If outsourcing transactional communications is on your to-do list, you’ll need to evaluate many providers. Because these documents contain sensitive information, any business you partner with must have specific capabilities and expertise. In this article, you’ll learn how to compare print and mail companies effectively.
How to Compare Transactional Print and Mail Companies
While there are numerous commercial printers in the country, few specialize in transactional print and mail. So, your starting point is to develop a short list of those who do. Once you have this, here are the comparison criteria to consider.
Compliance Protocols and Standards
Complying with Federal, state, and local regulations when sending these letters is non-negotiable. Those engaged in producing transactional documents must have a robust program. The minimum would be their certification in adhering to these requirements.
Their compliance protocols and standards should expand upon this. Some key things to evaluate include:
Compliance embedded in every process: It’s not enough to have policies on compliance. It should be part of every workflow and production framework. One of the best ways to assess this is by asking how they audit for compliance. Using Lean Manufacturing pillars is one way that demonstrates this commitment.
Compliance expertise: Along with compliance-focused processes, their team should include those who are responsible for compliance and are experts in it. Find out if they have a Compliance Officer. If so, they’ll likely be ahead of any new requirements coming into effect.
Regular auditing: Lean Manufacturing breaks down workflows into standard works. Those organizations that use them, audit them regularly, as well. Doing so helps them identify any issues and then restructure the process to address them.
Data Security Postures
You’ll be sending your provider protected data to create the communications. It may include PII (personally identifiable information), PHI (protected health information), or other sensitive information. To comply, you must ensure that your vendor safeguards it.
Most print and mail companies have protections in place, including encryption of data at rest and in transit. They typically also have secure file transmission and processing. But what other proactive strategies do they use beyond this?
An organization that leads with security should be a priority. Look for other ways they protect data. Ask specifically about the encryption they use. Include questions about network segmentation, multi-factor authentication, and advanced firewalls. Make sure they conduct continuous vulnerability scanning and regular penetration testing, too.
Be sure they have a disaster recovery and business continuity plan in the case of a cyber incident. They should be able to share this with you so you can be confident they are prepared.
Accuracy Assurances
The third major area to scrutinize when comparing print and mail companies is accuracy. It is a significant influence on your ability to be compliant with PII and PHI handling.
Accuracy in transactional communication describes how effectively the company ensures only the right documents are enclosed in the right envelope and arrive at the correct addressee. The process of insertion is automated, but not all providers have the same technology or workflow.
To achieve the best accuracy rate, intelligent insertion is imperative. It involves printing 2D barcodes on the bottom of every letter. The system scans these, and that triggers the insertion machine to fold the appropriate pages into the envelope. A second camera captures this for verification.
With intelligent insertion, PCI Group has been able to achieve an industry-leading accuracy rating of 99.9999%.
Reliable Quality
The fourth major area of comparison for print and mail companies is quality. There are two components of quality. First, there is the more general variation regarding the look of the documents. Are the colors vibrant and a match to your branding? Is the printing professional? Not allt printers can pass this test.
The second variable in quality goes back to Lean Manufacturing and standard works. When using this framework, a provider creates a quality assurance (QA) environment versus quality control (QC). The distinction is critical.
QA involves regular auditing of processes to ensure consistency. It finds issues in the workflow and corrects them, so that it’s more reliable. QC cultures only look at a product after production, with no traceability back to the root cause.
Migration Expertise
To round out your comparison, you need to check the experience level of the company in migrating businesses to an outsourcing model. An organization that has this will be able to provide you with a project plan that defines all the steps from assessment to go-live. They should deliver an initial evaluation of your mailings with recommendations to improve them.
They should have dedicated onboarding resources for you and timelines. If they haven’t done this much, there will be lots of gaps. Just because a company can produce transactional print and mail doesn’t mean they have the expertise to guide a migration.
No Other Compares to PCI Group
PCI Group is the leader in transactional communications. We’ve been in this business for decades, excelling at compliance, accuracy, quality, and security. We’ve helped hundreds of companies transition, as well.
Get started today with a no-cost consultation.
