On Boxing Day 2004, Mansfield David and his wife and business partner Michele Officer were entertaining family and friends at home when the phone rang, shortly after noon.
It was an important client with an emergency request for David and his direct mailing company, Complete Mailing Service of Toronto. News of the disastrous Asian tsunami was breaking across North America and David's team was needed - immediately.
"I'm not sure how my customer found my home number," recalls David. "But I'm glad he did. Because even though it was a holiday, we had an extremely important job to do."
Complete Mailing Service was asked to prepare, print, fold, package, stamp and deliver over 100,000 pieces of mail, for distribution on behalf of a major Canadian non-profit agency, soliciting relief donations from Canadians from St. John's to Victoria.
Since David's Toronto shop was closed for the holidays, rallying his employees to tackle the job was no easy task. But rally them he did.
"We got that mailing out 48 hours after the tsunami hit," David said with understandable pride.
"We called in a dozen employees right away and by the following day our plant was in full production. And I have to say, our staff members did an amazing job."
Before New Year's Eve, each piece of mail had reached its destination. And, needless to add, Complete Mailing Service had earned the respect and gratitude of a completely satisfied customer.
"When the tsunami hit, we needed a mailhouse to provide and mail out a letter to our clients' donors within 24 hours," said Tom Scanlan, director of Is Five Communications, who put in the call for help. "I don't know of another mailhouse in Canada that could have done such an efficient turnaround, one that helped raise millions of dollars," Scanlan enthused.
Now, Complete Mailing Service can do such jobs even faster. The firm has acquired a digital press that can print 120 pages per minute. That means Complete Mailing can do more jobs in-house rather than having to get bigger jobs done at a photocopy centre or offset printing facility.
"It'll mean customers can do their printing a lot faster," says David. "They can have excellent quality of digital printing and they can get it at a competitive cost."
An 8.5 x 11 inch page can be printed for as low as three cents.
"A lot of companies out there charge their clients anywhere from five cents to 10 cents," says David.
In other words, Complete Mailing Service isn't just about mailing anymore. The company has set up a digital print-on-demand division. "If someone wants printing without the mailing, we can do that too," says David.
Complete Mailing prints as few as 1,000 pieces and as many as three million. Complete's crew can provide same-day service on such jobs as letterhead, billing statements, flyers, coil-bound books, envelopes, and manuals. Customers can bring their originals to Complete Mailing Service in person, or arrange for free pickup or they can provide electronic versions by e-mail, disk, or FTP upload.
"We have volume discounts, so the larger the volume, the cheaper the printing cost is for our clients, and we have a guarantee," says David. "If you can find a certain price elsewhere, we'll match that price - or we'll beat it by five per cent. That's across the board (on all services.)" This 18-year-old Canadian company takes the direct and personal approach while responding to all your mailing needs.
Then it gets to work, providing Canadian and U.S. sortation; inkjet/direct impression; automated or manual folding and labelling; press kit assembly and tubing. They send Canadian, U.S. and international parcels; first class mail; addressed or unaddressed admail; publication mail and catalogue mail. They photocopy, collate and staple.
You can learn a lot about Complete Mailing Service by the company it keeps. The team's loyal clients include chartered banks, large insurance firms, universities and colleges, as well as retail stores. And each has come to expect the kind of fast, personalized service that has taken Complete Mailing Service straight to the head of its class.
"I think it's the personalized service that really sets us apart from our competitors," says David. Most of his customers have been working with the company for years. Although he's company president, David doubles as chief of sales. And he takes personal responsibility for the care and comfort of his customers.
"They can call me directly. They know where they can find me," he says. "And if they want a job done in a rush, we move."
How? By composing the letter, printing it (now on digital press), folding it, adding the insert to an envelope, sealing it, metering it, addressing it, sorting it and distributing it, via Canada Post or a specified courier. Don't wait for the next tsunami. Contact Complete Mailing Service today. It's your one-stop direct mail and printing solution. Phone 416-755-7761; toll free 1-888-683-2501; fax 416-755-8231; visit www.completemailing.com; or e-mail info@completemailing.com.
