Cereus Graphics is Serious about Campaign Effectiveness
When one of Cereus Graphics' customers came to them for help with mailing to a very dated mailing list, Cereus recommended at least a minimal amount of address updating and list scrubbing to avoid unnecessary printing and return mail costs.
Cereus Graphics is a full service commercial printer that prides itself in going above and beyond the boundaries of traditional printing. Focused on creating strategic relationships with their customers, Cereus is serious about campaign effectiveness.
When one of Cereus Graphics' customers came to them for help with mailing to a very dated mailing list, Cereus recommended at least a minimal amount of address updating and list scrubbing to avoid unnecessary printing and return mail costs. "We recommended doing a 60 month Change of Address update with deceased suppression," explained Tom Ginter, Director of Operations for Cereus Graphics. "Our customer decided to 'save the money' and just go ahead with the mailing." They had so many returned mail pieces that Terry knew he had to convince his customer of the importance of list hygiene before any future mailings.
Cereus Graphics has been working with Lorton Data to provide their customers NCOALink processing services since November of 2008. Cereus currently uses SAP BusinessObjects Postalsoft DeskTop Mailer software allowing them to directly connect to Lorton Data for processing services. "We know from experience, and working with Lorton Data, that in order to receive postal discounts and avoid waste on print and mail costs, you need to run your lists through a certified hygiene process," said Ginter.
Terry consulted with Lorton Data on the best way to proceed with his customer. He wanted to run about 20 thousand records, just a small sampling of their list, through an Extended Change of Address service with deceased suppression to see what kind of results he would get. Ginter recalled, "There were so many matches to the move and deceased databases in the sample that I took the actual report to my customer to tangibly show them how outdated their list was."
The customer was convinced, and agreed to run all of their 800,000 records through the same processes. "Running the small sample beforehand allowed us to set their customer's expectations for the deceased processing," recalled Brandon Carr, Processing Analyst for Lorton Data. "On the total list, we suppressed around 19,000 records as deceased. About 2.4 percent of the list would have been undeliverable due to deceased records alone."
In cases like Cereus Graphics, where the file size is large, Lorton Data recommended using their secure web interface for the file transfer. This method is often used because it's quick, easy, and very secure. "We were able to return Tom's file within one business day—ahead of schedule. The whole process was pretty smooth sailing," recalled Carr.
"The mailing turned out quite successfully the second time around, and saved my customer a lot of money in the long run," added Ginter.
Ginter summarized that Lorton Data's service quality and quick response times are critical to his success with Cereus Graphics' customers. "Lorton Data is able to provide the services needed efficiently and accurately. If I ever have questions, or I am looking for ideas to further help my customers, they are there to help right away. The customer service and attention to detail at Lorton Data allows us to be confident that we are bringing the best solutions available to our customers."
