We offer national mailing coverage via the USPS as well as electronic delivery. Consider reaching out to us for printing and mailing services; our in-house support team is available to assist you from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Arizona Time.
