Most people think of envelopes as nothing more than something they tear open and toss in the trash. But when John Heybach thinks of envelopes, he sees lucrative opportunities.

"Envelopes can be a great lead-in to a client," says Heybach, president of Bold Business Graphics and Systems Inc., a 17-year-old distributorship in Chicago. "Nobody ever buys an envelope and just uses the envelope." When a non-profit organization approached Heybach after having problems with a large fund-raising mailing, he jumped at the chance to help.

The organization had been using a designer to design the piece, a printer to print it, and a mail house to affix address labels to the regular #10 envelopes and mail the pieces first-class. "The three never talked to each other," says Heybach. The organization was also filling the envelopes by hand. "The project was very time-consuming and expensive, and wasn't meeting the in-home dates they wanted....There was just no coordination or system to it."

Bold Business Graphics and Systems provided the client with 7,500 A7, 3-color envelopes laser printed with mailing addresses and postage indicias. The package also included a return envelope for donations and a perfed flier to be inserted in the return envelope. The 3-color envelopes matched internal promotional materials the distributorship redesigned.

"We know quite a bit about postal distribution and how to get maximum performance when using the post office," says Heybach. "We were able to have [the organization] mail it by bulk rate, which saved them a considerable amount of money, and still got essentially first-class performance out of the post office....That's a huge savings. The nice thing about saving the customer that money is that it comes out of the post office's pocket, not your own."

Bold Business Graphics and Systems was also able to meet the organization's in-home target dates. "Now they kind of look at us as the quarterback on these projects," he says. "Plus, we're doing all of the printing, mailing services and lettershop services for them, so it's a nice package." The organization's president called Heybach to express her gratitude, and it ordered a second mailing of 12,000 pieces.

Getting What's Inside
"If you're calling on a new account, and they just ask for a price on an envelope, it's really a good [idea] to ask, 'Well, what goes in it?'" agrees Phil Taylor, CFC, president of Taylor Business Products, a 15-year-old distributorship in North Wilkesboro, N.C.

But when distributors are already making good money on an order, they often don't ask necessary questions or offer cost-saving ideas, Taylor says. When an insurance company wanted a durable envelope it could use to mail out statements to its branches, it asked Taylor Business Products for help. "Before, they were using Tyvek envelopes, which was kind of overkill for this application, and then they were addressing it," he says. The distributorship supplied the company with 20,000 32#, 9 1/2 x 12-inch, kraft window envelopes.

Taylor Business Products also redesigned the firm's statements so they didn't have to be folded before they were stuffed into envelopes. "When you get 100 sheets [in an envelope], things to start to shift around," says Taylor. The distributorship designed the statements, making sure addresses would still appear in the windows if the statements shifted. It even tested the durability of the envelope by stuffing it with 100 sheets of paper and mailing it across the country. The distributorship's redesign was less than half the cost of the insurance company's previous envelope order.

While some distributors view envelopes as an entrée into accounts, others consider them add-ons. "Envelopes are such a natural," says Tom Hart forms consultant at Paragon Graphics, a 17-year-old distributorship in Spring Valley, Calif. "They go with forms so well that you're really doing yourself a disservice if you don't ask for an envelope order every time you get a forms order." Unless you mention it, customers may not even be aware that you can handle envelope orders, he says.

When one of Paragon Graphics' existing clients, a preliminary notice service for building contractors, wanted to streamline its notification mailing process, Hart provided help. Paragon Graphics had been supplying the client with 5- and 6-part continuous forms, which the client personalized on its printer. The notices were sent via certified mail, so the client assigned each form a certified mail number, filled out the forms by hand, then affixed the forms to #10 window envelopes. Each form had to be mailed to three different individuals-the property owner, the contractor and the lender. The client mailed out about 200 of these forms a day, so the process took a great deal of time, Hart says.

Paragon Graphics consolidated the client's forms into 1-part laser forms and supplied 50,000 double-window, #10 envelopes. The mailing address showed through a bottom-left window. A taggant ink mark and bar code appeared through a top-middle window to help the post office sort and deliver the mail, and the green "certified mail" box wrapped around the top of the envelope.

Paragon Graphics' solution reduced the time the preliminary notice service spent preparing the notices by approximately 80 percent, Hart says. "It's making their business a lot more efficient, and they're extremely happy," he says. "Like everybody, they're under pressure to keep their costs down, and they haven't had to raise prices because of their streamlining."

Giving the Right Service
The envelope market is increasingly competitive, and as a result, many distributors are looking for alternative ways to stay viable. Heybach competes by adding value to his envelope orders. "We try to distinguish ourselves on real intense service for our bigger customers," he says. "Once we have an account like that, they pretty much stick with us."

Heybach helps his customers with envelope design, inventory management and warehousing for large orders. "People don't like to worry about [envelopes]," he says. "I'm a little bit surprised sometimes when I talk to customers and hear that their current envelope supplier refuses to do any warehousing for them. Often, that's a great lead-in."

Distributors can also offer value and service through their knowledge and expertise. "That's what distinguishes a good distributor from their competition," says Taylor. "They have the knowledge when they walk in the door and can give their customers answers without having to say, 'Well, I'll get back to you on that.'...Clients are usually counting on you to be the expert."

Asking questions is a big part of service, says Hart. "If you ask questions to a customer, they're going to think, 'Wow, this is the first salesperson that's ever asked me if my piece actually fits [in my envelope], if I can read it through the window and if I have to fold [the piece] five times [to insert it]. They actually care about me.'"

Heybach offers value to his customers by giving them advice on the cost implications of new designs, including paper weights, colors and envelope sizes, and helping them with equipment and material problems. "If you can be responsive, knowledgeable and effective with your customers, you're going to keep them and get more of them," he says. "If a customer thinks of you as a resource to solve problems or someone they can have confidence in, then that makes a big difference....I guarantee you, there's always someone out there trying to sell [your customer] printing, and what keeps [your customer] from changing is that sort of confidence and trust they have in you."

Offering Some Tips

• Learn from those who know. "Envelopes are more complicated than your average person thinks," says Heybach. "Every time I get into an envelope project, I learn more about envelopes-different types of gums, closures, stocks, openings and equipment....Almost everything I've learned about envelopes, I've learned from my vendors. I find them to be very helpful and very supportive."
  
  
• Ask questions. "Take the time to ask the questions to make sure the envelope fits the form and the purpose," says Hart. A customer may ask for a #10 envelope, but if they're only mailing a small piece of paper, they may be better off with a smaller envelope. Get answers to these questions: What is the purpose of the envelope? How is it going to be filled? Will it be automated? How will the envelopes be stored?
  
  
• Offer value-added services. In the increasingly competitive envelope market, distributors who provide services come out on top. Consider offering clients design advice, warehousing, inventory management and more.
  
  
• Make sure the envelope fits. Many envelopes contain multiple pieces. A billing envelope may include a letter, statement and promotion. Direct mail envelopes often contain cover letters, brochures, plastic cards and return envelopes. Test samples on automatic filling equipment. In addition, ask clients whether they must fold the material they are inserting. If so, a larger envelope might be better.
  
  
• Sell related products. Probe customers on what they're using their envelopes for-billing, marketing or internal communications. Let them know you can provide the entire solution.
  
  
• Double-check all information on reorders. "A lot of times, people just give you an envelope and say, 'Give me some more of these,'" says Hart. "It could have an old ZIP Code, P.O. Box or something else....You want to make sure that you're getting them what they really need."

Reprinted with permission from Print Solutions Magazine, published by the Document Management Industries Association.