{"id":359,"date":"2012-06-26T09:32:28","date_gmt":"2012-06-26T14:32:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gofranklingo.wordpress.com\/?p=359"},"modified":"2018-07-13T02:04:18","modified_gmt":"2018-07-13T08:04:18","slug":"eight-simple-questions-to-help-you-choose-your-direct-mail-partner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.gofranklingo.com\/index.php\/2012\/06\/26\/eight-simple-questions-to-help-you-choose-your-direct-mail-partner\/","title":{"rendered":"Eight simple questions to help you choose your direct mail partner"},"content":{"rendered":"

Looking at a new direct mail firm?\u00a0 Or, re-evaluating your current one?\u00a0 Here are eight simple questions you can and should ask during your decision-making process. <\/strong><\/p>\n

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1.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Are you financially stable?<\/strong><\/p>\n

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This is a vitally important question.\u00a0 Many suppliers are struggling with current trading conditions.\u00a0 You want a direct mail partner for the long term.<\/p>\n

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2.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 What quality control systems do you use?<\/strong><\/p>\n

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The last thing you want is a job that doesn\u2019t look right.\u00a0 So you need to understand how your supplier will manage your job.<\/p>\n

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3.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 What is your on-time delivery record?<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Late jobs are not acceptable.\u00a0 Make sure you can reasonably expect timely mail drop dates.\u00a0 This is especially important with event or date-driven mailings.<\/p>\n

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4.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 What level of account handling can I expect?<\/strong><\/p>\n

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If you tell a supplier the level of service you require, they will promise it to you.\u00a0 So ask them what they offer as standard.\u00a0 This way you understand how they are used to working.<\/p>\n

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5.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Do you have an environmental policy?<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Direct mail firms that care about the environment will have a written environmental policy.\u00a0 And anyone at the company should be able to tell you about it.<\/p>\n

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6.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Is your data safe?<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Your data is one of your most valuable assets.\u00a0 Ask your direct mail partner about their security measures and how they keep your data safe.<\/p>\n

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7.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Do you have a disaster recovery plan?<\/strong><\/p>\n

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What happens if your supplier has power outage?\u00a0 Or a fire?\u00a0 Or a flood?\u00a0 Can they show how they will get your job produced whatever happens?<\/p>\n

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8.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Is your operation turn-key?<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Can your supplier perform all operations (Prepress, Data Management, Printing, Personalization and Postal Delivery) under one roof?\u00a0 Or, will they rely on a third party for part of the project? That may put you at risk.<\/p>\n

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Your direct mail partner should be able to answer these eight questions satisfactorily.\u00a0 Then you can be confident that you are looking at a professional and reliable supplier.<\/p>\n

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\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Looking at a new direct mail firm?\u00a0 Or, re-evaluating your current one?\u00a0 Here are eight simple questions you can and should ask during your decision-making process. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

1.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Are you financially stable?<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

This is a vitally important question.\u00a0 Many suppliers are struggling with current trading conditions.\u00a0 You […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[33,34,36,38,40,68],"class_list":["post-359","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-recent-posts","tag-direct-mail","tag-direct-mail-budget","tag-direct-mail-partners","tag-direct-mail-spending","tag-direct-mail-suppliers","tag-mail-delivery"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.gofranklingo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/359","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.gofranklingo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.gofranklingo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.gofranklingo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.gofranklingo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=359"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blog.gofranklingo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/359\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.gofranklingo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=359"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.gofranklingo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=359"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.gofranklingo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=359"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}