U.S. Code ยง 1708 makes it illegal for someone to open another person’s mail. On top of this, a company mail mismatch can lead to drama and security breaches. Certain people may learn information they weren’t supposed to know.
To avoid all these issues, you need to create an effective mail sorting system. This will help your company sort and distribute mail effectively. In doing so, pieces of business mail should get to their intended recipients.
Read on to learn some tips for creating such a mailing system.
Lock Up Company Mail
Most companies believe that labeled rows and columns of cubbies are enough. But it’s not a good idea to leave company mail where anyone can snatch it. That can cause the same problems as what happens when people receive the wrong mail.
You may have mail room employees occupying your mail area during shifts. In addition, you may lock the door and window to the mail room before everyone leaves. However, that still may not be enough.
Use Lockers
It’s best to be as cautious as possible. Get a set of lockers and assign one to each of your employees. Give the key or combination to the employee assigned to a certain locker.
You can get separate, bigger lockers for any packages that come in. Give locker keys to the receivers of these packages. Ensure that these keys make it back to the right mail sorting authorities.
Use Rules
Let your employees know that there will be consequences if they don’t return the keys. You should also forbid employees from sharing their keys and/or combinations.
Dealing With Delivery People
Another important part of business mail happens when delivery people drop off packages. You mustn’t let packages and other pieces of mail sit where someone can easily grab them. Either have someone there to grab mail as it arrives or have a secure location.
Front Desk Secretary
If you have a front desk secretary person, make them in charge of receiving packages. Tell postal delivery companies that they need to deliver your mail straight to the front desk. Tell front desk workers to grab any packages that delivery workers leave at the front door.
Have the front desk worker keep a locker or bin where they keep delivered mail. Have the employees responsible for sorting and distributing mail pick up the mail a few times a day.
Parcel Slots
If you can, put a locked parcel box in front of your office. Delivery workers can drop letters, folders, packages, etc. into an open slot. Then one of your workers can go out, unlock the mailbox locker, and bring all the mail in.
To fully protect your company’s mail, you should ideally have a locker that feeds right into your company’s mail room. This should prevent thieves from breaking into your parcel locker while your workers are away. Instead, your mail employees will pick up the mail right away and start to sort and distribute it.
Organize a Company Mail Room
Your company’s mail room or whatever space you use to distribute and sort mail is the center of your mail sorting. You need to ensure that the workers in this space have everything they need to effectively sort your business mail.
A Large Table
A table with a wide surface will give your mailroom employees the space they need to properly sort company mail. Ideally, this table should sit right next to the mail lockers. Your employees can put mail right into the right slots to save time.
Ample Supplies
Your mail sorting employees will need a few different supplies to assist them in their mail work. For instance, they’ll need pens and pencils to write “return to sender” to mail that gets sent to your address accidentally. Staples and paper clips will be useful for keeping mail addressed to the same person together.
If your mailroom employees are in charge of sending mail, you’ll need to provide them with stamps, envelopes, etc. Assess what your mail employees do. Then put the supplies that they need on the mail room table.
Labels
Add label holders to the lockers. Then add the names of the employees to the label holders on the mail room side. This will help employees get the incoming mail to the right people.
Recycling Bin
Your company will likely receive a lot of junk mail. Put a recycling bin next to the mail room. Instruct mailroom employees to throw any obvious pieces of junk mail into the recycling bin.
Get a Virtual Office Address
What if your business doesn’t have an official company building? This often happens when most of your employees work from home. Or maybe you own a small business that you operate from your home.
In such a situation, you need a virtual office address for business mail. Your business can benefit in a lot of ways from having this type of address.
Professional Image
A home address or a P.O. box address can look unprofessional. Virtual office addresses will appear as office buildings on virtual maps. Customers will trust you more with their transactions if your business appears to operate inside a building.
Maintain Privacy
Putting a home location as your business address can put you in danger. If you put your home address online anywhere, anyone can see it. A person who intends to harm you can come to your home and invade it.
This won’t happen with a virtual address. This address will mask the true location of your business.
Improve Your Mail and Other Business Procedures
With the right method for distributing company mail, you can keep communication flowing effectively. And when communication flows effectively, you’ll find that your level of production increases exponentially.
Do you need more company mail distribution tips? Or maybe you need more tips on how to effectively run your business. If you do, consider reading some of the other business articles on our site.
Check them out! They’re sure to help you improve your business.
