Bulk Mail Partners & the Australia Post Industry Partners Group

The most salient point-of-difference in the mailing industry is accredication as an Australia Post Bulk Mail Partner (BMP). Certification conjoins the mailhouse to the Australia Post Industry Partners Group which means dedicated account management by the IPG team of experts, authorities and escalation points to their mailhouse clients. The advantage this gives the mailhouse customer is higher quality customer service, reliability and complete end-to-end logistical support.

For mail house customers, you need confidence that your mailhouse possesses a range of core competencies from data download through to sorting large volumes of mail according to the Australia Post DPID 4-state barcode regulations and backend programming expertise. The mailhouse is the vital link between you and your database of customers, members, supports, donors or prospects. Once your mail is lodged, Australia Post does nothing more than facilitate delivery to letter boxes. You need to be sure your mailhouse knows what it’s doing because they ultimately release the final product.

Direct mail campaigns stimulate significant return on investment and make large contributions to achieving sales and marketing goals. Take fundraising appeals for instance, which reportedly generate an average response rate of 5.35% or an advertising agency representing an automotive company. While the sale of a single car can cover the cost of the mailing, the campaign can trigger 100’s of vehicle sales and create massive returns for the client as well as their agency.

Logically then, partnering with the right mailhouse is a serious matter and an immediate question to the mind’s of marketers when looking to realise their goals in communicating the message by mail. There can be no overstating the value of personal relationships when dealing with mailhouse staff to ensure a shared understanding of your needs-based-objectives which is vital in terms of meeting tight production deadlines and materialising the right letters for the right people.

First of all one would expect the provider to be transparent to their in-house capabilities. However, particular aspects of direct mail production are often overlooked as simple while in fact they may not be so easy without appropriate experience, technology, more cost and invaluable time.

The BMP group of companies make up the Australia Post Industry Partners Group. BMP certification essentially means the mailhouse is quality assuranced in three fundamental business functions:

• e-LMS (electronic lodgement of postal documents)
• CBQA (verification of Australia Post 4-state barcode)
• PIP (postal improvement programme)

This means the mailhouse is engaging with Australia Post online every day sending an elctronic confirmation of the physical mail they are sending on the same day to the regional Australia Post DC. It also means guaranteed maximisation of discounts on barcode letters and quality control procedures endorsed by staff on a daily basis to optimise efficiencies and enable large volumes of mail to flow into the system with guaranteed delivery to your database.

You will also find that Bulk Mail Partners provide 100% recylable paper, envelopes and plastics in aim of reducing carbon emmissions arising from postal products and the postal industry.

Australia Post manage a team of Industry Partner Group account managers across the country so Bulk Mail Partners can engage in monthly meetings. This also means the mailhouse has an effective escalation point when urgent client requests arise. More generally the mailhouse will provide the highet levels of advise on Australia Post services relative to your direct mail campaigns and matters affecting the delivery of mail.