Every Member counts
The Task:
Restructure mailing programme for one of UK’s largest membership organizations
Background:
Whether its a non-profit making organization, a charity, a book club or subscription based every member counts. When you are mailing nearly 6 million items a year its a formidable task. Membership organizations are founded on trust and loyalty. They must look after its members and communicate with them frequently.
Sadly we all receive poorly addressed mail but within a membership organization this cannot be tolerated. Quite simply every member has to have the correct salutation, the correct fore name and surname. Their letters must be addressed Dear Mr Jones not Dear Mr Peter Jones. This of course means having an accurate and clean database one that is cleaned rigorously and regularly.
To retain loyalty and encourage members to take advantages of offers and new services Membership organizations must mail frequently. Be it handbooks, magazines, letters, fliers and newsletters formats should be varied to encourage interest and response. The mailing house need to meet these varying formats efficiently and economically.
This frequent communication comes at a price and postage could be the highest single element in the mailing cost. Membership organizations do not have the option to reduce their mailing when times get tough they have to mail every member every time.
How ADM helped one of the UK’s largest membership organization keep everyone happy.
For a major membership organization mailing millions of items to millions of members every changing mailing house was a daunting prospect. Following a rigorous selection process ADM were chosen for the task. Dialogue not monologue is a frequently used maxim in the DM sector. Our most important piece of equipment at ADM is ‘our ears’. We listened carefully to our client.
ADM took a holistic view of the task. We solved many of problems at source rather that addressing the symptoms. A bespoke mailing programme was created. Firstly we got to grips with the database, cleaning and segmenting into regions. Then clearly set out over a 2 year period what did the members need to receive and when. The programme identified the tombstone dates of AGMs, renewals and handbooks, the regular dialogue mailings of magazines then the seasonal promotions.
A schedule was contructed coordinating print with mailings. ADM’s state of the art productions lines meant mailings could be handled more quickly, camera matching technology enable letters to be matched with order forms matched with personalized mailing with great accuracy. ADM’s unique job tracking system made the process transparent so the client could check on a job at any point in the production process. The client was assigned a dedicated account managed backed up with daily contact at director level. Reporting and feedback are vital to reassure clients on job status.
Lastly ADM’s close working relationship with Royal Mail and the third party downstream access providers mean we identified major saving and followed these through. IN all ADM saved the client £200k per annum.
- ADM were a safe pair of hands when the client switched mailing houses.
- Took a holistic view to create an efficient bespoke mailing programme.
- over 6 million items mailed a year
- Cleaned and segmented database
- Created improved production schedule coordinating third party printers and insert provider
- Harnessed technologies such as camera matching to improve accuracy
- Mailing letters, handbooks, magazines, newsletters and seasonal promotional mailshots
- Daily contact at Director Level
- Fully transparent reporting structure with on going job status reports
- Identifying the best postage solution for UK and overseas members
If you want to reduce the costs of talking to your members call Julie Ray….