Business reply mail, opened and turned into data

Reply-mail programs look simple until the mail starts arriving. Forms come back half-filled, handwritten in the margin, stapled to a receipt, or sent by people who were never in the program. A process built only for the clean pieces quietly turns those into bad data.

What happens to a piece of mail

1. Receipt. Mail arrives on the schedule the program runs on, and is logged on arrival rather than at the end of the week.
2. Opening and extraction. Envelopes are opened and the contents pulled — form, receipt, proof of purchase, whatever the program asks for.
3. Sorting and validation. Each piece is checked against the program rules: is it in date, is it complete, does the proof match what was claimed.
4. Data capture. The fields you need are keyed and verified, including the handwriting an automated pass would mangle.
5. Imaging. Where the image itself matters — a disputed claim, an audit trail — pieces are scanned and indexed to the record.
6. Exceptions. Anything that fails the rules goes on a separate list with the reason, rather than being guessed at or dropped.
7. Delivery. Data goes to you in your layout, weekly or per batch, on the schedule agreed at the start.
8. Disposition. The paper is returned or destroyed, as agreed before the program starts, with a written record of which.

What you get back

• A data file in your layout — whatever your fulfillment house, research platform or CRM expects, not a format we prefer
• An exception list — what was rejected and why, so you can decide the close calls rather than discovering them later
• Images where they matter — indexed to the record, for claims that may be questioned
• A count you can reconcile — pieces received, processed, rejected

Programs this suits

• Survey and questionnaire returns — the mail side of the research work we already do
• Rebate and offer redemption — validated against the program terms
• Reply cards and response forms — lead cards, registrations, requests for information
• Entry and enrollment forms where a human has to read what was written

How the mail reaches us

That is settled with you before anything is printed, because the address on the reply piece has to be right the first time. Some programs route the mail to us directly; on others the client receives it and sends it on in batches. Tell us which you have in mind and we will tell you what it takes to set up.

What we don't do

We do not process payments. Checks, deposits and remittance work were a large part of this company's history and are not what we offer now, so a program that turns on money changing hands needs a lockbox provider, not us.

We are also not a mail forwarding or virtual mailbox service, and we are not the cheapest option for a very high volume program where price per piece decides it. We are the right answer when the exceptions need judgment and someone has to be accountable for the data.

How a program starts

With a sample. Send a batch of real returns, or the forms you plan to mail, and we run them to your rules and show you the output and the exception list before either side commits. On a program where the mail only arrives once, that step is not a formality.

Everyone who handles the mail is background checked and works under a signed confidentiality agreement. Our operations are in Michigan and Ohio, and that is where the work runs by default. See our security page for detail.