What MMS Learned This Weekend
August 22, 2011
With school back in session, and kids everywhere writing the ubiquitous “What I Did This Summer” essay, I felt it only fair to share our own version of what we as a company did this weekend.
Last week, MMS was honored to host the Mailing and Fulfillment Services Association's Southeast chapter meeting. Representatives from companies, like MMS, came in from all over the region to attend not only the meeting, but also a very special Saturday session of Postal Boot Camp with George Heinrich, better known as the “Postal Professor”.
Postal Professor? Boot Camp? Sounds painful, doesn't it?
Despite what you might be thinking, it required neither an advanced degree, toothpicks for eyelids or pushups and obstacle courses.
So, without further ado:
WHAT WE LEARNED OVER THE WEEKEND, By MMS
A lot of postal acronyms. SCF, BMEU, BMC, NDC, NCOA, DPV... and so on. All of these things are postal acronyms for either locations (SCF, BMEU, NDC) that make up parts of the distribution chain (we learned how that works, too!) or processes (NCOA, DPV) that let us help the Post Office make sure as much of the mail gets delivered as is possible.
Why things like NCOA are so very important to do every time you mail. There are 86 address changes added to the NCOA (National Change of Address) database every minute, every day, 24/7/365. That's a lot of people, a lot of moving vans, and a lot of your mail that might not get delivered if you're not cleaning and checking your list every time you mail.
How to read the DMM. The DMM (Domestic Mail Manual) contains the rules and regulations of what and how you can mail with the USPS. We also learned that it is a document that is open to interpretation by the USPS representative who evaluates the mail before accepting it into the mailstream.
Mail has class(es). Most people know what First-Class Mail is (that's when you put a stamp on it and drop it in the box), but there's also a presorted First-Class Mail (you're sending the same thing to more than 500 people, and we've presorted that list), Standard, Standard Non-Profit, Periodicals, Package Services, and the list goes on. All of these boil down to delivery time and processing capabilities by the USPS.
The cost of poor mailpiece design. Large companies, mailing out tens or even hundreds of thousands of pieces have spent tens of thousands of extra dollars in postage because of simple mistakes in the design. Barcode clear zones, correct addressing location, addressing orientation, return address location and even the size of a mailpiece are all considerations that could potentially cost you hundreds or thousands more in postage.
You can mail a baby alligator or caiman, as long as it's packaged correctly and not more than 20 inches. No. Really. Check out this section of the DMM for some fun facts on mailing live animals. Be sure to scroll up from the section on cold-blooded animals to find out more about mailing scorpions, warm blooded animals and bees! Queen bees may mail with up to 8 of her attendants. (DISCLAIMER: Should you wish to try this out, MMS would prefer that you take that to your local Post Office branch, not to us. And that you don't mention this conversation. Thanks.)
Mail still works. While mail volumes are dropping, there's still no better way to connect with an audience than direct mail marketing. The trick is working with experts in how to get your message out there, within regulation, and delivered to the right people at the right time.
What I think we at MMS all walked away from our Boot Camp with was the knowledge that while working with the USPS can be complex, specific and overly detail oriented affair, working with the right people any mailing can be made efficient and successful.
And that you can mail an alligator...
