For companies choosing to outsource transaction communications, they often begin the process with an RFP (request for proposal). These documents enable a fact-finding mission to compare options and make the best selection. But what should you include in a print and mail RFP?
With decades of experience in this space, we’ve responded to our fair share of RFPs from many industries—healthcare, insurance, utilities, telecom, finance, and ARM. There are nuances depending on your sector, but many of the RFP questions should be consistent across them.
In this post, we’ll share the most important RFP queries to include.
Questions to Include in a Print and Mail RFP
In general, you can group these questions into capabilities, onboarding, compliance, security, accuracy, postage, and quality. We’ll categorize them by these labels.
Capabilities
You need to know what this printer can do and at what capacity, along with information about production workflows.
- What is their current capacity across locations, and how do you handle peak usage?
- What equipment do they use for printing, inserting, and mailing?
- How do they source materials, and do they have guaranteed access to quantities (paper, ink, toner)?
- What is the print and mail workflow?
- What is the communication and escalation process should there be an error?
- Do they have dynamic printing capabilities?
- What type of manufacturing frameworks do they use (e.g., Lean Manufacturing)?
- What’s the protocol if there’s a disaster or downtime?
Onboarding
You want to be confident that they do have experience with onboarding and a defined process.
- What does an onboarding plan look like?
- Are there dedicated resources for onboarding?
- How long does implementation take?
- What roles within the customer company are needed for the onboarding team?
- Do customers have access to web portals to track jobs and run reports?
Compliance
Compliance is part of all transactional print and mail, so you want to know the details on how they’ll keep you compliant.
- What compliance certifications do they hold?
- What is the provider’s compliance program?
- Do they have a Compliance officer and any other staff solely responsible for compliance?
- What tactics do they use to ensure checks and balances within compliance requirements?
Security
Along with compliance, security is vital in transactional communications. The provider needs to have a robust data and physical security plan.
- How does the company approach data security?
- What specific cybersecurity protocols does the provider use?
- What are the technical aspects of security (e.g., encryption)?
- How does file sharing work securely?
- Has the company ever had a cyber-attack or data breach?
- What physical security safeguards are in place?
Accuracy
Accuracy is another crucial component of transactional documents. Each page needs to fold correctly into the right envelope to prevent mismailings.
- How does the company ensure accuracy?
- Does the provider use intelligent insertion?
- What is their accuracy rating?
- How often do they audit accuracy processes to make adjustments?
Postage
The key to these questions is to understand how they are going to provide you with the best rate and the tactics they use.
- What postage optimization techniques do they use?
- How do they presort?
- Do they use a vendor partner for presorting?
- How do they guarantee the best rates?
- What is their relationship with USPS?
Quality
Be confident that your next provider prioritizes quality in printing and processes with these questions.
- Does the vendor use a quality assurance (QA) or quality control (QC) framework?
- How does the provider gauge quality?
- How often does the vendor do quality checks?
- Does the provider have a means to improve processes that led to consistent quality (e.g., standard works)?
Pricing
The last part of the RFP will be the request for pricing based on the type and quantity of your print jobs. While it’s easy to put more emphasis on the cost, you get what you pay for. The vendor with the cheapest rates may have considerable gaps that will cost you later. Be sure it’s just one aspect of your decision-making process.
Ready to Build Your Print and Mail RFP?
With these questions, you’ll be ready to capture the information you need to make an informed decision. We happily respond to RFPs with thorough answers and details. Contact us today if you’d like us to consider your RFP!
FAQs
Should companies submit a print and mail RFP?
Yes, companies should submit a print and mail RFP. It allows businesses to compare services equally. You’ll have answers to the same questions across proposals, allowing you to find the best fit based on compliance, security, accuracy, capabilities, and costs.
How many questions should a print and mail RFP contain?
An RFP for print and mail services should contain 15 to 30 core questions. They should cover all the categories discussed above: capabilities, onboarding, compliance, security, accuracy, postage, and quality.
Should pricing be your top consideration in an RFP?
Pricing will always be part of the evaluation. However, you should look at the total cost associated with services. Lower-cost providers may not have the best strategies and protocols for quality, compliance, security, and accuracy.
