5 Tips for Commingling and Copalletizing Mail

January 14, 2009 By Britt Brouse, Associate Editor, Inside Direct Mail

multipage

4. Become an Expert and Negotiate
The added costs for commingling and copalletization are transportation and administrative fees like list processing. "The vendors have different ways of charging for these services. Sometimes it's a cost per thousand, like any other type of machine you use; other times, it's more of a shared benefit type of arrangement," Stumbo says. He advises obtaining a detailed analysis of your true costs of the mailing going out alone versus participating in the program. He also warns not to rely too heavily on your vendor for guidance. "Make sure you understand the analysis. You need to ask good questions ... It's important that you acquire the knowledge rather than just accept what you hear," he advises. As far as transportation rates go, Stumbo notes that mailers should try to negotiate the best possible line haul freight rates. "The lower the rates, the better the economics for the buyer as far as return on investment," he says.

5. Forecast Costs Against Savings to Win Buy-In
Getting organizationwide buy-in can be a hurdle, as commingling and copalletization mean more lead time, new up-front costs and a later mail date (although hopefully a sooner in-home date). Stumbo knows how difficult it can be to get buy-in. "It requires a bit of a leap of faith on the part of the businesspeople involved. When you coordinate these things, you need to convince them that they're not going to be negatively impacted," he says. "Savings is going to be in postage, so take those additional forecasted costs against postage, at least until you build up some history over a year's time. And eventually your postage cost is going to keep going down and down, and eventually you have to start forecasting those costs separately," he advises.

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