“Business as usual” feels comfortable. Once you have a system set up with a third-party provider, all the software platforms are finally linked, and everyone knows what they’re supposed to do, it becomes easy to simply let things progress month after month. The danger with that feeling of comfort, however, is that it could hide the fact that you’re wasting money every month!

Several different factors can lead to monthly waste. First, if the systems and protocols are not set up in an optimal way for your unique business, you miss opportunities from day one to maximize profits and keep expenses low. Second, if your provider is not constantly looking for ways to make your services more efficient, you will not be able to take advantage of those opportunities when they arise.

Here are four ways that your print and mail provider, in particular, might be making mistakes and costing you money unnecessarily. If you suspect this may be true for your organization, give us a call at Spectra and set up an initial consultation to see how we can provide you with equal or better service while saving you money.

1. High Costs for Short Runs

Up until the advent of digital print, it was generally accepted that printing short runs of materials would cost a client much more per piece than printing in large volumes. This put smaller clients at a great disadvantage, as they had to charge their customers more for their products than larger competitors. If a client didn’t have a large enough customer base to sell thousands of copies of a piece of print collateral at once, and couldn’t afford to print that many and store them in inventory, they were stuck either charging high costs to the end user or cutting deeply into their profits in order to remain competitive on price.

Today, a print provider like Spectra that uses an advanced digital press has the ability to print short runs of materials at much lower costs than in the past. This is an enormous opportunity to switch print providers if your company is relatively small or if you regularly need to print short runs of specialized projects. Don’t continue paying the premium prices of the past for smaller projects when you don’t have to!

2. Minor Print Inconsistencies

Little mistakes add up, and that’s certainly the case in the print industry. In the world of marketing, high quality print has become so readily available that competition is extremely fierce. Customers have come to expect the catalogs, mailers, brochures, and other print collateral t from organizations of all kinds to be glossy, engaging, and free from inconsistencies and defects. 

A small misspelling or a minor problem with color alignment on a full color mailer might not strike you as a big deal, but to the customer reading it, it suggests a lack of professionalism and quality. The result is fewer leads, fewer sales, and no way to track exactly why. Conversely, with a print partner like Spectra handling your print projects, you can feel confident that the materials that end up in your potential customers’ mailboxes are attractive, powerful drivers of valuable sales leads.

3. Enhancements to Online Storefronts

Many e-commerce businesses choose to sell their print products through an online custom storefront, then outsource the production of those materials to a third-party print provider like Spectra. That system works well, but many organizations miss out on opportunities simply because their print provider is not experienced and knowledgeable enough to suggest improvements.

Spectra’s team has well over two decades of experience building and managing online storefronts for print clients. Over that time, we have perfected our approach and learned the nuances that help clients achieve stronger results. This is a key situation in which “business as usual” isn’t good enough; you need a print and mail partner that is constantly reviewing what your organization does and how enhancements to your e-commerce model can help you sell more and reach more customers.

4. Commingling and Other Mail Strategies

Did you know that your mailing rates could change based on which third-party provider is handling your distribution services? The US Postal Service offers customers special discounts on mailing rates in exchange for following certain practices that make the Postal Service’s job easier. Not every print and mail provider can take advantage of these discounts, since they require specialized equipment and an in-depth knowledge of the process.

Commingling is one of the key strategies that Spectra implements to get lower rates for print and distribution clients. By combining mail for multiple clients in a single bulk shipment for the USPS to pick up from our facility, we simplify the process for the agency and obtain a discount in return, which we pass on to our clients. 

Other Important Advantages With Spectra

These are just a few of the ways that your current print and mail provider might be wasting your money on a monthly basis. The biggest factor is knowledge, followed closely by equipment. If a print team is fairly new or small and isn’t aware of the strategies that could be saving their clients money, they will not be able to practice those strategies. 

In addition, some of these strategies require specialized equipment, such as a digital press, sorting and barcoding equipment, a high volume mail meter, and others. Not all third party printers can offer these tools, but Spectra makes them available to all clients for marketing, official mail, HIPAA compliant notifications, and special print projects. 

If you are less than satisfied with the rates you currently pay for print projects, the quality of the collateral you are sending to your customers, or if you feel that your e-commerce business is stagnating without new ideas for improvement, we hope you will schedule a consultation with our team. Spectra is ready to save you money and move your business forward.