Okay, returning to the headache. The USPS has hopefully relieved some of their pain, but now many in the mailing business are starting to feel more than a little discomfort, trying to wrap their brains around the regulations, the costs, the PAF forms that are required, explaining these new requirements to their Standard mailers, managing the time required, and a host of issues.. Well at the risk of extending this whole headache analogy too far, Listcleanup.com can be your aspirin or Tylenol, depending on how much pain you may be in at the moment.

We been helping people migrate through NCOA^Link™, and move update qualifications since the whole thing started back in 1997. For more than a decade, over 2,500 companies have trusted us for timely, efficient and cost-effective solutions. Along the way, we've added other services, tailored to provide our direct marketing clients an edge over their competition. Yet through it all, there are a few core values that have never wavered; a focus on customer service, sales and IT support, a seamless online order process that insures reliable, timely delivery of your orders and flexible pricing .

As my colleague, Bill Brennan, mentioned in a recent post, should you take on an in-house solution given all variables that will come into play, before speaking with us first? We have the answers, we can make this whole move update “challenge” simple, easy, and even better, we can show you how to earn revenue providing this service to your client.

Why bother with the headache, when you can call us.

Today the focus was on the move update changes, just around the corner. Down the road we’ll look into the range of data management services we can provide, all pointed in the same direction, what can we do to improve your direct mail bottom line ?

http://www.listcleanup.com/content/Default.aspx

The Value of a Customer

There is an old saying – “If it’s too good to be true, it probably is”  this saying along with “You get what you pay for” are truths many of us have had to learn the hard way.   With the new USPS mandated Move Update deadline rapidly approaching, many companies are looking at their options for purchasing NCOALink^® and alternative Move Update services. 

Some NCOA vendors are offering (including Listcleanup.com) an all you can eat at one price option.   Now, shopping for the cheapest price seems like a logical solution, except when you consider the value of a customer.   Given the significant increases in NCOA volumes projected by the addition of Standard Mail in the new requirements, is it not logical that some vendors are going to have challenges in delivering on advertised turn times?    If the average mail house or lettershop’s monthly mail volume is traditionally 80% Standard Mail, then volumes for many of the NCOA providers could be quadrupling over the previous First Class volumes.  

So, when your customer calls and wants to know why their mailing went out later than promised, do you think they are going to be satisfied with the answer  - our company selected the lowest cost NCOA provider and they failed to return the file to us when promised?

Forecasting the need for standalone online NCOA services is a function of five intersecting variables: USPS regulations, ACS Options, Software Integration, Internalization, and competitive offerings. 

The largest impact on NCOA services in the last 10 years is the USPS’s change to the Move Update regulations.   Beginning in November of this year, the new regulations will add Standard Mail and double the frequency requirement to 95 days.

With this projected increase in demand comes more options and changing economics.    For some larger mailers, the regulation may make it cost effective to bring the processing in house.  These larger mailers are also more likely to have already purchased industry specific software that includes integrated flat rate NCOA services.   Finally, the changing options with ACS services may be optimal for some clients who don’t need to clean a list before it is mailed.

However, for the vast majority of smaller to medium size mailers, nothing is easier or less costly than using an on demand, online NCOA service.    No software to buy, no hardware to buy, no agreements to sign, and no payments in advance.    Combine these benefits with sub 10 minute turn times (coming in December) and the benefits of advanced bundled services, and nothing is simpler or less costly for the small to medium size mailer.    Make sure you ask for a competitive rate, and see why even some of the industry's largest mailers still prefer the benefits of working with an independent online list hygiene company.

The Ethics of NCOA Move Update®

Scenario – I own a mailing service and in preparation for the new Move Update regulations coming in November of 2008, I have just signed up for an ‘all you can eat’ NCOALink® 18 month service (NCOA-18), or maybe I have even invested to get my own USPS® NCOALink® license.

Now, as a business owner, I realize the more clients I can run through NCOA-18, with its fixed costs, the more profit I can make.   On the other hand, many of my clients have historically been using the 48 month version of NCOALink (NCOA-48), because it catches more moves and cost only fractionally more than the NCOA-18 service.

As a business owner, do I arbitrarily decide to run all new orders through NCOA-18, justifying it by saying I am sure all the client wants is to secure the postal discount…they are not really that interested in catching the maximum number of moves?   Do I ask the client in such a way that steers them to the answer I want, i.e. “Your primary interest is in saving money and securing the postal discounts, correct?” Or, do I sit down with the client and go over the pros and cons of both NCOA-48 and NCOA-18 and help the client make an informed decision, thereby setting up client specific guidelines for when a file would be processed through NCOA-18 and when it would go to NCOA-48?

Some providers suggest to a client that they run their list through NCOA-48 the first time and NCOA-18 after that.  On the surface, this sounds logical, but if you don’t ask the client what percent of their file is changing/updated every month and how old are the input sources being used to update the file, then this advice may be provided erroneously.

That fact is, a third more moves are caught by NCOA-48 than NCOA-18, and as we all know, the USPS created the Move Update regulations to reduce the amount of Undeliverable As Addressed mail.