The leading provider of supplemental insurance in the U.S. continues its commitment to getting its customers information when they need it the most. GrayHair helps Aflac to meet that commitment.
To improve its address quality, lower mail costs, and identify as many postage discounts as possible from the Postal Service™, it turned to GrayHair.
Aflac initiated an address standardization project to find a new address validation software system to streamline existing processes. Its mission was to continue the company’s record of being USPS compliant, to retain current postage discounts, and to mitigate any potential fines due to poor address quality. GrayHair Software, as a trusted partner, developed a comprehensive customized system to serve Aflac’s needs.
The search for a new system was driven by Aflac’s desire to improve address quality. However, Aflac did not have an address quality problem. In fact, the company’s Undeliverable-as-Addressed rate was a mere 2%. “We were among the industry leaders,” Thomas stated. However, he added, “Two percent wasn’t good enough for Aflac.”
The Business Solution:
GrayHair Software responded to Aflac’s needs with a consultative approach and products and solutions that would help Aflac reach its goals while cutting costs.
To start, Aflac decided to implement GrayHair’s addressing services that provide a single-source solution tailored to fit Aflac’s mailing operations. GrayHair’s solutions provide address quality services, industry-leading mail tracking, reports, data visualizations, and more.
Aflac took advantage of GrayHair’s address verification service (VerifyAQ™), which provides its reps with a detailed description of potential issues with a bad address. This information helps Aflac determine what steps to take next. For example, if VerifyAQ indicates that a business address has an incorrect suite number, the user can easily obtain the suite number and update the address. This means that bad addresses didn’t go to print, saving on printing and mail costs.
For mail tracking, Aflac used GrayHair’s Intelligent Mail® barcode (IMb™) assignment tool (MT Select) and mail tracking services to monitor its campaigns. MTSelect generates and encodes the IMb for mailpieces. These IMbs comply with the mandated 45-day uniqueness rule. Assignment of the IMb on mailpieces is one of the key requirements needed to qualify for USPS Full Service automation pricing.
Another benefit Aflac received from choosing GrayHair is insight into USPS reports such as the USPS Mailer Scorecard. “I like the Scorecard and knowing that the mail we send out every day is reaching our customers,” said Seguin.
The GrayHair Software Advantage
Before GrayHair, Aflac had a 97.5% delivery rate. Since the partnership, Aflac has seen a “significant” drop in the amount of returned mail, according to Frank Butler, Senior Manager for Support Services.
Instead of pulling addresses on a monthly basis and running them through the old address quality system, Aflac sends all of its addresses to GrayHair every 60 days. In fact, the first time Aflac sent addresses to GrayHair, it received over 700,000 address standardization updates. As a result of choosing GrayHair, Aflac’s delivery rate has increased to 98.5%, according to Butler.
Through the help of GrayHair’s proprietary rules engine, Aflac can now keep known bad addresses from going into print. “We are able to verify addresses before printing and the product goes out the door,” said Jim Jackson, Senior Project Manager, PMO-IT Internal Operations of Aflac. “This is a functionality we didn’t have.” With GrayHair, incorrect address information is identified in real-time, with the opportunity to be fixed and the piece mailed out the same day. In the past, this process would have taken up to 10 business days to be returned. This creates significant savings in both time and money for Aflac.
GrayHair continues to improve Aflac’s address quality, which helps the company reduce mailing costs by enabling it to protect postage discounts. Aflac didn’t just gain a new address quality system, but ultimately a new business partner. ”GrayHair has been a great partner,” said Thomas. “The relationship is very strong.”
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About Aflac
Aflac is the number one provider of guaranteed-renewable insurance in the United States. The Print and Mail Services group, a part of Aflac’s Support Services, handles all the transactional printing for Aflac U.S. Aflac mails 2.6 million pieces per month throughout the United States, Puerto Rico, and other locations. Types of mail range from Group communications (typically businesses with 50 employees or less); Claims communications such as checks; Individual Policy communications such as letters, privacy notices, and policy-related information; and communications to any of the company’s agents.
