A Critical Path for Mailing Software

In theory, bringing a technology solution to your business is almost always a good idea. Who wouldn't want to adopt techniques and equipment that can save you and your staff time, labor, and money?But with many choices in the marketplace, it's hard to know how to select a solution that suits your organization's needs. This is especially true when you're charged with a decision to buy mailing management software.Shifting government regulations and frequent rate changes increase your marketplace learning curve, lengthening and complicating the decision-making process. But certain landmarks can help mailing software neophytes ensure they're headed down the path.Prospective concerns tend to boil down to four areas: cost, certification, capabilities, and compatibility. I know this because, as CEO of BCC Software, I sell mailing software, and these are the first few questions that prospective customers ask me, and my competitors, again and again.Cost is the first concern for most prospective customers—and it's more complicated than the software's sticker price might suggest. Mailing software is typically sold on an annual subscription basis. This is because the USPS regularly changes mail preparation requirements. Mailing software programs have to stay current; vendors need to constantly issue and support updates to keep their customers current. For this, a subscription model works best.You will find that most leading vendors structure their subscription plans to include first-year product acquisition, setup, and support costs. These items might not be called out as such on a contract or invoice, but costs for the vendors in these areas are higher, sometimes substantially, than in subsequent years of a new customer relationship.Hence the higher startup costs typically reflected in subscription agreements for mailing software. This added up-front expense increases the need to select the right software program for your company on your first journey into the mailing software marketplace.Pick the right program from the get-go, and you avoid paying that first year premium again, simply because your first software choice didn't meet or couldn't grow with your organization's requirements.Some mailing software vendors offer different mailing programs to support different requirements. These products are usually classified as 'low end' and 'high end' offerings. As you might expect, the low-end programs are also the low cost entries.They're 'canned' and aimed at entry-level business users looking to quickly automate or replace aged systems with something low-cost yet modern. The user's requirements are basic, and won't grow or change markedly (or so they assume) over the years.This is frequently a flawed assumption. Requirements do change. When companies first get into the mailing business, they often have limited goals. Perhaps they simply want to prepare small mailings to a B2B subscriber list, in the case of a publisher, or a small targeted mailing, in the case of an ad agency.But as time goes on, the mailings become more demanding. Subscriber lists grow, successful direct marketing efforts encourage larger efforts, promotions and other programs suddenly require more flexibility. Deadlines get shorter. Databases get larger.And it might become advantageous to prepare mail on pallets, or drop shipping could become an attractive option, to leverage the deepest postal discounts.I see this time and again, when we win the business of a publisher or direct marketer or printer who is upgrading from a mailing package that they were certain, when they bought it, would meet their future needs.They're forced to not only upgrade their mailing software. They have to change vendors, because there was no commonality between the entry-level product they started with, and the higher-cost professional mailing platform they now need.Worse, they're paying that higher up-front cost a second or even third time to BCC Software in the final case (in part because we sell our product on the premise that customers won't outgrow us or the product).So when evaluating a mailing software package, it's crucial to make sure any anticipated or unanticipated transition from low-end product to a high-end platform will be simple, and with minimal cost and time penalties to your organization.KNOW YOUR REQUIREMENTSBefore you can figure out which mailing software is right for your organization, you must first clearly define the organization's current and future mailing requirements.The simplest way to approach this is to see if the software you're considering supports the classes of mail you intend to prepare, at the volumes you anticipate. The answer is easy to obtain, because the USPS certifies mailing software according to two primary certification categories.CASS, the Coding Accuracy Support System, ensures that software that assigns ZIP+4 codes, as well as performs basic address cleansing, meets rigorous quality standards (to ensure correct ZIP+4 codes are assigned, so content won't be misrouted by the USPS's equipment, or rendered undeliverable by improper matching). CASS certification is a prerequisite for obtaining virtually all automation rate discounts offered by the USPS.PAVE is the second certification process. It stands for Presort Accuracy Validation and Evaluation. All PAVE certifications are not equal. There are separate certification tests for each class of mail (First Class, Periodicals, Standard Mail), and each preparation method within each class (a total of 30). For example, there are separate tests for First Class Automation Letters and First Class Presorted Flats, or mail presented to the post office in sacks or on pallets. Make certain the software you buy is certified for the particular classes and preparation methods you intend to process.Certified software vendors can provide a copy of an official USPS certificate that shows all the categories in which their products are currently certified. Note, however, that the USPS has not established certification for every possible class and preparation method. For example, certification is not available for parcel post, bound printed matter, or media mail presorts. If you anticipate a need for those 'subclasses', ask the software provider if their software supports them.After cost and certification comes capabilities. Where low-end mailing software can address simple mailing requirements, highly evolved mailing systems add business value beyond basic automation.For example, mailers increasingly tell us they want the ability to do change of address (COA) processing. This updates a mailing list with new addresses for individuals and companies that relocated since the list was compiled. Each address in a data file is automatically compared with the USPS COA database.If the software finds a match between the existing name and address and one in the USPS COA database, the address record can be updated with the new address. By updating the list before it's mailed, the mailer minimizes the amount of mail that must be forwarded or returned as undeliverable.For First Class mailings, COA processing is a prerequisite to obtaining USPS discounts. It's likely this requirement will eventually be extended to other mail classes.Determine whether COA capabilities are integrated into the base mailing software, available as an added-cost bolt-on, or something your IT department will be stuck manually programming or integrating down the road.Other important capabilities are 'de-duping' (removing duplicates), 'merging and purging' (combining two or more lists, eliminating duplicates, and removing unwanted addresses), list maintenance (including global or selective record manipulation and cleaning), and geocoding (mailings targeted based on location or distance from a location).Next comes compatibility—a vital consideration when shopping for a high-tech mailing solution. The first thing to look at: Does the software support your printers? Many mailing software evaluations end right here, because the buyer's new or trusty legacy printers aren't supported.Assuming the company's printers are supported, the standard printed output produced by the mailing software might not be sufficient for the company's design or other output requirements.It's important to determine how the mailing software generates output, and how many extra steps might be required to obtain your desired output. Some software uses the same output design for different output devices (e.g., an envelope printer gets the same output data as a high-speed inkjet).But a desktop envelope printer that meets your organization's needs today might turn out to be too slow or too costly (in terms of supplies). You certainly don't want to have to change mailing software or vendors just to accommodate a new printer.Last up on the compatibility front, but equally important: the computer hardware and software. Be certain the product you select supports your organization's choice of operating systems, instead of being tied to one specific vendor's computer hardware, or married to an old version of Windows, Mac OS, UNIX, etc.THE USER EXPERIENCEIf you intend to process customer lists, look closely at the data importing/exporting capabilities of any mailing program under consideration. Anyone in the mail processing business will tell you this is one of the most important factors.The software must support the various file formats used in your organization, as well as those your organization might use in the future. You should also look at the man/machine interaction workflow required to conduct an import or export, and make sure the software or process doesn't require a computer science degree.Also, find out how easy it is to manipulate data in the course of an import or export. For example, can the import function split names? Can it expand combined city, state and ZIP fields into separate components? Can fields be remapped between data sources? Can data types be changed? Can data be easily converted from upper case to mixed case and vice versa? Are there provisions for filtering or converting unwanted characters that are often present in legacy or poorly maintained databases?If not, it's likely the organization will have to acquire and integrate third-party software, at extra cost, because these are common requirements for mail preparation.As incredibly complex as modern computer-controlled mail-management systems are, they shouldn't require data processing professionals for operation. Rather, the software should faithfully guide users through the maze of postal rules and regulations.That said, beware of mailing software that's too simplistic in approach to the user experience. 'Wizards' and other hand-holding approaches certainly aid the learning process, but they get old fast, and ultimately hamper productivity due to their procedural, dialog-driven approach. Due to the complexity of the application itself, any mailing software worth its salt will have a learning curve that operators must scale. Better products from better vendors will feature a variety of training options at a range of price points.Most major mailing software vendors can provide training at the client's facility, but that can be expensive. Some vendors offer regional training classes, usually a less costly option.A few offer online tutorials or self-paced computer-based training CDs. Determine your training requirements early in the game, and then evaluate the various vendor's training options to see which best fits your requirements and budget.Lastly and perhaps most important are service and support. To reiterate, your relationship with a mailing software vendor is going to be a long one. When something goes wrong, will telephone assistance be charged by the minute or session, or will it be provided at no charge? Will the call itself be toll free? How long is the typical wait for a technician? Is free e-mail-based support available? Does the vendor have a comprehensive FAQ or knowledge base on their Web site? Are updates posted for free download?People prefer to speak to a live support technician, not a voice mail system. Imagine what it's like when you're up against a tight deadline, with error messages on the computer screen, and you can't get a live technician on the phone.It's not easy, but not impossible either, to figure out which of the mailing software vendors you are considering offers the best level of service and support. Make some dummy calls into their tech support number. Ask for a list of references. Hit online forums frequented by buyers or mailers, and see what people are saying about service and support. Check out the support options listed on their Web site.Look especially for company-hosted user forums. These provide the opportunity to share problems and solutions with other users, while waiting for an official answer from a vendor's tech support department.They can also give you a sense of the company's reputation. A company's good reputation might not convince you to buy their software, but a bad reputation could convince you not to. Seek out online testimonials.These tips should help you narrow the field, and settle on a mailing software solution that meets your work and budgetary needs today, while offering the power and flexibility to help fuel the growth you achieve tomorrow.- K.J. RunstromK. Jon Runstrom is president and CEO of BCC Software Inc. Rochester, N.Y., a developer of professional mailing software for Windows. BCC's flagship product is Mail Manager 2010. Runstrom can be reached at KJR@BCCsoftware.com.

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A Critical Path for Mailing Software

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