Here’s something fun for you to do on your next printing and mailing job, spend a few extra moments reviewing online proofs of your mail!
Ok, just kidding, that’s not actually the most fun thing at all. In fact, sometimes it’s downright painful for people, so much so that they just skip the process. But trust us it’s something you’ll want to start doing when you send mail online because your end product will then be sent out perfectly.
Take the time to review your letters
It’s really important to take the time to look over your proof before you zip through to checkout. In fact, it’s so important that just last year we spent some time making the link to view your proofs more prominent, in an effort to remind you to review the documents you uploaded before sending out your snail mail.
Right before you get to the checkout screen, on the right-hand side, there is a blue ‘View‘ button. This button appears next to each person you send mail to, allowing you to view each one.
Fun fact: behind-the-scenes we like to call it the Little Blue Button. We started calling it that one day when talking about improving our process for it and the name has stuck ever since.
Ok, back to it. Look, the truth is, we get it. When you’ve finished uploading your documents and are done with this portion of your work, getting the ‘Order Acceptance‘ email from LetterStream is exciting because you know your part of the process is over. It also means your mailing is moments away from cruising through LetterStream’s crazy, fast production facility. However, it’s important to note that just because you were quick to get that “order acceptance’ email, doesn’t mean you were quite ready to send it or that it was actually ready to go on your end.
Truth is, we need some help from you to make certain your job is fully ready to print and mail.
Oops, mistakes were made
As much as we like talking to and helping our customers, we also like to save them time. Here are some popular and frequent emails our Customer Support team takes after a job has been mailed that showcase why it’s a good idea to check your proofs:
“Argh! I forgot to add my return envelope, it is too late to add it in now?”
“Oops! I forgot to specify that I wanted my flier printed in color. What do I do now?”
“Yikes, I forgot to run the letter past the CFO and mailed out the wrong prices!”
As you know, we like to help our customers make the very best impression possible when using our online printing and mailing service, but we also like to go really, really fast, which everyone likes. If your mailing has mistakes in it, then that means we have to stop production on it and possibly even shred a job. In short, this just adds more time to the process.
Things to look out for when viewing your proofs
In order to avoid having to use our Chatbot on our website (although it is a great tool to utlize that’s availabe 24/7) or contact customer service to make changes to a job, here are some things that you might want to check for before the final submission that will be helpful to both you, the customer, and us here at LetterStream.
Ask yourself:
- is my return address correct?
- are all pages and envelopes included?
- did I include the correct mailing list of addresses?
- am I using the most up-to-date information?
- are all dates/phone numbers on my documents correct?
- are the amounts in the document correct and properly formatted?
- do my addresses all seem to be properly formatted?
- Did I make sure to choose the correct type of mailing, like USPS First-Class Mail, USPS Certified Mail or Certified Mail with Electronic Return Receipt for USPS tracking?
Many other items need to be examined for a perfect mailing, but the questions above might be a good place to start. Then maybe you can create a list of ‘things to double check’ when it comes to mailing a letter.
After all, being a printing and mailing company, we like it as much as you do when your mail goes out fast and perfect! So, while the proofing task isn’t the most fun, it’s really is fun to know that you’ve just completed another perfect mailing online!