When companies decide to outsource transactional print, they need to evaluate different vendors in the market. This assessment should include many questions relating to key things like processes, quality, accuracy, SLAs, etc. In this episode of Ask the Experts, PCI Group President and Owner Chris Kropac offered insights in part one of this discussion.
“When choosing a transactional partner, you should ask questions about how to handle certain events. One, what’s their sole focus? At PCI, we do 100% transactional mail. There are many companies that do 50% direct mail or marketing mail and 50% transactional. While they may be great, they don’t have that sole focus,” Chris said.
The next area of questions that Chris recommended revolved around technology. “What type of technology do they use to complete the process? At PCI, we have a full chain of custody, so we track all the way through the print process, insertion process, and into the mail stream. We add a barcode to every sheet of paper we print to use intelligent insertion with a data file or MRDF file, basically an index, to make sure the proper sheets go into the envelope.”
Another crucial element businesses should demand from a transactional print provider is a portal that’s a single source of truth and information on your jobs. “Make sure your vendor has an online portal that reports information to you in real time or near real time. We have trakPCI, and it’s been in place for 25 years. You can look online and see where your job is in the stream,” Chris relayed.
Organizations also need to inquire about compliance and security. Chris advised companies to ask about SOC I & II, HIPAA, HITRUST, and PCI DSS, at the least. Earning and maintaining these certifications, as PCI does, offer the safeguards required for compliance and security. The conversation continued with part two of this episode.
