In the digital age, physical mail might seem like a format that’s growing less popular. But for businesses and public sector organisations, the efficient management of their mail, both inbound and outbound – remains a critical function.
Whether sending vital legal documents and customer correspondence or marketing materials and supplier invoices – the efficient management of both inbound mail and outbound mail remain pivotal for any organisation looking to effectively reach its audience and partners.
Discover all you need to know about the relationship between inbound and outbound mail, and why optimising both sides of the process matters more than ever.
Inbound mail, simply put, is any mail being received by a business or organisation. This can include responses to outbound communications or unprompted supporting material for something like an insurance claim.
Types of Inbound mail for businesses include:
This can also be managed by a team or individuals within the recipient organisation, or through an external inbound mail manager.
In the modern age, with the scale at which some companies operate, an outsourced third-party inbound mail manager is becoming a popular choice for many businesses.
An Inbound mail manager can receive, sort, and distribute your documents, ensuring that the right information reaches the correct team within your organisation. This can include intelligent document processing, scanning, indexing and archival of inbound physical mail and correspondence from your website. All of this captured data is then stored in the organisation’s own digital mailroom.
The main benefits of an Inbound mail manager are the cost and time savings. Managing inbound communications for an organisation that’s receiving a lot of inbound post can be time consuming for the staff responsible – and can also come in waves, leaving these staff members busy at some points of the year and with less to do at others.
An Inbound Mail manager also provides you with critical data-driven insights into your customer responses – enabling you to better improve your communications and the services you provide.
Outbound mail constitutes any letters and communications you send out, to customers, clients or prospective customers. In the age of digital communication, physical mail is often used by organisations across all sectors as a mark of authenticity and authority. From appointment letters to financial statements, service updates to renewal notices – for many customers physical mail offers a confidence in the communication, and a higher engagement rate as a result.
Types of Outbound mail for businesses include:
Outbound mail can be managed in-house, with a dedicated mailroom team, or managed by individuals with other duties depending on the scale of your requirements. This process can prove both time consuming and expensive depending on the volume of mail being sent and depending on the organisation’s requirements - such as intense seasonal demands, like a local authority’s annual billing period.
Many businesses choose a hybrid mail system to manage their outbound mail, typically submitting their mailings through online portals from their devices, to then be printed, packed and posted by this third-party provider. This offers significant time and cost savings, with Outbound mail providers able to offer businesses cost savings up on the printing and postage.
Inbound mail is mail received by a business or organisation, from its customers, clients or prospects. Outbound mail is mail sent out by a business or organisation, to its customers, clients or prospects.
The effective management of both Inbound and Outbound is a critical function for businesses, and can ensure a stronger offering, more aligned with the needs of customers and clients. For many organisations, the effective management of both Inbound and Outbound mail is best achieved through an experienced and trusted communications specialist.
Managing both outbound and inbound mail efficiently is essential to keeping operations streamlined and customers satisfied. From sending statements and appointment letters to receiving application forms and official documents, every communication matters. That’s why more organisations are turning to trusted providers who can handle it all.
At CFH, we offer an integrated approach through our suite of services - Docmail, CFH Inbound, and CFH Managed - designed to take care of your entire communications provision. From printing and posting outbound mail to capturing, processing, and analysing inbound documents, we help free up your internal teams to focus on what they do best.
A digital mailroom is a solution that is used to digitalise and automate the process of all inbound communications.
Explore our full range of communication solutions and see how a joined-up approach can simplify your processes, reduce costs, and support your ongoing success.
