Trends in Print and Mail

“You've got to think about big things while you're doing small things, so that all the small things go in the right direction." - Alvin Toffler

There are many business books that emphasize “focus”. Focus on your strengths. Focus on your core business. Focus Daniel-san. Okay, that last phrase was from “The Karate Kid” movie, but the message is the same one many consultants and gurus exhort to their customers and audiences.

But what happens if you’re too focused? People may direct so much attention on a particular problem, and miss everything else. If you have tunnel vision, you can’t the big picture.

Since the arrival of the ZIP Code in 1963, mailers have worked hard to meet the addressing and sorting requirements established by the U.S. Postal Service (USPS). Then came the ZIP+4, the Postnet Barcode, the Delivery Point Barcode and the Intelligent Mail Barcode (IMb). Each upgrade promised streamlined processing, consistent delivery and low postage rates. For most mailers, the USPS delivered on those promises.

Many mailers have held out on moving from the Basic IMb to the Full Service IMb, with accompanying mail.dat file and eDocs. Tracking MIDs, CRIDS and mail piece IDs often require a significant investment in software, databases and customer buy-in. For smaller mailers and mail service providers, the extra work required wasn’t worth the $0.003 per piece discount.

That’s about to change. For 2 reasons – Informed Delivery and Informed Visibility.

Last week was one of the largest National Postal Forums (NPF) in a decade, with more than 4,400 people attending the show over 4 days. With the theme of “Make Informed Connections”, the NPF was filled with opportunities for vendors to connect with customers, mailers to connect with postal executives, and industry professionals to connect with each other.

What are your plans for upcoming National Postal Forum (NPF), May 21 – 24, 2017 in Baltimore, MD?

The theme for this year’s NPF is “Making Informed Connections”. That includes networking with fellow mail professionals, vendors, and officials from the U.S. Postal Service. We’re especially looking forward to Postmaster General Megan Brennan’s keynote on Monday morning and hearing her take on the ratemaking review and the most recent attempt at postal reform legislation.

When a company decides to outsource their customer communications to a service provider, that doesn’t mean the work is done. The vendor must be monitored and managed to ensure that they’re complying with negotiated service level agreements. Savvy customers take managing their vendors to the next level – by conducting periodic audits for quality controls and best practices.

One of my favorite television personalities is Mike Holmes. A contractor from Canada, Mike has been the star of several renovation series, including Holmes on Holmes, Holmes Inspections and Holmes Makes It Right. He’s most famous for uncovering shoddy work by other contractors, tearing it out, and then completing the construction correctly.

For Mike, the building code is the bare minimum standard for contractors. And the bare minimum isn’t the right way to build. “Even if they are minimum standards, codes matter,” Holmes said. “I’ve said before that I’m not a fan of people who build to code because the building codes are minimum standards. I want to see people build past minimum standards, so that every homeowner has the safest possible living environment.”

I feel the same way about most US Postal Service (USPS) regulations – they’re the minimum standards for mailers to meet. If you want to have your mail accepted by the USPS, then you must follow the regulations. But to be successful, you need to do more than just meet the standard. This is especially true when it comes to addresses.

Recently, I participated in an online discussion about the Request for Proposal (RFP) process. It was similar to the conversations I have with clients when we recommend using an RFP to select a new vendor for equipment, software or services. In both cases, the argument revolves around whether the results justify the hard work and time required.

To be clear, a well-executed RFP requires substantial effort. At a high-level, the process includes the following steps:

My document production team was excited. We’d already surpassed our goal of driving down the costs of color printing down to less than 35 cents a page. With the installation of our new digital press, we’d cut those costs in half – less than 15 cents per page. For full color!

This was in the late 1990s, when I was the Vice President of Document Technology & Delivery at State Street Corporation. We’d just installed the IBM model of Xeikon’s digital press; one of the first roll-fed, full-color digital printers. It was a major leap forward for the team, with a steep learning curve. Success was the result of a lot of hard work and late nights.

Back in the 1990s, I developed a presentation entitled “Information Technology for Mail Center Managers.” The section on purchasing software was pretty basic. Were your applications on a mainframe, a server or desktop? If a server, what version of Microsoft? If desktop, were you Microsoft or Apple? In the main categories – document composition, address management and package tracking – there were just a few vendors to consider.

Under the requirements of the Postage Accountability and Enhancement Act (PAEA) of 2006, the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) is reviewing the way the United States Postal Service (USPS) sets postage rates. Under the PAEA, the USPS can’t raise postage rates for market dominant products above the rate of inflation as determined by the Consumer Price Index (CPI). The price cap was a bad idea in 2006, remains a bad idea in 2017, and should be ended by the PRC.