Sometimes the problem with a mailing address isn’t yours: it’s your
customer’s.
You might not think that a customer, donor, or member would have trouble
addressing mail to you. After all, you
have your mailing address plastered all over your website, your marketing
collateral, and your social media sites.
But it happens.
For starters, if you have multiple locations or segregated offices (a
corporate headquarters location, a fulfillment location, a customer service
location, etc.) your customers might not know which address to use and send
their inquiries, donations, or orders to the wrong address, delaying the
process.
In addition, if you don’t provide pre-addressed envelopes, labels, or reply
cards and rely on your audience handwriting your address, you risk that
handwriting being illegible. Although
the Postal Service has advanced scanning technology that allows its machines to
“read” nearly 160 billion pieces of mail every year, the system isn’t
completely foolproof. In 2015, the USPS’s
Salt Lake City Remote Encoding Center--the last of what once was a 55-building strong
“fleet” of facilities--processed more than 2 billion pieces of mail that post
offices around the country identified as indecipherable. While the “keyers” at the center are able to
fill in the gaps and complete or identify the illegible addresses on the mail,
the process takes time and delays your receipt.
So how can you make sure you get your mail on time? First of all, make your mailing address large
and clear on every order form and every page of every promotion. Leave no doubt about where your customers’
responses should go. Then, if your
department can afford it, include a mailing label, reply card, or envelope with
all of your campaigns. If that’s not
practical or possible, include a mailing label that customers can print or cut
out and mail.
Your offers should inspire your market to respond. Make sure your campaigns make it easy to do
so.
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