Direct Mail Solution Provides Supply Chain Disruption Relief, Cost Savings | Telecom

11/2/2022 RRD

RRD’s direct mail expertise helps client fulfill 4MM+ piece per week mailing commitments, facilitates over $1MM in annual postage savings

CHALLENGE

Already working with an existing direct mail supplier, a leading telecom provider called upon RRD to run an initial direct mail and client services test. The company’s existing mail format consisted of nested letters, an affixed card, a buckslip, and #10 envelope. 

Upon successful delivery of RRD’s test products and services, the client informed the RRD team that they were facing substantial issues with their existing mail supplier, and needed immediate external support. 

The client's large monthly mail program needed critical assistance, facing supply chain and labor force challenges that threatened their ability to meet required mailing quantities for names purchased, as well as their commitment to the credit bureaus.

SOLUTION

RRD quickly sourced the necessary paper materials from the client’s incumbent vendor in order to produce an inline snap pack for mailing as quickly as possible.

RRD’s direct mail experts leveraged capacity, quickly engineering a workable format in an extremely short period of time. While this format wasn’t a permanent control solution, it allowed the client to remain on schedule and uphold their mailing commitments.

Elements of this particular task included immediate client services to lift and load a comprehensive mail campaign with seamless execution and on-time delivery, including program production in July for an early August in-home date. 

Additionally, RRD provided strategic and consultative support, facilitating weekly meetings and calls to review processes, campaigns, client expectations, and deliverables.

RESULTS

The client subsequently chose to continue the relationship beyond this solution due to RRD’s platform redundancy for emergency situations and manufacturing outages, and their scalability in the face of supply chain and labor disruptions.

RRD’s wide breadth of direct mail services — including litho, digital, and inline — and subject matter expertise provided the consultative support the client needed to move forward confidently with their mail programming.

In their continued partnership with the client, RRD has helped facilitate:

• USPS promotions with postage savings exceeding $1MM annually
• Comprehensive monitoring of production schedules, inventory, and material delivery in a volatile marketplace
• Locked-in supply chain capacity through a contractual engagement yielding $3MM+ in cost savings each year
• Leveraging and implementation of PURLs/QR codes to help the client drive targeted recipients toward a higher overall engagement
• An average direct mail volume of 4-5MM pieces weekly