Our print-2-mail hybrid mail solution services are providing much-needed support to businesses whose employees are working from home but still need to print and mail important customer letters and transactional documents.

Why now?

The coronavirus is forcing many to work from home.

The problem is how do businesses continue to maintain contact with their employees and customers?

Companies who choose our Print-2-Mail service do so because it significantly reduces their costs while optimising key staff who create critical business documents, uploading them on to the Print-2-Mail portal saving time and worry.

After the recession in 2008, companies were forced to look for cheaper mailing alternatives.

And although there was a big swing toward electronic communications, companies needed an alternative for mailing smaller volumes of letters.

Businesses continue to mail out letters.

The running costs of managing the process in-house makes it expensive. It is one of the first areas a company looks at when streamlining its printing requirements.

Automating the process of print and mailing offers companies the flexibility to send paper communications alongside digital.

Hybrid mail is ideal for emergency and ad hoc customer mailings including payslips, invoices, statements, remittances, newsletters and marketing.

Hybrid mail is the perfect back up solution for your everyday needs.

Businesses have greater flexibility to upload letters at any time of the day.

The current stay-at-home measures from the government afford access to our hybrid mail portal by key employees which mean businesses can continue to mail out important letters.

What are the 6 key benefits:-

1. No installation is required (you will need to download a print driver) A username, password and an internet connection are all that is required to upload documents directly from your desktop and you can be up and running in a matter of minutes.
2. With no setup charges or licensing fees, hybrid mail can save upwards of  30% on office print and mailing costs. Hybrid mail costs less than a 2nd class stamp and includes the paper, envelope, printing folding, inserting and posting
3. Ease of use – Hybrid mail is simple to use there are four easy steps create the documents in word and hybrid mail does the rest.
4. Hybrid mail is ideal for companies that have branches located across the country. Departments can access specific documents and templates which means there is complete control over what is sent out and by whom.
5. Documents that are uploaded by 4 pm on a working day are printed and mailed the same day this means you don’t have to panic about that forgotten mailing. Hybrid mail does the rest.
6. Hybrid mail allows you to store any number of document templates, you also benefit from postcode validation, user and department spending caps, custom signatures and document archiving for future reference.

The important thing to consider with hybrid mail is that no matter the size of the organisation or how many documents you send out a day you WILL benefit from our hybrid mail solution.

Hybrid mail is a 21st-century mailing solution designed to take care of those ad hoc letters – whether it is an accountancy business, a firm of solicitors, a dental practice, a fitness company or an organisation that sends most information electronically but still has residual letters and bills to send out, hybrid mail is a cost-effective alternative to printing in-house.

For more information click here

Contact us here

The post 6 reasons to use hybrid mail whilst businesses are locked down appeared first on Digital Print Management.

In last week’s blog I talked about the rise of the use of BYOD in the workplace.

With the massive adoption of BYOD (bring your own device) and a major shift in how and where students and employees work, an enterprise mobile printing solution has to be part of an organisation’s strategy to offset the increasing demands for on-the-go printing from your BYOD.

Users will at some point have a requirement to print certain documents from their iPads, tablets and smartphones and any other device and, organisations will need to be able to provide an enterprise mobile printing solution that is both secure and effective.

Enterprise printing gives employees and students the ability to be productive whether they are on the road, at home or in the office.

Employees or visitors can print to corporate printers without having to connect to a corporate network and it supports a BYOD printing environment.

Printing can then be enabled from any smartphone, tablet, laptop or PC by emailing documents to a PrinterOn enterprise-enabled printer or by using one of the mobile printing apps available for blackberry, iOS and android devices.

How does it work?

• With a plethora of networks a PrinterOn enterprise solution connects all your corporate networks and allows users at remote offices to print to all locations.
• Automatic printer discovery enables employees and guests to find all printers that are online and available instantly by using the PrinterOn mobile apps.
• Mobile employees can print while at the office by printing to one of the PrinterOn public printing locations or print at home using the same secure printing service.
• Corporate print solutions for SAP and Oracle –print from within SAP or Oracle connecting users with enterprise bar code, RFID and document printers globally

What are the benefits?

1. BYOD users can be authenticated and print from any device
2. PrinterOn discovery automatically discovers available enterprise printers through mobile apps
3. Print anywhere – mobile employees can print from home, office, public location back to the enterprise print infrastructure
4. Flexible – users can choose how they want to print – web upload, email, mobile apps or driver
5. Citrix® users can print from devices like iPads, android tablets to any enterprise printer using standard file>print
6. Mobile printing apps for iOS, android and blackberry devices
7. PrinterOn will work with most print management systems
8. All documents are encrypted with unique AES encryption
9. PrinterOn is designed for growth and scalability and as printing increases and mobile users are added PrinterOn enterprise can accommodate thousands of users and print devices within a single deployment
10. Secure – all documents are encrypted with unique AES encryption
11. PrinterOn enterprise can easily be integrated into existing corporate management systems such as Active Directory or LDAP based services
12. PrinterOn enterprise will also integrate the mobile print workflow into existing print management tracking or auditing services, allowing mobile users to access and print jobs using existing tools and services available from third  3rd party print management or print vendors.

Embracing the freedom to print from any device and from any location ensures that employees benefit from a fully integrated secure mobile print solution, printing what they want when they need it.

The post Mobile Printing. How does it fit in with BYOD? appeared first on Digital Print Management.

How quickly we seem to slip from one year to the next.

A time to be melancholic or a time to be reflective?

Looking back on this time last year and my final blog for 2012, I can recall putting it together and what I was thinking at the time.

Shame that the short-term memory isn’t quite as good as the long term one!

Philosophical yes.

The economy is shifting marginally and there is some optimism but we still have some way to go.

Irrespective of how good or bad the year has been it’s always a good thing to look forward with optimism.

It’s a time to plan. I don’t do new year’s resolutions I think they are waste of time I prefer setting some goals broken down into personal – family and health goals, business and company goals, family and friends and finally house goals – what I want to get sorted in the house for 2013.

That way I can attribute dates with a realistic time line and do my best to achieve them.

For my final blog, the best of 2013 I wanted to continue the theme I started at the end of 2012 with a summary of the various articles written throughout 2013.

This year’s articles have been focussed on helping companies get the best from outsourcing whether it is print and mailing services , hybrid mail solutions, cheque printing and payroll processing and printing.

In May, I introduced you to 3D printing, used extensively in motor manufacturing and F1 Motor Racing R & D, it has some way to go before it becomes mainstream.

It will become increasingly useful to organisations over the next 3-5 years. The difficulty for organisations will be understanding how and what applications 3D printing can be used for.

The benefits will be unprecedented. Being able to print 1 of anything or a prototype of a new product, think direct mail applications, mailings to your customers demonstrating a new product.

Remember when digital print first hit the mainstream? Then apply the same thought process to 3D printing!

Cross media marketing what is it and where does it fit in with social media and print?

The growing phenomenon of cross media marketing personalisation is having a positive impact on print. It has been mainstream for some 2-3 years but companies are uncertain how to implement it alongside a marketing plan.

Paper is becoming the first touch point of engagement with the customer before taking them on to a digital or social platform.

Marketing personalisation and social media will become increasingly important to a companies’ marketing and strategic planning process when it comes to personalised engagement with it’s targeted audience.

If you click on the link you can read why it will be important to you:

What is marketing personalisation & what does it have to do with social media?

Mailing out a direct mail piece to your customers with no thought or personalisation will be ineffective in seeking customer engagement.

The cross media marketing mix has to be strategic, personalised on a level the audience can relate to and be part of your social media activity. If you hit the button below I discuss it in more detail:

Please click here to read more

I’ve extolled the virtues of multi-channel distribution – using both paper and electronic means of delivering an item to your customer.

The paperless office?

I think we still have some way to go to get there and I cannot be an advocate of a paperless office, paper has an intrinsic value in our everyday lives and you can read my opinion here:

Why print has longevity

It is foolhardy to perpetuate the myth that electronic delivery methods save organisations time and money – it does not.

The important thing is to develop and understand the reasons for moving to electronic means of delivering messages to your customers.

A well thought out plan and strategy will see that paper and electronic are essential to maintaining good relations with your customers.

You can read why here:

Print, digital and the cross media marketing mix

If there is one thing I try to convey to customers and readers alike is to make sure you research and evaluate suppliers.

Your relationship should be a marriage and not a relationship based on convenience.

Adopting a “get the cheapest supplier” attitude is doomed to failure so why bother with the headache.

This article sums it up:

Top tips for choosing the right print supplier

So that’s it. I hope you’ve enjoyed reading the best of the rest.

Thank you for visiting Digital Print Management’s blog and for reading and sharing the content through Linkedin, twitter, facebook and Google+, for taking the time to add your comments.

I hope that 2014 will be a successful year and may you continue to prosper financially and spiritually.

My final note for the year:

“A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity, an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty” Winston Churchill

A good mantra to adopt for 2014, don’t you think?

Happy New Year.

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The post The best of 2013. How to outsource all in one place appeared first on Digital Print Management.

Working with a proven print and fulfilment partner ensures your brand’s continuity

In spite of Royal Mail price increases and the availability of multi-channel distribution for documents, organisations still have a requirement to mail out letters, invoices, statements and remittances.

Every organisation faces the challenge of producing great content, delivering it in different formats from paper to digital and being able to produce more with less and with a reduced marketing budget.

The problem is how do you find a print and fulfilment service that that will offer expert advice and deliver the end product to your customers?

Achieving this can be a difficult task to accomplish.

Can organisations trust a potential print and fulfilment services supplier?

Is there a reason why you shouldn’t partner with a print and fulfilment supplier?

A supplier you have a good relationship with, who, will give you honest feedback which in turn helps deliver on your customer relationship strategy and grow as a business.

Suppliers are an integral part in developing and protecting your brand awareness and there are tangible benefits to working with a single vendor who understands your vision, direction and the various challenges you face as an organisation.

Selecting a reputable print and fulfilment supplier is a lot like a marriage, you need a partner that listens, understands your goals, how they will be delivered and ultimately be loyal to your company and brand.

Fundamentally it must be a partnership based on trust and communication.

Key points to think about before working with a print and fulfilment services supplier

1. What is the vision for your organisation? Where do you want it to be in say 3-5 years? What things do you want to change? How would a print and fulfilment supplier benefit the company?

2. How do you market yourself as a company? What is your brand and has it come to fruition? Are you well known? Do you have a good reputation with your customers?  How are you positioned in relation to your competitors?

3. What challenges do you face within your industry? What new technologies and solutions would benefit the organisation but due to cost constraints cannot be fulfilled in-house?

How to choose the right print and fulfilment company

1. How often do they review the services with their customers?

At the very least you should be visited by your supplier every 6 months.

This will ensure you are kept up to date with latest innovations, products and services and it also gives you the opportunity to highlight any issues that you may not be happy with. It is also important to advise your supplier of any up and coming print campaigns and direct marketing efforts that are being developed.

This ensures that both you and your supplier collaborate on new projects so that you get the very best solution for your next marketing effort.

2. How proactive is the potential supplier in suggesting alternate print and fulfilment solutions to ensure you get the best service for all your printing needs?

An expert advisor will seek to understand what your intentions are as an organisation and what you hope to deliver with each marketing objective that way the supplier can stay ahead and suggest practical solutions that deliver the best results.

3. What accreditations do they have?

ISO 9001, (quality) ISO 27001 (Information Security & Management)

Having the above accreditations ensures that best practice is maintained and that procedures and processes are in place it also ensures that any confidential data is correctly managed and that the company can demonstrate the relevant protocols.

4. Is the print and fulfilment provider customer centric? Will they provide bespoke solutions for you rather than fit within the constraints of their services and equipment?

The key to any long term relationship is whether the incumbent supplier can deliver your needs now and in the future.

5. Will they be flexible and respond quickly and systematically to a change in specification or delivery dates?

What system(s) do they have in place to make sure they can manage any last minute changes?

6. Can the supplier offer free data cleansing and checking to ensure your addresses are complete and suitable for mailing discounts?

7. Is the print and fulfilment company financially stable?

How long have they been in business and what customers do they currently supply?

8. Can the print and fulfilment company produce what you want to sell today and tomorrow?

Think about the future products and services you are working on as an organisation. Can the supplier accommodate your needs now and in the future. There’s no point in establishing a rewarding relationship only to find out in year 2 that one of the marketing campaigns you intend to develop cannot be fulfilled by your supplier.

9. Does the print and fulfilment company have a great reputation?

Ask for testimonials or a list of references and it’s also a good idea to ask the supplier to give you an example of a case study

10. Is the print and fulfilment company’s pricing fair?

When reviewing print and fulfilment companies, it shouldn’t come as a surprise to see the difference in prices from one supplier to the next. By ensuring the supplier has matched your specification only then can you make a comparison between other suppliers. A higher cost may indicate that the print and fulfilment company are offering a higher level of services. Again is this what you asked for or is the supplier being proactive by demonstrating what should be incorporated into the campaign.

10. Hypothetically, if a job goes wrong, after all, we are only human, is the supplier able to demonstrate best practice? Do they have the capability to ensure that the right processes are in place to resolve the issue

A slightly difficult one to address in the ‘what if stages’ but an organisation should be able to ask the question  of the supplier and establish how flexible they can be in the event of a mistake being made.

Any print and fulfilment company you consider should be happy to answer your questions and be able to demonstrate fulfilment and print capabilities so that when you decide on your chosen supplier you can be confident in the knowledge that the marketing campaign can be delivered from paper to digital to social media.

Need some help with a print and marketing campaign?

Want to be able to send out customer letters but don’t know where to start then Call us for more information by clicking here

Are there any other points that should be added to this list?

What do you think?

Follow us on twitter, find us on facebook and Pinterest or connect with us on Linkedin and Google+. We look forward to getting to know you.

The post How to find the right print and fulfilment services supplier? appeared first on Digital Print Management.

What’s wrong with print and paper?

I was challenged recently by a customer who suggested that sending information electronically rather than using printed media is more socially responsible and better for the environment.

When I quizzed him on his understanding of how paper is produced, it’s overall contribution to our lives in general and that trying to eliminate paper entirely from an organisation whilst might be considered eco-friendly to the outside world is actually misleading and detrimental to the paper manufacturing and print industry.

There are many myths and misconceptions that print, paper, direct mail, newspapers and just about any other paper based product is having a knock on affect on the environment.

Ask yourself this question –

When was the last time you read a sales email from start to finish before you then hit the delete button?

How many unsolicited emails do you get VS direct mail pieces?

How do you react to receiving a highly personalised direct mail piece, so well targeted you’d almost think it’s been produced especially for you as opposed to an unpersonalised unsolicited email?

Paper and electronic/digital can co-exist in our world and can synchronise very well indeed, thank you! The paper less office has been talked about since I entered the print industry, over twenty years now.

Customers think they want a fully integrated electronic solution that communicates with the customer by eliminating the need for sending anything that is paper.

Why?

Because there is the long held belief that electronic communication is more environmentally friendly than print and paper and will save an organisation time and money.

Go paperless, don’t print this email, go green are common strap lines we’ve become accustomed to with organisations, corporations and utility companies perpetuating the myth that by communicating electronically they are saving money and helping the environment.

But organisations who relentlessly support a paperless project or goal do so without understanding all the facts and in my experience without really understanding why they are doing it.

There is no consultation with their customer, no preferences are provided, in other words they ‘tell’ the customer they are phasing out or removing paper bills and migrating to electronic methods of communication without asking the permission of their customer or at least asking them to opt in to the idea, which is better for them – paper or electronic.

1. Electronic waste is now the fastest growing component of the municipal waste stream
2. The amount of electronic products discarded globally is 20-50 million tonnes every year
3. Across Europe, e-waste is increasing at 3-5% per annum, three times faster than the waste stream (Source: Greenpeace – The e-waste problem, 2013)

Print and paper is wood based, a natural and renewable resource with over 70% of print and paper being recycled in europe for reuse.

Paper is a natural and renewable resource. Over 70% of print and paper is recycled in Europe for reuse. It is NOT a wasteful product.

Newspapers, magazines, leaflets, even car show rooms insist they no longer have a hard copy brochure available and are using cost and the environment as the perfect excuse. These messages brand paper as an unsustainable commodity and unnecessary in the every day scheme of things.

Fact – Paper is made from renewable resources, recyclable and produced by and environmentally conscious industry whose future is dependent on planting more trees than it consumes.

Fact – Forestry, paper and packaging are among the most sustainable industries in existence

Fact – Paper is based on wood, as young trees grow they absorb CO2 from the atmosphere. Paper as a wood product continues to store carbon through its lifetime. A well managed forest, used and re-planted, absorbs more carbon dioxide than a mature forest consisting of older trees.

Fact – The paper industry has certification schemes ensuring the paper you use has come from a sustainable forest source. There are 30 schemes in place, the two most prominent and audit-able certifications are the FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) which provides a global standard for forest management including environmental, social and economic well being of the forest communities and ecosystems. The PEFC (Programme for the endorsement of forest certification) is a certified tracking mechanism designed to ensure that from forest to final product the wood and wood fibre can be traced back to certified forests.

Fact – Paper production is not a cause of deforestation world wide

Fact – European forests are 30% larger than in 1950

Fact – The annual increase of forest cover in Europe is equivalent to 1.5 million football pitches

Fact – The european recycling rates for paper reached 72% in 2012, the highest ever recorded

Fact – Between 1990 – 2010, 870 million tonnes of CO2 have been removed by european forests equivalent to 10% of the greenhouse gas emissions (source: MCPFE, state of europe’s forests 2011)

Fact – 90% of deforestation is caused by unsustainable agricultural practices

(Source:www.twosides.info)

There you have it a quick synopsis of why paper should not be discounted when considering a move to electronic methods of communication with your customer.

Moreover it is fool hardy to brush aside paper as if it’s no longer an essential commodity?

Picture the paperless toilet!

Mum where’s the loo paper gone?

Paper and electronic means of communicating can co-habit but rather than asking which is better, paper or electronic, users need to be re-educated into thinking what mode of communication best serves the customers interests and how can the two work together to deliver the right result?

As for my customer, he scratched his head and said “perhaps we need to think through our so called paper reduction strategy some more?”.

What do you think? Has paper had it’s day?

Are you still using paper in your offices?

Do you operate a paperless office but realistically still have paper on your desk?

Please do share your thoughts with us.

If you have achieved your ideal of going paperless or paper is still a very important part of your business let us know and we will write you up as a case study.

If you want more information about dispelling the myths of paper and print head over to www.twosides.info

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The post Print, digital media and the environment. Dispelling the myths of print and paper. appeared first on Digital Print Management.

Managing and understanding your document flow will imrpove business processes

Every organisation public or private, education or charity faces the ever growing challenges of how to manage the printing and document processes in their work place.

Documents inflow or outflow, hard copy or electronic are the life blood of many organisations.

You only have to walk through office buildings to see the extent of document use its related workflow and how they are the embodiment of our everyday lives.

A document that’s been printed, a glossy brochure presented to a customer, even a business card, the document remains the formal method of business communication between employees, teams and customers.

Without any of this information the continuity of your business would cease to function.

Therefore the value of adding control to the print flow is paramount in ensuring continuity of your business.

Any business document outsourcing strategy needs to be well thought out.

Some questions to consider:-

1. How are your business processes affected by information and document management?

A document process forms a business process. By understanding the life cycle of a document for example, how does it enter the building via fax, email or mail then moves into the workflow of the business, is then processed and finally archived or sent back to suppliers or customers.

2. Where do you want your company or organisation to be in the next 3-5 years?

Do you want to improve core business processes?

Streamline and improve supplier payments (AP and AR) have a specific targeted marketing campaign, improve customer services?

If the answer is yes then you will need to prioritise your business documents.

Outsourcing business documents – improve business efficiency

Invoice processing and billing is a key fundamental business process, without your invoices going out on time money wont be collected, suppliers will chase payment before the company has been paid, your business starts to falter.

Does marketing have the relevant collateral – corporate print, brochures, letter headings does it tell the same story or are there too many different documents with incorrect colours all relating a different story.

Are the corporate colours reflected across the company website?

These are primary examples of the importance of managing your business documents but you will need to engage on a deeper level to understand your document processes and how they move through the business process.

Print outsourcing business documents whether its customer sales letters, invoices, statements, remittances or marketing collateral can transform a paper laden business.

How?

Outsourcing business documents provides continuity and consistency of quality across the departments within your company because it increases customer retention, improves productivity and reduces operating costs by allowing your people to focus on your core business.

Outsourcing adds a greater range of services that you wouldn’t have had previously because the supplier providing the printing and mailing service can offer advice on how best to deliver content and maximise the use of white space.

Making the case for outsourcing some or all of these documents couldn’t be easier here’s why?

1. Improved cash flow – seasonal fluctuations, staff absences,  I.T. failures can all impact your invoice printing which impacts your cash flow
2. Improved customer service – communicating with your customers regularly with content that is correct has never been more important. Making sure the documents they receive are accurate relevant and on time increases the longevity of retaining your customer
3. Reducing paper wastage a contentious issue for many businesses but by outsourcing critical business documents and using mail merge facilities and document verification on all mailings ensures that documents are consolidated into one envelope
4. Reduce cost by improving competitiveness of the organisation through more efficient I.T and business systems, specialist knowledge, streamlining business processes resulting in your staff  engaged in core business activities rather than mundane document generation which is easy to outsource.

Outsourcing printed business documents can incorporate multi-channel distribution of all your documents some of which can be printed and mailed, the rest electronically sent to the recipient. To learn more about how this could work for you click here.

If you print personalised transactional business documents – invoices, statements, reminders, appointment letters then talk to us about print outsourcing. You can print all of the above and more using our print-2-mail service click here for more details without leaving your desk, its easy.

Find us on twitter, facebook and Pinterest. Connect with us on Linkedin and Google+ for all our updates and news.

The post Print outsourcing business documents appeared first on Digital Print Management.

This blog comes with a health warning…

WARNING: THIS BLOG COMES WITH A HEALTH WARNING… IT’S A TAD LONG. BUT YOU’LL SEE WHY AT THE END.

Here we are the last day of 2012 and what a year its been. It only seemed like yesterday that I sat at this very desk and typed my epilogue for 2011.

The beginning of the year heralded great expectations and even the economy looked like it was digging its way out of the hole it had dug itself into.

Sadly it didn’t happen and the UK along with the rest of Europe continues to stay in the quagmire.

The onset of New Years Eve can be a time of reflection as we consider the year that has gone before.

With all the ups and downs of the year you could excuse yourself for feeling a little disillusioned at the prospect of 2013.

New Year’s Resolutions?

If you are reading this then I’ve succeeded in holding my audiences’ interest? More importantly we survived the end of the world which was suppose to have occurred on 21st December.

As I stepped on to the plane with my family to travel back from Hamburg on the late afternoon of the 21st, I would be lying if I didn’t experience a little trepidation although its only an hour’s flight back to Luton.

I held my breath as we came into land and the passenger sitting next to me actually “prayed”as he muttered something in german under his breath I couldn’t help but think he knew something we didn’t?

The maya civilisation predicted the end of the world? They didn’t of course. It is the western interpretation of an apocalyptic ending. The maya civilisation predicted that December 21st this year simply marked the start of a new calendar.

“Mayan refers to the indigenous peoples of South-East Mexico, Central America notably Guatelmala. Mayan was actually spoken by the maya people and the maya calendar was used by the mayan civilisation”.

For the Mayan people 21st December represents a joyous event, not an apocalyptic event. What is coming is the end of a calendar and the beginning of a new one.

Are we facing another seismic shift both economically and personally? Isn’t the start of any new year synonymous with change?

Isn’t that indicative of a New Year – new year’s resolutions, a new chapter, new beginnings, changes, planning and a time to be reflective on what we’ve learn’t from the year just past.

Lets reflect on what a great year 2012 has been.

We had the 2012 London Olympic Games to look forward to. The country was at last unified in one common goal and that was achieving olympic success and putting London and the UK firmly on the map. It was sixteen days of amazing sporting finesse and talent exhibited at the greatest show on earth.

Who can forget that one weekend in August! I still get goose bumps thinking about it even now!

Digital Print Management advises and guides companies on the importance of how to go about outsourcing… just about anything so we’ve taken the best of the year’s blogs and stuck them here as a reminder of what were the best and most useful to you our audience and customer and we thank you for reading and contributing.

Round up of the year’s best blogs.

In January we talked about the differences between what is print management and managed print services a simple guide to understanding the differences.

With p60 time looming in April there was a helpful guide on how to go about having hassle free p60 printing

February provided top tips on how to benefit from outsourcing, automate your AR function and how to implement paperless billing in your company.

March saw the launch of our print-2-mail service and how easy it is for companies to manage printing and posting out invoices, statements and practically any customer letter without moving from your desk.

April saw a brief guide on RTI (Real Time Information) and the impact it’s likely to have on businesses in 2013. This is particularly important for payroll managers and business owners.

Paper chasing and outsourcing business processes dominated May’s round up.

June saw us delve into the murky waters of invoice processing and how to automate and streamline the process.

July concentrated on how to save money using hybrid mail and how to reduce print costs in your organisation.

Document Management Systems and strategies, controlling print costs and Invoice Management were the order of the month of August.

September discussed the importance of Accounts Receivable and how to automate payment allocations.

We then provided a guide on how to outsource your debt collection letters and a really important blog about making sure printed information is kept secure.

November – really exciting month firstly because its getting close to Christmas so we in the office start to feel a tad christmassy but we spent some time on payroll outsourcing and my favourite data cleansing and what this means if you do it right.

Wow we are in December, how quickly the year has gone! It is the month of why invoice scanning is so important to the AP process, then there was print management solutions for professional services companies.

Finally if you really wanted something completely different from what you’ve come to expect, we threw caution to the wind.

Working from home use to be such a big deal and now companies actively encourage it what do you think?

Mobile working and how it’s changed our lives.

With so much social media or anti-social media we talked about how great it feels to tune out once in a while and actually read a book. Are you switching off from digital media?

With the business landscape having changed so radically over the last 20+ years I found researching this blog particularly relevant what’s in a business relationship?  Do you feel the same way?

Next to my family I love Formula 1 Motor Racing so I knocked this one out after Sebastian Vettel won his third consecutive world championship. The importance of teamwork and why its integral to any business.

If you’ve got to the bottom of this blog without faltering then a big T-H-A-N-K-Y-O-U for reading, for liking us, following us and connecting with us in 2012.

My final note for the year:

“Success is not final, failure is not fatal. It is the courage to continue that counts” (Winston Churchill)

Happy New Year from all of us at Digital Print Management.

Follow us on twitter, like us on facebook and do connect with us on linkedin.

Happy New Year.

The post The best of 2012. All you need to know about outsourcing in one place. appeared first on Digital Print Management.

How British Companies survive and make it to the holy land metaphorically speaking remains to be determined but there are still a number of cost saving initiatives companies should consider as a means of saving money and reducing debtor days.

Outsourcing your cash collection process can add a vital component to a company’s armoury particularly where the SME is concerned.

How can this work for an organisation struggling to manage and chase their debtors?

Case Study

DCA provide credit management and debt recovery services for many companies that outsource their debt collection requirements.

The service includes outward bound and inward bound calls from a call centre acting on behalf of its clients supported by the printing, mailing and electronic delivery of personalised collection letters to debtors.

The DCA’s growth has resulted in a rapid expansion of their operations to provide services to Companies across the UK, ROI and Europe. The task of producing personalised letters for the companies they represent became too time consuming, cost prohibitive and less efficient in-house.

Efficiency was critical to the speed at which they collect outstanding debt and to maintain the printing of letters in-house would have involved capital purchases of larger printers, employee time and additional I.T resources.

The service the DCA required was a daily production, personalisation, fulfilment and mailing of anywhere between 500 to 12,000 letters.

Working closely with the DCA, Digital Print Management provided three solutions that embraced both printed and electronic letters to be personalised and mailed.

The Print and Mail Solution

Data is sent daily and contains identifiers to determine which files are required to be printed and mailed out and those that are to be electronically emailed. Flags within their data identifies the letter templates to be used, stationery types, envelopes and inserts that are required.

The DCA’s requirements include the use of five different base stock types – letterheads, bank giro credits and envelopes, BRE’s (Business Reply Envelopes) and up to 100 different letter content templates.

Printing is undertaken using high speed laser printers and identification of multiple page documents is done via the use of OMR marks that are printed enabling inserting machines to ensure the correct documents are presented in the right order within the envelopes.

The Electronic Solution

Electronic credit and collections provides an efficient and cost effective alternative to the more traditional collection processes involved in collecting delinquent payments.

Collections are challenging for AR departments and when debts move into the collection process incur additional expenses such as print, postage, payment negotiation and higher interest fees due to days sales outstanding. (DSO)

Electronic notices emailed into customer inboxes reach customers quickly enabling them to pay by clicking on a link that takes them to a payment page without the need to visit a web site.

The benefits of electronic delivery include:-

• Costs are reduced because it is an efficient way of reaching delinquent customers
• Shortens the payment cycle by reducing the number of customers falling into the credit and collection cycle by sending automatic reminders
• Improved cash flow

Using Digital Print Management’s Print-2-Mail desktop service fulfils this need as data files containing collection letters for the various companies they manage are uploaded daily, printed and despatched, saving postage, processing and mailing costs. In turn they are then able to pass on these savings to their clients. 

The unique business relationship that exists between the DCA and Digital Print Management means that the only in-house requirement is to ensure that data is generated daily and in a timely manner to ensure there are no delays.

There has been significant savings on postage, stationery, staff resources and no further capital investment on additional equipment.

Staff who were previously involved in the debt collection process have now been re-deployed into the business to focus on core competencies allowing Digital Print Management to handle the task of distribution of their debt collection letters.

 If you want to find out how you can transform your debt collection mailings but not sure where to start then leave your details here and one of advisors will call you back.

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The post How to save time and money outsourcing your debt collection letters appeared first on Digital Print Management.

We are often asked can we just mail out 300 invoices or 300 of anything come to thing of it?

The answer is very definitely YES, you can!

Sometimes the volume might be more or less but by using a hybrid mail solution an SME is guaranteed to save money on postage, printing and processing.

Hybrid mail is a combination of printing and posting as a bundled service and we can combine small mailings for many customers and use DSA (Downstream Access ) pricing which saves you time and money on postage.

How?

Easy.

Using your web browser you can access our print-2-mail web portal and we provide you with a user name and password. There’s no software to install and you can use a PC or Mac.

If you have a document you want to print and send out, print-2-mail does the rest. The document needs to be converted to a PDF first.

By downloading the print driver you don’t even need to create PDF’s. Selecting the print driver launches the application, uploads your documents and converts them to PDF’s.

The print driver is easy to download as the interface provides a “print driver download”

What can I use hybrid mail for?

Pretty much any document you need to print and mail out.

You can print virtually any type of A4 document, single or double-sided, colour or black on white only. There’s no limit to the number of pages so reports, dissertations even and customer letters are fine.

You can load variable length documents so invoices and statements are no problem. You simply create the document before you load them to the system.

 What do I need?

An internet connection and the most up to date web browser – Internet Explorer 8 for Windows XP or 9 for Windows Vista or Windows 7, Mozilla Firefox 12 or Google Chrome.

When the application opens you have the option to print single and multiple page letters, in black or colour with the option of uploading your company logos.

Simply add your logo to the document as an image and we can print it along with the letter.

The wizard (there are seven steps) has been set up so you can walk through it and process your document quickly and efficiently.

The mailing wizard takes care of incomplete addresses by providing suggestions and it tidies your addresses as well. This is done using the Royal Mail’s PAF database (Postcode Authentication Finder) On completion of the address validation the wizard can create an accurate address file that can be downloaded as a PDF so you can make sure your customer addresses are accurate and complete.

How quickly will my mailing be posted out?

You have two options ‘Same Day” and “Next Day”. For same day all orders placed by 4PM are printed and mailed the same day. For next day, any orders placed up to midnight day 1 are printed and mailed out the next day. 

How secure is it?

The system is very secure and documents are uploaded using an encrypted HTTPS connection (the same standard used for on line banking). All your documents are printed in an APACS approved, ISO27001 security print factory.

How much does it cost?

Until you’ve completed the wizard and finalised your print options, the summary page will summarise the total cost of your mailing at the end of the process so before you print you will know exactly what you will pay. Suffice to say it will be less than the cost of a 2nd class stamp and it includes, the paper, printing, folding, inserting and mailing out!

There is no contractual obligation so if you choose to use it only once then that’s up to you. But we are so confident that you’ll love it that you will wonder why how you managed before.

Now for the really good news…

Apart from calling us initially for a demo that’ll be the last time you’ll need to talk to us so that really is good news!

Which means that you can just get on and print and mail whenever you need to you’ll have control over what you print, when and where you post out.

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The post How to mail out your letters on a budget using a hybrid mail solution? appeared first on Digital Print Management.

It seems that direct mail is making a bit of a come back actually paper is making a come back; did it ever go away?

I’d like to go out on a limb here and state that people are probably getting fed up having their inboxes full with unsolicted emails from companies, individuals selling their services, expertise and skills from how to improve your SEO to how you must have the latest business management training and techniques.

Direct mail prospect opening rates have increased from 88% to 91% since 2006 and email acquisition open rates have fallen from 21% to 11% since 2007. (DMA)

In 2010 an average of 91% of prospect direct mail was opened including 96% for personal banking and 95% for stores mail. (Ebiquity Rapport 2010) Open rates for acquisition email 11% (DMA)

Social media and email campaigns are reducing marketers ROI “marketers are failing to maximise user engagement and the ROI of their social media and email campaigns by mis-timing the day and hours of their general release”(YesMail) The companies in this study included Banana Republic, Gap, Diesel, Abercrombie & Fitch and their social media activity was tracked over a three month period on facebook, twitter and YouTube.

If they cant get it right what hope for the rest of us?

SME’s are challenged with trying to attribute resources, time and money to fulfil a worthwhile social media campaign that generates enquiries for their business.

Is it psychological?

Organisations are becoming weary of sending email newsletters and are changing tactic by sending hard copy newsworthy items in the post.

There’s a tangible colourful product in your hand that you can glance through on the way to making a cup of coffee; theres also a sense of well being reading the written word rather than picking your way through an email and of course you can read it anywhere on the train, office, home and in the garden.

Increase in this type of activity is largely attributed to better targeting for example the percentage of mail where customers took action has increased from 4% in 2004 to 5% in 2010. (Royal Mail Consumer Panel 2010)

Enter hybrid mail. A combination of printing and posting as a bundled service. By combining mailings for lots of customers and by optimising downstream access, mailings just got a whole lot cheaper and easier to manage.

Using print-2-mail and effective personalisation can have a dramatic effect on your ROI – that is, good direct mail used in conjunction with intelligent e-commerce.

If you want to find out more about how to transform your mailings but not sure where to start then leave your details here and one of advisors will call you back.

Don’t forget to sign up for news, reviews and follow us too!

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