Mailstream. White Paper. Toward an Optimized. Mailstream

Transcription

1 Toward an Optimized Mailstream

2 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Every organization depends on the mailstream. Comprising the data, software, hardware and services that annually move more than 500 billion unique mail pieces and packages around the world along with countless billions more electronic documents the mailstream represents the nervous system of the global economy. This Pitney Bowes examines the mailstream in depth and provides a foundation for understanding the potential benefits for organizations that bring their mailstream into the 21st Century. It is organized into five sections: The Mailstream Imperative: How organizations can benefit from the mailstream and why they ignore it at their peril. The Optimized Mailstream: How it s possible to utilize new processes and information technologies to create a mailstream optimized to meet strategic needs. The Challenge: An exploration of the hidden costs of an inefficient mailstream, the source of multiple pain points for organizations in search of strategic answers to the question of how to accelerate profitable growth. The Benefits: How an optimized mailstream improves productivity, increases customer loyalty and enables organizations to address new market opportunities and capture new revenue streams. Toward an Optimized Mailstream: Steps organizations can take to establish an optimized 21st-Century mailstream. This white paper concludes that today, more than ever, an optimized mailstream is key to creation of new value via efficiency and customer satisfaction in an increasingly competitive world. It also suggests the benefits to organizations from an ongoing dialogue with Pitney Bowes about their mailstream challenges and how they may be proactively and effectively addressed. THE MAILSTREAM IMPERATIVE The Problem Inefficient Business Communications Processes From the world's first postal service in ancient Persia to the present-day global information network, the mailstream has fulfilled humanity s need to connect, make transactions, and exchange goods and services. Today the mailstream consists of the data, software, hardware and services that annually move more than 500 billion unique mail pieces and packages around the world, along with the creation and exchange of countless more physical and electronic documents within organizations. It is the nervous system of the information economy. Every company, non-profit entity and government agency not only feeds this mailstream but is tasked with managing their own. Within a singular organization, the mailstream would be defined as the creation, production, distribution and management of all documents intended for internal or external audience as well as packages. The ubiquitous mailstream is for many organizations, a series of processes woven into the everyday workflow. Yet many organizations still regard the mailstream as a fixed cost over which they have little control. They all too often overlook significant inefficiencies and suboptimal business communication processes within their mailstream. The Solution An Optimized Mailstream Successive waves of technology over the past forty years have made it possible for organizations to optimize their mailstream: The information technology and communications revolutions of the 1970s elevated the mailstream from a 2

3 fixed cost center to a dynamic engine of productivity and revenue growth. The business-process reengineering and supply-chain management revolutions of the 1980s leveraged the mailstream to enable orders-of-magnitude improvements in the way goods and services were produced and delivered. The web and broadband communications revolution of the 1990s transformed the mailstream into a global, real time medium. In short, the mailstream if it is optimized has the potential to fundamentally transform the global exchange of goods and services. Like modern data and voice communications networks, the mailstream is a strategic business-critical asset that touches every person, every department, entire enterprises, supply-chain partners, and directly through physical mail, and the world wide web customers themselves. THE OPTIMIZED MAILSTREAM Transformation Through Information Technology Previously, the mailstream was a means to an end, a conduit for a series of linear transactions connecting Point A to Point B. It facilitated commerce but imposed a fixed overhead cost on every transaction. For most organizations, the mailstream was a necessary and relatively fixed cost of doing business. The modern mailstream is something altogether different. The evolving global electronic information infrastructure and quantum leaps in computer processing power have dramatically accelerated the velocity of global communications while collapsing historic limits imposed by time and geography: real-time exchange of messages, data and documents. Accessing customer and business data that resides in multiple databases and integrating it into the mailstream s key processes support superior customer communication management and allow businesses to make smarter decisions more quickly. New database management, data warehousing and data quality systems enable companies to deliver the right message to the right customer at the right time. They provide precise tracking of every message, document or package traveling through the mailstream. Business intelligence and analytics software, along with other new information management technologies, provide feedback for precise management and ongoing improvement of communications processes. A Personalized, Multi-Channel Information System This information-driven mailstream has enabled the mass-customization of communications, creating personal connections on a global scale. This expansion of personalized communications has increased the volume of certain types of physical mail, especially via two critical applications: As a key part of the e-commerce fulfillment process, by securely delivering packages and physical documents to consumers. In the optimization of multi-channel customer communication, by allowing customers to receive communication via the channel they want, when they want it. , the world wide web and broadband communications have expanded the mailstream, enabling 3

4 The result is a flexible, multi-layered and multi-channel information system that is ushering in an era of real-time, one-to-one communication on a massive scale. An optimized mailstream data-driven, flexible, secure, universal and efficient allows organizations to attain new levels of customer satisfaction and drive new operational efficiencies. THE CHALLENGE The Hidden Costs of an Inefficient Mailstream Too many organizations fail to grasp the importance of an optimized mailstream. Many only now are starting to realize that there are broken processes hidden within their operations. They are only just beginning to understand how much they suffer from not rooting out the problem and fixing it. This broken process their legacy mailstream is inefficient and siloridden, constraining profits as it permeates the entire communications infrastructure. Inefficiencies buried deep in legacy processes can be as hard to see as microbes. Meanwhile, attempts at reform too often are dismissed because the mailstream no matter how inefficient is often considered just the cost of doing business or the way it s always been done. Attributes of an Optimized Mailstream Personalized Communications Data-based Decision-Making Single View of Customer Customization Scalability Paper-based communications integrated with digital Supported with Reliable Partners Proven Technology Compliance Supports Paper Digital Packages Integrates on all Platforms Lower Costs Improved Productivity Eliminate Duplication On-Site Operation Off-Site Operation Near-Site Operation Process for tracking/tracing and audit Inbound Internal Outbound Closed Loop Data Driven Flexible Secure Universal Efficient 4

5 But these latent inefficiencies negatively impact business-critical departments and functions, from accounts payable and receivable to supply chain management to customer relationship management. Pain Points Impact Which Business Success Factors Indeed, ignoring the problem can inflict serious penalties, such as: Ballooning costs. Driving unnecessary costs out of the mailstream is critically important, especially as postage rates increase. Yet the mail remains the most costeffective, powerful and for many industries, indispensable way to reach customers. Inferior customer relationship management. The inability to access and harness critical intelligence living in different databases thwarts the creation of a single view of individual customers. It lowers service levels, sabotages multi-channel customer communication management initiatives, and hinders retention and recruitment efforts. Inefficient internal processes. The lack of a coordinated, optimized mailstream hinders efforts to integrate or streamline processes across key departments sales, marketing, finance, human resources, legal and reinforces communication silos within an organization. Greater risk exposure. Businesses reckoning with the meticulous record-keeping or rigorous security and privacy requirements demanded by regulatory mandates or those that must document their performance as set out in service-level agreements run a greater risk of noncompliance due to a poorly managed mailstream. THE BENEFITS An Optimized Mailstream Satisfies Business-Critical Objectives An optimized mailstream addresses many of those pain points, making a direct impact on five imperatives that confront public, private, non-profit or government organizations, whatever their size or class: Streamlining the IT value chain and supporting enterprise-wide process improvements. An optimized mailstream is the linchpin of any organization s communications network integrating corporate and customer data and connecting business processes to physical and digital communications. It is fundamental to strategic, real-time decision-making and process reform. Enhancing customer relationships and customer communication management. A productive mailstream is one of the most powerful tools to attract customers, improve customer or constituent satisfaction, retain their loyalty and drive maximum value from relationships. Optimizing the mailstream gives customers more control over the ways in which they interact with companies, improves invoice accuracy and readability, and enhances the overall customer experience. Improving time-to-payment and overall cash flow. From its support of electronic invoice presentment and payment to its ability to control and track when and how customers receive paper-based bills, the mailstream can shrink days outstanding and vastly improve organizations accounts receivable processes. Optimizing supply-chain management. The mailstream is a foundation of critical supply chain processes order management, product customization, inventory management, billing and fulfillment. In an era of 5

6 virtual companies, data-driven mailstream management is critical to success. Meeting legal and regulatory requirements. Privacy, data security and reliable delivery of critical documents are paramount issues for regulated industries, such as financial services and health care. Compliance- and regulatory-driven mailings are among the fastest-growing categories in the mailstream. Optimized mailstream data, technologies and processes can help to manage the complexity of this business-critical communication. Creates Markets and Disrupts Competition A decade ago, selling books over the Internet, renting DVDs through the mail, ordering prescription drugs from an 800 number or a web site and having them delivered by mail, and creating a virtual auction market were radically new ideas. Today the mailstream makes them as familiar as the local letter carrier. Those innovative businesses had one idea in common: to create new value by applying information technology to harness the power of an increasingly productive mailstream. An optimized mailstream enables innovative suppliers to develop new markets and grow revenue by disrupting entrenched competitors. It gives previously underserved or unserved customers a uniquely personal means of interacting (and transacting business) with them. Generates Productivity Growth The mailstream has become a powerful catalyst for productivity improvements and the reengineering of business processes. For example: Mailstream optimization lets organizations manage millions of addresses with percent accuracy and maximize postage discounts, while reducing the cost of mailing and the amount of undeliverable and returned mail. Government entities can combine operations across multiple agencies to reduce costs, consolidate management of inbound and outbound mail, eliminate manual processes, and provide quick access to tracking information and postage spending data. Organizations can send the information customers need and want to see, in the formats they want to see it, when and where they expect it, then track when mail pieces and packages will reach recipients and be opened. A host of analytical tools allows mailers to evaluate the response to every communication, improving processes to deliver better results at lower costs. And Drives Top-Line Revenue and Profitability Although cost control is a key benefit of mailstream optimization, companies leverage it in a multitude of creative ways to increase revenue, cash flow and profitability. For example: Target Marketing. Companies gather detailed information directly from motivated prospects. They spur sales by using that data to immediately create and deliver customized packages of product information and financing scenarios mapped to individual customer preferences. Precision Marketing. Companies time the delivery of monthly statements to coincide with phone calls by sales representatives armed with online client information, reaching customers at times when they are most receptive to discussing their next purchase. Life Event Marketing. Organizations are using better demographic information and intelligent direct marketing technologies to increase revenue by reaching clients at life and career milestones such as when they are ready to purchase a home, change jobs or register a car. 6

7 A Single View of the Customer. A total view of customers lets companies create individualized communications and rewards programs and make offers through direct mail or the web to drive sales and improve loyalty TOWARD AN OPTIMIZED MAILSTREAM An Integrated, Closed-Loop System How does the mailstream drive revenue growth, increase efficiency and reduce costs, all at the same time? By establishing an integrated, closed-loop system that is more than the sum of its parts. Organizations of every size can establish a self-sustaining cycle of value creation by effectively managing the four critical elements of the mailstream the creation, production, distribution and management of their mailstream communications. Create. Organizations can create documents and other communications infused with all the knowledge they have gathered about prospects, customers and constituents with software that ensures correct address information; document composition systems that prepare content for delivery across web, fax, , print and other channels; and database management systems providing demographic and lifestyle information. The Self-Sustaining Mailstream Create Manage Integrated Closed-Loop System Produce Distribute 7

8 Produce. Even when reaching millions of recipients, it is possible to deliver the right message to the right person at the right time with high-volume printing, folding and insertion systems; reporting, workflow management and analysis software; web-enabled print finishing and production management technologies; and measurement, control and analytical systems. Distribute. Digital mailing systems scale from the smallest custom jobs to the largest volumes, managing documents of all shapes and sizes and integrating physical and digital communications across multiple channels; operators can automatically select the right carrier, confirm delivery and streamline order fulfillment with pre-sort software and/or services, providing the maximum postal discounts while reducing return mail costs. Manage. Sophisticated data warehousing solutions catalog, index, code and archive paper and digital documents, allowing use and reuse of the information they contain; online web access and call center integration, data management solutions and other technologies give organizations and their customers instant access to real-time data; and analytic solutions enable better decisions based on real-time feedback on campaign metrics. Delivering the Benefits of an Optimized Mailstream To optimize the benefits of the integrated, closed-loop mailstream system, organizations turn to vendors such as Pitney Bowes with best-in-class products, services and integration expertise in the create-produce-distribute-manage cycle of mailstream solutions. The right kind of expertise can turn one of the largest problems confronting business today an inefficient mailstream into unprecedented opportunity for productivity and new value creation. By identifying latent problems and opportunities, deploying the latest new technologies and applying rigorous six-sigma methodologies, it is possible to take advantage of all the benefits of an optimized mailstream. SUMMARY Over the past two decades, the mailstream has been transformed from its traditional role as a static channel for delivery of physical mail and packages to a technology-enabled, dynamic and multi-channel information system that can be aligned to any organization's mission and fine-tuned to deliver dramatic improvements in productivity and customer value. Organizations that use the technology-driven mailstream to their advantage are prospering. They are achieving efficiencies and leveraging their communications to discover new markets and revenue streams, retain their best customers and recruit new ones from their competitors. For more information about optimizing the mailstream, please visit World Headquarters 1 Elmcroft Road Stamford, CT For more information about our products and services, please log onto our website: The following marks are trademarks or registered trademarks of Pitney Bowes Inc: Pitney Bowes, Engineering the flow of communication. All other referenced marks are owned by their respective parties Pitney Bowes Inc. All Rights Reserved An Equal Opportunity Employer. Printed in U.S.A. WPW1009/0806PB