Mailing houses can be your best friend if treated correctly. They take away a great deal of hassle, providing a one-stop-shop service to get your latest promotion to the doorstep of your readers.
So here’s a few simple steps you can take to make sure your mailings go out relatively quickly and smoothly.
Involve the mailing house at the planning stage of your next project – especially if you are contemplating using novelty mailers, bulky/heavy items or unusual designs. There may be a requirement to alter machinery to accommodate your mailing, so the more notice the better. If you are using personalisation, make sure the material specified is laser/ink jet compatible. Also beware that some varnishes put on to printed material are not laser/inkjet compatible, so a ‘hole’ may need to be left in the varnish on a printed document to accommodate the address area.
Provide your mailing house with a dummy pack prior to mailing. Specify pack weight so that accurate postage can be estimated. Let your mailing house know the sequence of items in the mailing. Make a point of telling the mailing house about items which are different, but look similar and make sure these are clearly labelled.
Give the mailing house enough time to schedule your job properly. If you can, give your printer a fixed delivery date - and build in a couple of day’s leeway. Late print deliveries play havoc with mailing house production schedules.
Get address data delivered well before the mailing date so that it can be properly ‘health-checked’ by your mailing house. Any issues with the data can then be resolved prior to the intended mailing date.
Make sure that your printer packs all print in manageable boxes and that each box has a sample of print on the front. Also insist that each box is clearly marked with the quantity and, if necessary, an identity code. The printer should also supply an accompanying delivery note with the quantity of pallets/boxes/quantities clearly stated. It is standard practice for mailing houses to sign delivery notes ‘unchecked’ because of the prohibitive time involved in checking all items of print. If you want your mailing house to weight-check a random sample (or the whole quantity) please ask them. Understand that there may be cost implications for doing this.
If you are sending a printed mailer to a magazine for insertion into a publication, make sure that the boxes are marked up with the magazine title, the issue number, publication date and where possible a contact within the magazine who is aware of insert requirements. Many magazines that offer this service also have a label spec that they will send out to you for you to fill in, or to pass on to your printer.
When ordering print for mailings, ask your printer to produce a small percentage of overs, especially on items like letter headings. This allows for ‘spoilage’ in address printing and also for file copies to be produced.
Always try to sign off letters quickly to prevent delays in production.
If you are supplying envelopes check that they are able to be printed on. Inkjet printers may require a different paper type to laser printing machines.
On non-account postings, remember that postage will need to be prepaid before mailing.
Remember that unless otherwise agreed, insurance is the responsibility of the Client. If you have a mailing of unusual value, tell your mailing house.
Decide what you want to do with any print overs before the mailing, and leave instructions with the mailing house as to where they are to be sent. Otherwise you may start incurring storage charges.
Remember - mailing houses are generally very busy places, more often up against tight timescales and may handle many mailing jobs at any one time. With a little forward planning, organisation on your part and communication, your job should arrive on doorsteps quickly, and with no fuss. If you need any help or advice regarding mailing issues, please call D2P on 01582 764456.