Four Mistakes Your Office May Be Making With Metered Postage
Is your office constantly seeing mail coming back? This is actually very common with businesses that have metered postage machines, as there are a few quirks of the machines that office employees often fail to follow. Here are a few of the top reasons that metered postage has a tendency to come back -- and to make you late on invoices, payments, and other important information.
1. Not Using Standard Business Envelopes
Postage is metered not only by weight but by size. When you use non-standard envelopes, it can be very difficult to determine which class of mail you have to use -- even if your weight is completely accurate. Standard business envelopes are also much easier to print on and easier to feed through a metered postage machine.
2. Weighing Before Putting On Labels
Yes -- a label can matter. One of the most common mistakes employees make is weighing and printing an envelope and then putting an address label on it once it's already been put through the machine. The label can bump the package or envelope into a higher bracket, making it so that it needs more postage. Always label first.
3. Not Completing System Updates
Most postage machines have to update on a weekly if not daily basis. Postage rates do change and the changes may not be on any particular day -- for instance, you can't count on the first of the month being the day that postage changes. If you aren't updating your machine, the new rates usually won't come through, and you'll find yourself printing all of your postage incorrectly. Notably, the price of first class mail frequently changes.
4. Failing to Zero Out the Scale
The scale on a postage machine -- like any machine -- needs to read zero when there's nothing on it. If it doesn't read zero, it needs to be restarted or recalibrated. The best case scenario for a non-zeroed scale is that it's reading too high, which means your company will lose money with each package. The worst case is that it's reading too low, which means your company will have all its envelopes and packages returned to you for additional postage.
Metered postage machines can be a great boost to employee productivity -- but only if they're working the right way. By avoiding the above mistakes, you should be able to get your mail through without a hitch. To learn more, contact a company like The Print Shop.
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