4 Key Things to Look For Before Picking the Right Franking Machine for Your Business

Does your business send out a reasonable amount of mail every month?

22:27 21 February 2020

Then franking machines could be a game changer for your business and actually might be worth considering.

Contrary to popular belief that franking machines make more sense only to large businesses that handle a huge volume of mails, even a small business can benefit from using a low-volume franking machine. For example, if your business is currently sending out say about 100 pieces of mail daily, a cheap and efficient low-volume franking machine could just do the trick for you.

That being said, franking machines, more often than not, prove to be invaluable only to those businesses that know how to make good use of them. And, for your business to be able make the most of a franking machine, it is important that you first figure out your mailing requirements well and then choose the right machine that matches them.

According to mailcoms, UK’s leading supplier of franking machines and supplies, it’s normal for any business to get carried away and choose a higher volume model with future mail output needs in mind only to end up paying a lot more perhaps for additional features that they are less likely to utilise. In the same manner, any business that processes a good chunk of mail on a daily and weekly basis could look to cut cost and end up buying a machine that handles lower volume than necessary, which often sets off more problems.

If that has left you wondering what would be the right franking machine for your business, don’t fret. There are certain things that you should consider before you pick one.

Consider the following on your quest to finding the right franking machine for your business:

• Volume: How much mail does your business send out? Some businesses process low volumes of mail on a daily basis while some businesses send out a large number of mails up to say 700 per day. Put simply, the number of mail that your business sends daily and weekly is key to determine the right franking machine for your business. To put it in perspective, anything less than 100 pieces of mail is considered low volume, and anything between 100 and 300 pieces fits right in the medium usage volume bracket. Anything upwards of that, say 500 or 700 and up to 1000 falls under the high volume category. It’s also important to consider what these mails are. Are they envelopes, small letters, large packets? Do they differ in size, weight and thickness? Note that some machines are intelligent enough to differentiate packets and calculate cost accordingly while some are not. So it makes sense to consider both volume and the different kinds of packets that are sent out daily/weekly before deciding on a model.
  
  

• Features: Are there any essential features that your business needs the most? Some franking machines have limited functionality that doesn’t allow you much to do other than weigh mail up to a certain limit and throw accurate cost calculations at you. Whereas some machines allow you to affix your logo and print custom messages thereby allowing you to send personalised messages to customers without any fuss. Pin Code Protection is a key feature found in many machines today whereas features like post stacking, differential weighing and the ability to deal with packets of different size and thickness are not very common and are found only in costly and advanced models with automated recognition feature.
  
  

• Scalability: Will a low cost franking machine with a basic set of features be a good fit considering your current business requirements and serve your business well until you have no other option than upgrade to a sophisticated model sometime down the line? Or does it make good financial sense to invest in an advanced franking machine with extra features now that your business is already scaling up and might require more mail output in the near future?
  
  

• Cost: Lease, rent or buy one? What makes sense to your business? As you’d have guessed by now, each option has its own share of pros and cons. To be able to decide the right option for your business, you might have to again carefully consider your business requirements. As far as leasing goes, you need to put down a reasonable fee as upfront payment and then pay instalments each month on an ongoing basis. Work out the lease period and find out what is covered in the lease. When it comes to renting, you stay out of any long term commitment and pay an amount as rent each month. Unlike leasing, renting doesn’t include maintenance and support but you can upgrade to a better machine when required. Finally, purchasing a machine for your business is a costly proposition but gives you complete control over everything. Having said that, upgrading might not be as easy and cheap as the other two options.
  
  

Before you visit a store to check out the different models that you can pick from, take your time to assess your requirements (mailing, budget, and all that discussed above) and figure out what could be the right machine for your business. Franking machines offer great value for business owners. Using the right machine for your franking needs ensures that you not only have a fast and efficient mailing process that’s easy to track but you can save more on each piece of mail that you send (as opposed to using stamps). We hope that the tips mentioned above will take you one step closer to picking the right machine for your business requirements.