Changes at the Post Office Create Cost-Saving Opportunities for Business

Hoffman Estates, IL, September 07, 2012 --(PR.com)-- We've heard about troubled times at the U.S. Post Office. But for businesses that do large-scale mailings with the help of U.S. Post Office, technology has opened the door to new efficiencies and cost-saving opportunities. Plum Grove Printers, which specializes in printing and mailing targeted direct mail pieces, has partnered with the Post Office to bring these new services to direct mail advertisers-- co-mingled mail delivery, which decreases the cost of postage, and mail tracing, which helps maximize return on investment.

"Co-mingled mail" is a way to get postage discounts by reducing the workload of the USPS. When your mail is organized before it hits the Post Office -- co-mingled with other business mailings for scale, sorted by delivery route, and put into the system close to the recipient -- it saves the Post Office costs, which come back to the mailer as discount bulk postage rates.

Peter Lineal, founder of Plum Grove Printers explains how it works--

"For people that advertise by direct mail, postage is one of the main costs. Co-mingled bulk postage will never be higher than 24 cents per piece-- compare this to 45 cents for first-class postage and 27 or 28 cents for standard bulk mail. Using co-mingled mail delivery on a 30,000 piece mailing you can save $1,000 or more. And you get faster delivery too."

Mailing tracking technology has also become affordable and accessible to small business direct marketers. Every piece of mail is now imprinted with an Intelligent Mail Bar Code, which tracks the mail through the mailstream to delivery. As well as creating accountability and transparency, mail tracking means that marketers can know exactly when their mailings will hit each home, and respond with appropriate staffing levels and cross-media strategy.

Lineal continued, "Knowing where your mail is means you know the perfect time to follow up a direct mailer with phone calls and emails. Studies have shown response rate increase of 100-500% with coordinated multi-channel promotion."

"Huge companies have been using discount postage rates and tracking metrics for years, and we're happy that these efficiencies are within reach of small businesses also."

About Plum Grove

Plum Grove Printers has a staff of over 20 employees, and is a full-service business printer providing art and design services, printing services, copying, bindery and mailing services. The firm has an award-winning design department; five presses from a two-color letterhead press to a five-color large-format press and several digital presses; a complete bindery; and an addressing and mailing department. The firm is a State of Illinois environmental award winner for its green-friendly practices and a 2010 recipient of the Business Ledger Annual Award of Business Excellence. Founded in 1980, the firm has been active in the community through their charitable grants program and involvement in chambers of commerce and other organizations.