What Were They Thinking #2

We recently had an experience with a client that we would like to share with you. Last week, we received a PDF rendering of a card from a non-profit that wanted to check if there was enough space for the address and barcode. I noticed that the indicia to be printed was for First Class even though the client has a USPS Non-profit permit. I checked the content of the piece and there was no reason that First Class mail was warranted for the message, so we contacted the client to question why (sometimes clients have a specific reason for sending something First Class instead of a less expensive postage method)

Well, I guess they didn’t believe the savings in postage I estimated between the two postage methods because they made us run the postage both ways. It turned out that they could save $6189.64 and decided immediately to change the postage method to Non-profit. That $6200 is now going back into their programs instead of a donation to the United States Postal Service.

This was our first opportunity to work with this client and the question that immediately came into my mind was why did the other mail professionals they were working with ever point this out to them since this was an annual mailing? In my experience, it probably comes down to three reasons…

1. Many mailers don’t like to ask questions and assume that that whatever is presented to them is what the client wants: I have some sympathy for this since I have been in that position where a client became defensive when we started asking questions. It can be uncomfortable. However, we made a decision a long time ago that our obligation is to act in our client’s best interests no matter how they may react.
2. Have not done their homework: Maybe that they did not know the client had a Non-profit permit. It is possible but to me that is no excuse. It is clear that the client is a non-profit and they should have at least asked if they had a Non-profit permit. You have no idea how many non-profits over the years were not aware that they are eligible for special postal rates.
3. Didn’t care: We hate to say it but there are a number of mailers and printers that take the path of least resistance and don’t have their client’s interests at heart.

The lesson we would like you to take away from this piece is too make sure you are working with mailing professionals that have your back and care about you having the best results for the best value possible. They work for you and they should be a tremendous resource. This is what we at Cox Printers believe and we would love the opportunity to show you that we will always have your back.