Elixir Opus software enables the design and development of transpromo and other documents in two types of design and production environments.
- distributed workflow that allows a wide range of users to edit/access the
document based on their roles and user rights
- development environment that retains complete control of all transpromo
content within a specific department --- usually development or IT
Distributed Design & Editing Using templates with pre-defined editable areas, the design workflow can be opened up across the company to allow authorized users editing and proofing capabilities at a design component level. Any area of the document design can be made available or unavailable to an individual user or group of users. The transpromo templates are created by developers and contain all the business rules and conditional logic required to format the transpromo message and graphics. Administrators set and maintain user roles and authorization levels so the templates can be accessed and edited appropriately. Solution: Elixir Correspondence System and Opus
Non-Distributed Design & Editing
Alternatively, the entire design process can be handled and managed from a development-level. In this scenario all design and edits are done by one group within the Opus application. Solution: Elixir Opus
Both environments can produce the same level of transpromo or any other type of variable data document. Read more>>>
Print Service Bureaus - Takin’ Care of Business Using the Web
Web-based systems are offering direct savings to print production’s bottom line and service bureaus are positioned well to realize ROI right from day one of implementation.
Why? Today’s web-based modules for the documents design workflow allows the company to segment specific areas of the workflow – areas in the past that may have caused extra costs that chipped away at the profit margins.
There are two sides to this coin; mistakes made by the customer and errors at the service bureau. Both can be costly.
On the production side, printing an incorrect file, using the wrong paper stock, and ultimately late document delivery causes extra costs which can be associated with overtime, cost of supplies, or poor response to a late mailing.
Customers can make similar mistakes by sending their print vendor the wrong file (thinking it was the approved file), or delivering their master files and data late. In these cases the print service bureau may pay for part or all the overages in order to retain the customer’s print business.
Many of these scenarios boil down to issues related to individual business processes and how they should be managed in the overall workflow. Web-based systems such as the Elixir Correspondence System provide service bureaus with the ability to delegate certain aspects of the document design, proofing and production workflow on a per-customer and per-document basis.
One area that customers are usually happy to take on (and vendors are just as happy to step away from!) is the proofing and approval process. Eliminating the potential for the wrong design or data file making its way into the production cycle can significantly reduce errors. A web-based system allows vendors to hand over certain responsibilities and activities while also providing the customer with an improved process.
The underlying management apparatus in a good document correspondence system contain tools to organize files and resources (images, text, etc.) and provides the ability for version control on the document and its individual resources. Documents are routed for approval and tracked through this process until a final approved version can be released to the vendor. This makes it pretty difficult to release an incorrect design or any other document element into the system.
Immediate ROI!
Driving Transpromo ROI
Transpromo, just like any other communication, is an opportunity to meet an objective.
The opportunity? An established audience (most likely your entire customer base) who opens, reads, and saves selected documents or communications you send.
The objective? Well that's the point of this column. There are three important elements to calculate ROI.
Measurable objective
Cost
Result
Certainly a level of ROI can be determined using only 2 and 3. The resulting measurement will be fairly high level and in most cases not reveal the successes (and failures) of the process in much detail.
What is the objective? And remember, objectives should be measurable. Here is an example using an insurance company that wants to gain market share with young drivers.
Basic Objective:To insure new drivers
Refined Objective:To insure 500 new drivers
Targeted Objective:To insure 500 new drivers
who are potentially a low risk
Going with the first objective one could argue that bringing on even one new customer is a success. Why not just mail all current customers and see who responds? Not cost effective.
Going with the second objective begs the question: where to find the 500? Are there current customers with dependents nearing driving age? Make this group the first extract of the database.
Going with the third objective refines the goal even more. Are there current customers who have good driving records who also have dependents nearing driving age? Perhaps these new drivers may have learned something from their good driver parents! Targeting this group may provide the best possible results.
The third objective actually makes the goal more achievable because it forces a refinement of the question: "where is the best place to find the 500?"
Setting clear and measurable objectives compels us to set parameters which in turn triggers refinements to the process. For example, establishing a budget for printing and mailing helps determine the number of people that can be contacted in the marketing campaign. The contact group must then be pared down to a specific number to stay within budget.
Once the campaign runs, it's time to measure the results.
There are actually two ROI measurements in my example. First, did 500 new drivers within the targeted demographic become customers? Second, did they really end up being low risk drivers?
Only time with tell. Fasten your seatbelts; it's going to be a bumpy ride!
Just Starting Out in TransPromo? SMB Not Just for SMB Anymore!
More and more companies are looking to get their foot in the transpromo door. For those just starting out one of the primary questions is, “How can I get started in transpromo without breaking the bank?”
This question used to be asked primarily by companies in the SMB (small to medium business) category but it now is a concern of even the world’s largest enterprises. The ROI is very evident across a variety of industries and applications so people are getting serious about the requisite software and hardware.
Print service bureaus can offer promotional messaging on their customer’s existing transactional documents as a method of increasing their customer’s profits and thereby the service bureau’s value proposition. The net? The printer’s customers are less likely to change print vendors.
In-house print services can look to offer the same benefits to their company and an SMB product provides easy entry into the transpromo arena even to the largest company. Larger companies are typically using SMB as a solution to a smaller defined business process. This type of implementation (smaller and more focused) can prove ROI faster making it much easier to rollout variable data printing to additional locations or business units. Track the ROI and then expand the software and related services to bring value to more areas within the company.
Here are the major benefits of an SMB product --- offerings that make it easy to get in the “transpromo door”.
SMB price points
Transpromo-capable software products priced and configured specifically for this market.
Printer optimization
Time is money and the printreams that drive these devices are optimized for best results.
Web-based training
Online courses offset travel costs and keep designers in the office so they can be available during business hours. (did I just use the word “offset”?)
Quick start templates
Take advantage of the vendor’s design services or template libraries to seed your transpromo library as well as other document designs.
SMB customer support
You don’t have to have a fleet of printers driving b’zillions of pages for us to take your call! We’re here to help and offer support services inline with yours pecific goals.
Twitter
RSS 
Solution Tours 
enterprises. The ROI is very evident across a variety of industries and applications so people are getting serious about the requisite software and hardware.