Mail Classification Counseling

Sometimes we do not know what it is that we ought to know that can result in our saving a lot of money or spending a lot more money than we need to. This is very often the case when it comes to classifications of mail.

Did you know that the intent and content of newsletters can have a direct affect on whether they might be classified as Addressed Admail or Publications Mail? Did you know that Publications Mail can be bigger and heavier and, in some instances, cost considerably less to mail than Addressed Admail? However, at the same time, some smaller light newsletters can actually cost slightly more to mail as Publications Mail rather than Addressed Admail.

All of this may sound confusing, but there are other factors that also come in to play when looking at rulings for Addressed Admail or Lettermail as well as weight and size variances and considerations for different categories within Addressed Admail, Dimensional Addressed Admail and Lettermail. As noted in other areas of this web site, in extreme cases, a one-gram difference can increase postage by up to $10.00, making some mailing and fulfillment programs cost-prohibitive.

Sound advice in this area is extremely important. For example, if you mail 15,000 newsletters, bi-monthly, containing objective information and advertising and weighing 200 grams each, the average postage would be about $0.43 (using 2008 rates). However, to mail the same item as Addressed Admail it would cost about $0.83 per piece. At a difference of $0.40 per piece, a Publications Mail ruling would save $36,000 per year and $360,000 over a ten-year period!

There are really four main items that can have a dramatic effect on your postage costs in Canada. These are:

• intent and content of your material
• the weight of the mailing piece
• the dimensions of the mailing piece (length, width and thickness)
• volume of pieces mailed

Additionally, in some instances, delivery time requirements can also affect your costs.

Taking these factors into consideration, we can often provide recommendations that help you stay within the most cost-effective classification and size categories for your mailing and fulfillment projects.

In many instances, we can provide basic information free of charge for our active clients. However, where a more detailed analysis and/or a written report is required there may be a modest fee for the service.

Creation and Submissions for Canada Post Rulings

As we have mentioned in other sections of this site, sometimes we do not know what it is that we ought to know that can result in our saving a lot of money or spending a lot more money than we need to.

Canada Post has eligibility criteria for each classification of mail. In addition, there are some conditions that can automatically disqualify an item from being accepted in a particular classification of mail. On the other side of the coin there are some things that, if present, can enhance the likelihood of being classified a particular way.

Semantics can also play an import part in the perception of the piece. Some words just have particular implications. For example, if the words volume or issue are present, there is an inclination to think Publication. It’s not that these words cannot be used with other types of mail. It is more a matter of the rationale and posturing for each particular case.

Probably the most important facets of getting a favourable ruling are first and foremost the design and structure followed by the explanation and rationale.

Of course, as a pre-requisite, both the design of the mailing piece and related submission must be based on a solid knowledge of Canada Post rules and regulations for particular products.

We have never tried to break the rules. However, over the years we have recognized that in addition to specific black and white areas, there are also gray areas that can be subject to interpretation and some degree of latitude.

The long-term effects of an unfavorable ruling can be very expensive. To help you to get the most favourable ruling for your mailing pieces we can:

• review your objectives with you and/or your agency
• assess the implications of intent, weight, dimensions and volumes
• recommend the mailing classifications that best suit your application
• prepare your submission to Canada Post
• review the Canada Post submission with you and/or your agency
• present your submission to Canada Post for a classification ruling

Typically, as there can be a considerable amount of consulting time spent on rulings, these services are offered on a fee basis at a rate of $125 per hour. With a minimum two-hour investment you could save many thousands of dollars over the years.

Historical Mailing Analysis

Pricing is enormously diverse across the broad range of Canada Post’s mailing products. Both large businesses and experienced mailers leave millions of dollars on the table every year, often without even knowing it.

If you take the time to read our case files you can see where we have help clients to save untold amounts of money. We are very good at spotting the most cost-effective ways to use the Canadian mail system and we are sure that we can help you.

An examination of your Canada Post statements of mailings and associated samples can tell us many things. Specifically, it can tell us about the:

• Nature of the message
• Contents
• Carrier (envelope, poly, self-mailer)
• Class of mail used
• Weight
• Size (length, width, thickness)
• Volume

Like we have said, your savings can be huge. As an example, we saved one large corporate mailer over $160,000 in postage in one week alone, based on some simple recommendations. Compare that against our modest hourly rate of $125 per hour and ask yourself if a few hours of our time or even a couple of days is not worth the investment.

Extended Mailing Services

Extended mailing services are usually employed when clients ask us to perform considerable analysis work either in the development of comparative costs or in assisting at a detailed level in the overall package design.

Examples of this type of work include a day’s analysis to save $20,000 on a 70,000-piece mailing and research to devise a solution to prevent a client-supplied self-mailer from being crushed in the mail.

Extended services might include one or more of the following:

• Analysis of multiple mailing options
• Design of mailing packaging
• Sourcing and acquisition of packaging samples
• Preparation and mailing of test samples
• Data load and sort via multiple sort options
• Detailed cost analysis and reporting

Break Point Research

We have created an extensive research database of urban residential addresses, business addresses and rural addresses to assist in our mailing research projects. Additionally, we can correlate the addresses against tables that we have built to select groups of records that will be representative of population distributions across the country.

Using our research database and/or client-supplied data we can look at the impact of using different classifications, weights and sizes of mail. This could be as simple as comparing Lettermail against Address Admail. Or it might be a more a complex analysis, comparing Lettermail at Standard and Oversize sizes, against Addressed Admail at Standard and Oversize sizes against Publications Mail with or without samples using an NDG/Regional sort or LCP sort depending on weight ranges falling within 100 - 200 grams and beyond.

The foregoing may sound a little confusing. But then, so are the various classifications of mail, sub-classes, weights and sizes. Though it may sound befuddling, we have completed many analyses, such as that mentioned above, resulting in savings of thousand of dollars for our clients.