Commercial Mail Service, Inc

I was picking up some materials for a job today, and being around lunch time and in a part of town I’m not normally in, I thought I’d grab a burger at an old haunt. I remembered this stand fondly as having really good fries and hamburgers. The counter attendant encouraged me to get the double burger, “The patties are so tiny,” she said. That seemed a little odd. After I had ordered my food and was waiting, I started to notice little things.

The parking lot wasn’t nearly as crowded as I remembered it being. There was a little sign by the window that said, Trash Cans Outside.” To which someone had added, “No Refunds.” I chuckled to myself over the picture that painted in my mind. It wasn’t until I got in my car and took a bite of my burger that I realized how badly this place had gone downhill.

And I wondered, why on earth with the economy the way it is would anyone reduce quality or service levels. If they think they’re saving money for the bottom line, the parking lot had proven the lie to that. I sensed a dangerous spiral that would likely be difficult to overcome. I came away resolved to improve the service I offer to my clients in any small or big way that I can. I’m not going to cut corners at your expense.

Maybe you know, and maybe you don’t, but there’s a resource for local mailers in the Central Arkansas Postal Customer Council. Whether you just want to stay on top of the latest changes, or you want to network with other mailers, the CAPCC has something for everyone in the mailing community. Most of our members are running corporate mail rooms, both large and small, and others provide equipment or expertise. And then some of us will just out-right do it for you…

So, check out http://centralarkansaspcc.org/ and see if membership makes sense for you.

A silly movie that propelled Sean Penn to stardom, I love re-runs of Fast Times At Ridgemont High. Jeff Spicoli (Penn) makes that movie, and I laugh every time I see the part where the guy from ABC Sports is interviewing him and he gasps, “Where’d you get this jacket?!”

Then it hit me this morning that many of you may be asking the same question, but obviously not for the same reason… and I’m thinking maybe you don’t know that the answer is, from us!

Sure, we handle more mail than any of the other services in town, and we do a great job of getting your stuff printed and assembled, but our sister company, Trivia, specializes in screen printing and embroidery. Yes, you can get that jacket from us!

So, when you need tee shirts, caps, or even jackets for your company promotions or employees, ask your sales rep at Commercial Mail to steer you in the right direction.

A while back I received a card in the mail that was conspicuous to me in that it had an address label on it. I mean, who uses labels anymore? At closer glance it did not have a bar code or even a bulk mailing permit on it, but a somewhat crooked postcard rate postage stamp. They couldn’t have mailed very many of these, I thought to myself. But that didn’t make sense either, because it was for a city-wide event and I knew that they wanted everyone who lives in that city to come.

I called them up to see if maybe I could help next time.

The friendly voice on the other end of the phone line chuckled and told me, “I don’t see how you could save us any money. We downloaded the list from the internet and did all the work ourselves.” And that could have been the end of it, but something was gnawing at me that they were doing all this work for nothing. Paying the Post Office more than they should to boot. “Maybe I could just give you a quote on me doing it,” I said, “and we can see if you’re getting your money’s worth.”

That’s when we realized that the list she had found on the internet had 3,000 less households on it than are in the city. No reason not to mail the entire list now that we know, but that makes my job of making it cost less a little trickier. We determined that she could have her printer deliver the cards directly to me, we would furnish the mailing list which would be sprayed directly onto the cards with high speed ink jets, prepared in a way that the post office prefers for expedited delivery (and gives a steep postage discount to us for doing), and she never had to touch a single card.

And the kicker? We could mail the entire list including the 3,000 additional addresses for $300.00 less than she paid for postage alone on her last mailing. I don’t see this as just picking up a new client – I think I made a friend for life!

But, if you’ve ever sat at your desk folding and stuffing letters until your mind goes numb, you probably have your doubts about the glitz and glamor of mailing. So why would you want to pay the Post Office a premium for the privilege of doing that?

Here at Commercial Mail Service we have people that like to fold and stuff letters. They absolutely love to address them and put postage on them. They delight in preparing them in a way that gets you postage discounts from the Post Office that save you money.

To steal an old advertising tag line- we love to mail, and it shows!