For businesses who send a lot of posts - whether that's packages, documents, or letters - franking is a great way of streamlining a rather dull and laborious task, it also makes your business look pretty professional.
Regardless of size, all companies should consider getting a franking machine, whether that's buying one outright or financing it. There are loads of benefits that come with getting a franking machine which we'll explain in a bit but first let's look at the type of mail that can be franked.
What Can Be Franked...
First Class Mail
Second Class Mail
Recorded Delivery
Special Delivery
Parcelforce Worldwide Services
International & Airmail
Cleanmail
Mailsort
7 Benefits Of Using A Franking Machine:
1. Discounts, of a Royal proportion - at the time of writing, the folks over at Royal Mail offer a significant 34% discount for franked mail as opposed to stamped mail - pretty decent, right? The reason for such a significant discount is because your business saves Royal Mail a lot of time and effort. A franking machine does the expensive postage assembly that Royal Mail has to spend a lot of time/money doing... hence the generous offer.
2. Top Up Anytime - at busy times of the year, mailing can be a nightmare and having a lack of basic postage supplies can make that worse. A franking machine can be topped up any time of day, 24/7, no need to wait for the post office to open. Processing outgoing mail becomes less of an odious task too, items can be weighed and the correct postage applied to it all from your franking machine.
3. Keeping Things Secure - the creme de la creme of franking machines has top-level security that will put your mind at ease. Most come with unique passcodes that only authorised users can access.
4. Fix Up, Look Sharp! - Franked emails can be customised and designed to align with your brand which makes your mail look super snazzy. You can also add messages, perfect if you have a sale or promotion on at the time.
5. Get Your Mail Money On The Record - when April rolls around and the inevitable panic/stress/boredom of having to fill out tax returns occurs, you're going to be thankful you have your franking machine. Why? Because they report on your postage costs so you're able to claim the full amount of expenses back on your tax return! If you have more than one department, franking machines have ways of tracking multiple departmental accounts which can help keep costs down.
6. Over Stamping - when people go to send post but they're unsure of the weight or don't have the correct value of stamps they tend to overstamp which means they lose money. A franking machine stops all this happening because you get the correct postage, dial it into the machine a frank it!
7. Under Stamping - Back in the day, the Royal Mail used to charge senders if the post was under stamped, nowadays they ask the recipient to pick up the item and pay the difference - which can be very embarrassed. Franking Machine helps avoid these awkward exchanges by accurately stamping post for you.
How Much Is A Franking Machine? Should I Buy Or Lease?
Franking machines can range in price, if you're serious though you're going to want to buy a decent priced one, after all, you get what you pay for, right?! Franking at scale can get quite expensive so financing your machines might be a good option, especially if you're a start-up business.
Benefits Of Leasing A Franking Machine
No huge initial payout: new equipment can be expensive and sometimes businesses, especially startups, can be put off by the idea of forking out big money for equipment. So next time you're starting agog wondering why you even asked the question: 'How much is a franking machine?' - think about leasing. Leasing a franking machine allays those fears, gone are the big expensive outlays, replaced by a manageable monthly fee over a period of time to suit you.
Maintenance/Installation/Breakdown paid for: leasing agreement with most finance firms, including Love Finance, include a proviso where, if anything were to go wrong with your franking machine, you'd be covered for any (potentially expensive) breakdowns
Once your agreement expires you have the option to renew... or even upgrade: if you decide to lease you have the option, at the end of your agreement with your chosen finance firm, you usually have the option to renew or, even better, upgrade your franking machine to the newer model. Opting for a lease agreement means you can rest assured, knowing you have the most up-to-date, efficient franking machines.
We'd love to chat with you about how we can help develop a bespoke finance package to help you get the best franking machines on the market for a price to suit your business, no matter what the size.
