How Aflac Cut Mailing Costs and Improved Delivery with Smarter Address Verification
Better Address Data, Lower Costs, and Faster Mail Delivery
KEY TAKEAWAY
By optimizing its mailing operations, Aflac reduced costs, improved compliance, and ensured critical mail reached customers faster—reinforcing its commitment to excellent service.
HIGHLIGHTS
- Mail delivery rate increased from 97.5% to 98.5%
- Significant reduction in undeliverable mail
- Address corrections now happen in real-time instead of 10 business days
- Maximized postage discounts and reduced unnecessary expenses
SOLUTIONS USED
- Real-Time Address Verification: Identifies and corrects errors before printing
- Mail Tracking with IMb™: Ensures compliance and improved delivery visibility
- Continuous Address Updates: Database refreshed every 60 days for accuracy
- Automation for Faster Processing: Real-time corrections for same-day resends
INDUSTRY
Insurance & Financial Services
The Problem
Aflac, a top provider of supplemental insurance in the U.S., relies on mail to deliver critical information to its customers, especially during life-interrupting medical situations. Ensuring mail reaches the correct recipients efficiently and cost-effectively is crucial. However, Aflac faced challenges with address quality, mail delivery accuracy, and rising postage costs. To maintain compliance with USPS regulations, retain postage discounts, and prevent potential fines due to poor address quality, Aflac needed a robust solution to improve its mailing operations.
The Challenge
Aflac sought to enhance its address validation processes to minimize undeliverable mail, reduce costs, and gain greater visibility into its mailstream. The company needed a solution that would:
- Improve address standardization and verification.
- Reduce the number of undeliverable and returned mailpieces.
- Maintain USPS compliance and maximize postage discounts.
- Streamline mail tracking and reporting for greater operational efficiency.
To achieve these goals, Aflac turned to GrayHair Software for a comprehensive address quality and mail tracking solution.
The Approach
GrayHair Software developed a tailored, single-source solution to optimize Aflac’s mailing operations. Key elements of the approach included:
- Address Verification & Standardization: Aflac implemented GrayHair’s real-time address verification, which provides real-time insights into address errors and allows for immediate corrections before the mail goes to print.
- Mail Tracking & Compliance: Aflac used GrayHair’s platform to generate and encode Intelligent Mail® barcodes (IMb™) for enhanced mail tracking and compliance with USPS automation pricing requirements.
- Improved Processing Efficiency: Instead of running address quality checks monthly through its old system, Aflac now sends its entire address database to GrayHair every 60 days, ensuring a continuous improvement cycle.
The Results
Aflac achieved measurable improvements in mail delivery efficiency and cost savings:
- Increased Delivery Rate: Aflac’s mail delivery rate improved from 97.5% to 98.5%.
- Reduced Returned Mail: A significant decrease in undeliverable mail resulted in fewer wasted print and postage expenses.
- Faster Address Corrections: Previously, incorrect addresses could take up to 10 business days to be corrected and re-sent. With GrayHair, this process now happens in real-time, ensuring same-day corrections and mail dispatch.
- Greater Cost Savings: By improving address quality, Aflac maximized postage discounts and reduced unnecessary mail expenses.
