As printing margins have shrunk in recent years, many companies have expanded into providing direct mail services to their clients. In order to make this additional revenue stream as profitable as possible, we recommend you follow these strategies:
- Pick a specific niche to specialize in. The most successful mailing services focus on just a few types of mailings and invest in the equipment that gives them a competitive advantage for those types of job. If you specialize in printing high-volume, personalized letters for the financial services industry, for example, your profitability will be enhanced if you use a high-speed, state-of-the-art digital printer and a continuous flow operation.
- Reduce costs via postal logistics. In order to cut your client’s postal rates to the bone, you need to make sure each piece of mail is delivered to a postal facility as close as possible to its ultimate destination. If your mailing is quite large, you can hire a trucking company to drop ship it to various Network Distribution Centers (NDCs) and Sectional Center Facilities (SCFs) across the country. This requires you to comply with stringent sorting, sleeving, tagging, strapping and paperwork requirements.
Should drop shipping be cost-prohibitive for the mailing you’re processing, you can save almost as much by commingling. A commingler such as a MailSmart Logistics picks up the mailing from your facility, combines it with mail from other sources to meet minimum quantities, and delivers each piece to postal facilities close to its final destination. We handle all of the logistical details, including the paperwork, while saving our customers who send letter-size mail an average of 12% on postal costs.
- Reduce direct labor costs: With the thin margins in the mailing services industry, direct labor costs can make or break you. Not only is it advantageous to have a flexible workforce willing to go home early when you’re waiting on approvals, but you should also make sure each employee is cross-trained on multiple pieces of equipment. Taking advantages of opportunities to outsource labor-intensive operations (such as sleeving, tagging and strapping your mailing) can also significantly help your bottom line.
For more information about how to maximize the profitability of your mailing services, please read our free eBook titled “Maximizing Your Mail House’s Profits”:
MailSmart Logistics provides worry-free shipping at remarkably-low postal rates –
You’re going to love working with MailSmart Logistics!
