Postal Customer Council Weblog

When I decided it was time to buy a house I knew exactly what I was going to want. Sadly, I couldn’t find a house on the market that would fulfill my wants. That is, until I looked at modular homes in North Carolina. The minute I laid on eyes on one of them, I fell in love and had to have it.

The modular homes are often overlooked by many people. They don’t feel that it is a real house or that they can find the right place to put it. I found that buying a modular home was a lot easier than I ever anticipated. I also got the house of my dreams for a lot less  money than I’d planned on spending. I had the opportunity to choose the floor plan that I would want. Right away this was a huge selling point for me. Yes, it’s nice to walk into an existing home and envision what you can do with it when you move it. It’s something completely different when you walk into a company and look at floor plans and design a home to be exactly what you’ve dreamed of. I found that it was cheaper to buy a piece of land in an area that I loved and have my modular home put up there. Between realtor’s fees and expenses, my husband and I managed to save well over $50,000. That is money that could be used elsewhere and we didn’t get less of a home because we spent less. We actually got more of a home by spending less money and doing our research. Instead of buying a 2 bedroom home that we liked, we bought a 4 bedroom home that we loved. We can completely envision raising our family in this home for many years to come. For more information you may visit DRALiving.com.

Larger doctor’s offices and hospitals use or employ medical transcribers to transfer their audio notes to paper for record keeping. These services can become quite expensive over time, depending on the skill of the transcriber. To keep costs down, many companies are Outsourcing Medical Transcription Services to contractors and even to other countries. Outside of the United States the hourly wages are a lot less and do not require a minimum wage, so companies are able to get more for less money. Money is the main motivator when it comes to outsourcing, but there are several other reasons.

• Costs are less when using a contractor or service outside of the country. This is because the wages and cost of living are less in third-world countries. These countries also do not have a requirement for a minimum wage like the United States does. The same applies for contractors, minimum wage laws do not apply. Using someone who is not in-house will also save costs for supplies and equipment, which would fall on the contractor to supply.
• Contractors and third-world workers often have faster turn-around. Contractors have a faster turn-around time than a traditional service, mainly due to having less work and more time to do the work. Workers in other countries tend to work hard and have fast turn-around times due to the low living standards and the poverty that is commonly seen. These workers want to have the work done fast in order to get paid and feed their families or pay bills.
• Outsourcing means that a company will not have to pay taxes for the worker or benefits. Paying workers outside of the country means the company will not have to pay taxes in the United States for that worker. They also do not have to pay for health insurance or benefits. Both of these costs can be quite expensive.

If you have not checked out your local Postal Customer Council yet, it is definitely worth a peek. A PCC is a source of valuable information that can help you as an individual, or more likely, as a large or small business. You can take advantage of this resource that will teach you to best and most efficiently use the United States Postal Service to meet your mailing and shipping needs. Our representatives regularly address the needs of large business mailers, business mail providers, government entities, and small businesses alike. The topics of advice they give include, but are not limited to:

• Marketing through the mail
• Sources for mailing lists
• Discounts on major mailing needs
  

  Help US Help YOU

• Finding new ways of making mailing more efficient by networking with fwllow mailers, business mail services, and USPS execs
• Other industry examples and case studies
• General best practices for mailing efficiency, effectiveness, and profitability
• Workshops to improve mail quality- and become a certified mailer

Postal Customer Councils also provide an avenue for communication. There is no better way to reach your postal service provider and give feedback regarding your needs and experiences than to visit your local PCC. If you are curious as to where you can find your local PCC, use this PCC locator tool to check out where the nearest or most convenient Postal Customer Council to you is. Then stop by and get your voice heard! Your feedback is important to us, and we take each submission through this vital channel to heart as we constantly revise postal strategies to best suit postal customers, and stay competitive in the increasingly tough postal market. We need your valuable input to survive!