Logo GIF
Digging Deep for IMB Benefits Part 1
March 2009
Greetings!


Last month's newsletter focused on some of the negative aspects of the USPS rate announcements regarding the Intelligent Mail Barcode. I'll admit that I was pretty disappointed about the tiny discounts and the big fee increases. Not all of our clients are gigantic mailers where those fractions of cents add up quickly. Indeed, many of the companies we serve have more modest output volumes and simpler business workflows.

Many of these companies were thinking that the IMB postage discount was going to be enough to justify their ROI calculations and help pay for upgraded software, changed workflows, and more complex record-keeping. When the rates were announced, they found themselves with lots of "I" and not much "R".

This month, I want to show how you can still construct a case for converting to IMB sooner rather than later. It's not the normal way that mail center managers look at projects. It will be necessary to view intelligent mail from a much different perspective.

We'll continue this topic next month where I'll identify some specific areas where businesses might find some value in the IMB technology.

It's likely that for some organizations, the benefits of IMB just aren't going to be there. But informed document operations managers will only make that determination after analyzing the overall possible impacts to the business. We'll try to help you accomplish that important task.

Before we launch into that subject, here's an update: The enormous 1000% price hike that was proposed for mailing agent Confirm customers was rejected by the Postal Regulatory Commission. The commission ruled that the USPS hadn't provided the data necessary to support the increase. In fact, some of the data provided by the USPS seemed to contradict the basis for charging mailing agents 10 times more than large mailers for the same service. For the time being, mailers and mailing agents will be paying the same annual fees. You can read more about the ruling HERE.

The Return Isn't in the Mail Room
 If a company is going to justify their investment in intelligent mail beyond the regulatory requirements and postal discounts, they are going to have to look beyond the mail room. But don't forget that eventually mailers are going to have to convert, just to keep their current postage discounts. The IMB will have to be on the mail in May 2011 to continue to qualify for those discounts.

The tricky part about digging out the real IMB benefits is that every organization is different. It's likely that the responsibility for scoping out what it means to convert to intelligent mail belongs to the mail center manager. This project requires mail managers to educate, probe, and collaborate with executives, professionals, and other department managers - not an everyday experience for a lot of them.

Looking beyond the postage and deliverability features of IMB may seem like foreign territory for these managers. They will have to reach out to other departments like legal, compliance, accounts receivable, and marketing and help them understand why a "postal thing" like IMB should matter to them.

On the other side, the managers of those departments don't often see the mail room as a strategic business partner either!

Sounds like a problem. If you're in charge of document operations or the mail room, or you're a vendor that sells into the operations areas, how are you going to put a project plan together that shows why the IMB - or your products that support the IMB - are important to the entire enterprise? Do you know where to start?

It's OK if you're unsure. There are resources to help you learn and we're one of them. We'd be happy to point you in the right direction so just drop us a line.

Some Possible IMB Benefits
 In next month's addition, I'll go over some places where organizations might see some value from the capabilities of intelligent mail, including business benefits in areas like:

  • Address Quality
  • Outbound Tracking
  • Inbound Tracking

Finding the business benefits offered by IMB isn't the same as when we converted to Postnet. The research, analysis, and valuation is more complex.

Every company is different. In many shops where the ROI isn't there on the surface, it can still be found - sometimes in places you wouldn't expect to find impact from a postal technology. Talk to vendors, consultants, and coaches to get help with exploiting the non-mail room benefits in your particular organization.

Or call us. We can help you turn what might look like a negative, postal-only expense into an enterprise investment with some real benefits.

In case you missed the announcement earlier this month, Print/Mail Consultants is now offering affordable online training! The first course available, Greening the Document Center, is now open for registration. Click HERE for more information.

Sincerely,

Mike Porter Sig
Mike Porter
Print/Mail Consultants
Email Marketing by