Flanagin’s Bulk Mail Service serves customers in bulk. Having sent millions of pieces of mail annually, Flanagin’s Bulk Mail Service knows a little something about making mail work for its clients.
For the last 26 years, Flanagin’s Bulk Mail Service has focused on the customer by saving them time and money and bringing a little sunshine to the customer’s day. Owner Donna Flanagin has spent years crafting a business atmosphere that welcomes the customer from signs in the parking lot to a personalized welcome sign when the customer walks through the door. With her daughters, Erica George and Monica Clark, she created an office space with little personal touches that extend to the customer. Visiting her office is like a treasure hunt of clues about her family and business.
“Every business is our customer. It doesn’t matter how often the businesses are mass mailing, and we can save them money no matter what,” Flanagin said.
One of the many ways Flanagin’s Bulk Mailing Service looks out for the customer is by offering a service that tracks the customer’s bulk mailing. The service doesn’t follow individual pieces, but it will track whether the items are traveling within the USPS system or if a certain number of pieces were delivered.
“That was something that we couldn’t do before,” Flanagin said. “We can make our customers feel secure in the fact that the mail is out there.”
The service is helpful if the customer doesn’t think the mailed items have been delivered. The customers often don’t know the service is available because they are not charged for it, unlike the USPS tracking service.
Another perk for the customer that they may not think about is how Flanagin’s saves the customer’s time which equates to saving money. The company labels and stamps the envelopes or postcards and utilizes special software that analyzes mailing lists. Flanagin’s will also deliver the mail to the post office.
“In many different ways, it’s beneficial to use our service. There are lots of things that we can do to help the customer,” Flanagin said.
The software system uses current zip codes plus four and indicates which addresses are not recognized as mailing addresses or are undeliverable. It will also find address duplicates or update the recipient’s address to a current one. Businesses often hunt around for the best printing price, but they overlook the fact that a clean mailing list can save money.
“You can waste a lot of money on a bad mailing list,” Flanagin said. “You won’t have to spend as much time hunting down on saving the printing because you would be printing less with a cleaner list.”
The process of bulk mailing can be done relatively quickly. A postcard takes about two days to get in the mail, and if it’s a personal letter, it may take a little longer. Another issue that can add time is if the mailing list is wrong. Flanagin said the list cleaning could be done quickly, but sometimes it needs the customer’s attention several times.
People often don’t think about the enormous amount of work it takes when the bulk mailing is created, from the design and information to the printing and packaging and then mailing.
“It’s surprised me how many times that piece of mail is touched before it gets to the mailbox,” Flanagin said.
Her favorite part of being a business owner is learning about the businesses she serves.
“They are all different. It’s not always the same customer. It’s fun to get to know other businesses and what they do,” Flanagin said. “It keeps it from being boring.”
Bulk mailing could be considered boring, but Flanagin says it’s not.
“It’s always something new, and it’s always a different mail piece,” Flanagin said. “I get to know so many different businesses in town, and that’s really fun.”
For more information about Flanagin’s Bulk Mail Service, visit their website at http://mybulkmail.com/.
