What to Look for in a Mail Service Provider
You’ve decided to streamline your mailroom operations. The best way to do that is to outsource the task to someone else. Let a fully trained mail services provider deal with the post that comes in and goes out of your business on a daily basis. However, due to the crucial element of post, you’ll need to make sure the provider you choose is reliable and trustworthy. Here are four things to look for when outsourcing the mailroom.
Staff Experience and Training
Your mailroom is important. This isn’t just where you’ll get junk from other businesses, but you’ll get legal correspondence, letters from clients/customers and financial information. The employees within the mail services provider need to be experienced in handling everything.
Spend time finding out about the training staff members will go through. Learn how many employees have the Postal Services’ Mail Quality Control (MQC) certification. Find out about the staff turnover rate, if possible.
Accurate Management
Well trained employees should be accurate. The last thing you need is a bill to disappear within the system. Errors and delays can put your business at risk. It’s essential that the mailroom operations are 99.9% accurate.
Find out how often mistakes happen. How does the management deal with these mistakes? You can also spend time looking at third-party reviews to determine the success rate with other businesses.
Determine Speed of Service
While you want accuracy, you also want your mail managed in a timely manner. That will mean discussing the type of equipment the businesses uses, the training employees gain and the type of postal service used. The service should be First Class or better, using automated mailroom operations as much as possible.
If the company doesn’t use state of the art equipment, there’s little point in outsourcing. They’ll take just as long as someone in-house. The point is to save money and time.
Remember that the speed will be determined by the distance the mail needs to go. Discuss the speed of service for local, national and international mail depending on your business requirements.
Managing an Increase in Demand
Your current mailroom needs won’t remain like this. As the business grows, so will the mailroom demands. You need to find a mail services provider who will be able to handle that. Some of this comes from automation, but it also comes from size of the business.
The last thing you’ll want is to switch providers as your business grows. It’s hard work and time consuming. Find a business straight from the gate who will be able to manage all your needs. While you want to think about your current business costs, you’ll need to look at the near future.
Outsourcing your mailroom operations should save time and money. The point is to decrease the stress on the business. Make sure the mail services provider you consider will help with the four areas above to give you a valuable and reliable service.