Check By Mail
How to Check the Status of Your Vote by Mail Ballot
To check whether your vote by mail ballot has been counted yet, simply go to the site Voteinfo.net , which is the site for the Riverside Country Registrar of Voters. At the site, click on the link on the left hand side which reads, "The status of my vote by mail ballot". You will then be asked to enter your birthdate, and either the last four numbers of your driver's license or social security ...
Wondering "Where's My Mail?" You're Not Alone
When it comes to measuring the success and failure of
traditional direct mail, nothing excites marketers more than
tangible data revealing the reality of what occurred or did not.
An example of this is mail tracking — hardly a new concept, but
one that is gaining popularity among mailers who can accurately
predict in-home arrival by aggregating delivery data. Retailers
can now include direct mail advertising in connection with their
local campaigns. This data is not only traceable, but
actionable: by tracking your mailing campaigns, you can better
measure and improve your campaigns' effectiveness.
Traditionally, mailers have relied on the back-end process to
verify their success. Mail tracking allows you to coordinate
multiple-tier marketing programs, with direct mail serving as
the jumping-off point. This new technology allows you to
successfully implement timed triggers for direct mail response
via telemarketing, or initiate additional waves to forge even
stronger customer connections.
By closely monitoring campaigns, mailers can more fully
determine which concepts work best and maximize their
investments with better follow-through. All of this makes it
entirely feasible that direct mail will maintain its position as
a premier channel for coupons and daily specials, and the
preferred method for one-to-one communications.
So what is mail tracking? You might be familiar with list
seeding or other services that can assist in mail tracking, but
the United States Postal Service's Confirm program is more
robust: directly integrated with the USPS process, it is fast
achieving prominence among mailers looking for tracking
resources with broad-based, real-world utility. Confirm allows
mailers to identify and track individual mail by placing a
PLANET Code on the mailpiece. (The PLANET Code is similar to the
traditional POSTNET barcode format; the only difference is a
reversal of the long and short bars.)
How does it work? The PLANET Code is typically placed in the
address block of the letter, flat or periodical mailpiece. This
PLANET code is scanned and logged by postal equipment at various
points as it traverses the postal system. The postal equipment
records the PLANET Code, POSTNET barcode, processing facility,
sort operation code, and processing date and time.
Once the scan is read, the data is distributed electronically.
This data can indicate where a particular piece is located in
the system and provide reliable estimates of delivery to the
customer. PLANET Codes can be used on reply mail as well. The
first time I mentioned this to a catalogue professional, his
response was enthusiastic: "Wow — you mean I can better predict
staffing levels needed to process the orders when they are
received?"
Here are just a few examples of how PLANET Code tracking can
work for you. Imagine tracking outbound high-value items —
invoices, for example — as well as the inbound payments they
generate. This system works equally well for outbound check
payments, too.
(An aside: This solution would have come in handy early in my
mailing career. My major-mailer employer was once accused of not
processing (or worse, stealing) a customer's check run,
primarily because only portions of the entire job were missing
and other checks from the same run were cashed after weeks of
back and forth with the USPS and a major local government
office, the missing portion of mail was found locked in a vault
at the local municipality's processing facility. One little
PLANET Code, matched back to the Postnet would have indicated
that two trays of "check sequenced" mail were missing not two
trays of "sorted mail." A PLANET Code on just some of these
pieces would have indicated that the mail had never been
received by my company and/or delivered to the Post Office —
resolving the problem weeks earlier. No blame would have been
wrongly bestowed on us, the processing company, and the
unfortunate recipients of these checks would have received their
funds much sooner.)
Time-sensitive follow-up: Key items like mortgage papers, travel
vouchers, or contracts linked to customer support allow for
quick follow-up.
Trigger automated events: A direct mail piece is to be sent in
waves to solicit donations for a college alumni association . By
using the anticipated in-home date you can link follow-up phone
activity and create additional impact using multiple media that
might otherwise be used less effectively.
Gauge store activity/inventory: Mail has long been a great way
for retailers to build store volume. Mail tracking offers a
powerful tool to correlate mail delivery times within store
traffic. This information can help users better manage their
marketing efforts and control inventory turnover generated by
retail sales.
Assess alternative postage methods: If you use First-Class Mail
only to ensure your mailings hit at a specified time each month,
you could be wasting money. PLANET Code tracking can be applied
to Standard Mail, as well, helping you to better predict when
the mail is being delivered — while taking advantage of much
more reasonable mail rates.
Ever wonder if "black holes" really exist? With PLANET Code
tracking, mailers are better able to identify and work with the
Postal Service to address any potential delivery problem spots.
If you're on the waiting side of determining a campaign's
success, these unknown quantities can quite literally keep you
up at nights. PLANET Code tracking keeps you informed.
Why wait for customers to respond, when you can keep them
engaged with multi-tiered marketing efforts? PLANET Code
tracking helps you maintain communications momentum and strike
while the iron is still hot. You can even adjust staffing
requirements based on mail flow, and more accurately time
subsequent mailings by either accelerating or holding them back
depending on the status of the mail being tracked.
PLANET Code tracking allows marketing managers to get a jump
start on a campaign's effectiveness and success. Finance
managers love this service, because it helps them to better
predict cash flow. Sales teams and telemarketing managers can
better plan follow-up activity.
One mailer's comment puts it all together: "With competitive
pricing from third party providers, the cost of the Confirm
service is seldom an issue. I can meet my customers expectations
and exceed typical delivery standards. And I get to help them
improve projections for when telemarketing and follow-up should
begin." In short, PLANET Code services allow informed
follow-through, and provide a terrific value-added service.
That's the kind of service we could all benefit from
About the Author
Ted Seward is Vice President of Marketing for BCC Software, the
leading developer of high performance PC-based software and
solutions for professional mailers. BCC's flagship product, Mail
Manager 2010, allows users to optimize postal presorts, utilize
streamlined database maintenance functions, and improve
deliverability of mailpieces.
