Looking for a good way to send thank you and birthday cards

[fun2drum]

I have found some old threads about Send Out Cards, and I've found a few other companies as well online. I'm still having a difficult time wrapping my mind around how much this will cost me with Send Out Cards - I love the idea of their service but it looks like their prices have increased since the glowing reviews, so they're very expensive if I'm reading everything right. Vistaprint seems easy but no automation for birthdays. The other offerings besides Vistaprint aren't clear to me how they work. I'm a lone agent with total BOB around 1,000 mostly Medicare business, with roughly 860 of those being MAPD. I've been doing thank you cards by hand, and no birthday cards anymore because the job is just too big, so I need to do something. Maybe Vistaprint is the easier option? If any of you have experience with any of these options or others, positive or negative, then I'm all ears. Thanks.

 

[pfg1]

Interested to hear wheat folks say about this as well. I know SOC changed, curious of the feedback on them or other valid options that may be out there.

 

[sshafran]

I still do sendoutcards. New med supp or MAPD clients get a thank you card and brownies - then a few more cards later on.

The brownies are a hit, always have been. Worth every cent.

 

[fun2drum]

SOC doesn't appear to have a simple way to just buy what I want. It looks to me like I have to buy a lot of things I don't want in high cost packages in order to do any business with them. Then postage is extra on group and scheduled sends after already spending thousands on packages? Am I understanding that right?

 

[pfg1]

I just went on the website, for a small membership price monthly you can send all you want for a couple bucks each with plenty of options. Seems fairly simple, but I've not used them so I can't comment from experience. ??

ENHANCED
Relationship Manager System
17.00 / month

• $2.25/Standard Card
• $2.00 Per Card in a Group Send of 20 or More
• 15% Discount on Gifts *
• Unlimited Relationship Manager
• Includes All Card Types
• Enhanced Storage
• Multiple Touch Campaigns

 

[Chazm]

How is SOC expensive? I may be not 100% on the cost but it may be $1 per card with shipping. Even if it’s $1.50 card it’s still A deal. At the end of every month I just pull up the birthday calendar and hit send.
I have the 100 points a month package. If you have any kind of client database, you’ll use that up and it’s so worth it.

 

[pfg1]

How is SOC expensive? I may be not 100% on the cost but it may be $1 per card with shipping. Even if it’s $1.50 card it’s still A deal. At the end of every month I just pull up the birthday calendar and hit send.
I have the 100 points a month package. If you have any kind of client database, you’ll use that up and it’s so worth it.

It doesn't appear to work that way anymore. ?? The package I posted above is $2.75/card (Plus postage I guess) ....$2.00 if you mail out 20 or more. The more expensive monthly fee packages the price per card goes down.
I know its alot different than it was last time I looked at it. Yes, that is not expensive but I know it used to be alot less even than that.

 

[fun2drum]

How is SOC expensive? I may be not 100% on the cost but it may be $1 per card with shipping. Even if it’s $1.50 card it’s still A deal. At the end of every month I just pull up the birthday calendar and hit send.
I have the 100 points a month package. If you have any kind of client database, you’ll use that up and it’s so worth it.

Thanks, that's what I'm looking for but like pfg1 said, it may have recently changed. I had seen in a blog somewhere that SOC has some sort of postage points package like you described, but the web site says nothing about it (at least I couldn't find it there). There's the package for $17/month as posted by pfg1 above, then two other packages for $100 and $150 a month that seem to add extra cards for group mailings, then a $1,000 a year add-on for scheduled mailings like birthdays, etc. None of those packages include postage, so that's extra too. I'm not arguing, just telling you what I was seeing in my brain when I went to their web site, which is at least a couple grand a year, plus cards, plus postage. Are you getting the $17/month package and then adding a postage deal after signing up? I really liked the idea of scheduled mailings for birthdays but I could do it manually to save a grand a year.

BTW, the funny thing here is if I had taken the time I've spent obsessing about these cards and instead spent it calling people about insurance then I would have probably made enough extra money to buy SOC's biggest packages x2. lol

 

[sshafran]

BTW, the funny thing here is if I had taken the time I've spent obsessing about these cards and instead spent it calling people about insurance then I would have probably made enough extra money to buy SOC's biggest packages x2. lol

Yep. We can't trip over a few quarters when building this thing. One extra referral pays for a few hundred cards when considering lifetime value of a med supp client....

If you don't already have someone in particular to sign up under - my link is available

 

[Chazm]

Thanks, that's what I'm looking for but like pfg1 said, it may have recently changed. I had seen in a blog somewhere that SOC has some sort of postage points package like you described, but the web site says nothing about it (at least I couldn't find it there). There's the package for $17/month as posted by pfg1 above, then two other packages for $100 and $150 a month that seem to add extra cards for group mailings, then a $1,000 a year add-on for scheduled mailings like birthdays, etc. None of those packages include postage, so that's extra too. I'm not arguing, just telling you what I was seeing in my brain when I went to their web site, which is at least a couple grand a year, plus cards, plus postage. Are you getting the $17/month package and then adding a postage deal after signing up? I really liked the idea of scheduled mailings for birthdays but I could do it manually to save a grand a year.

BTW, the funny thing here is if I had taken the time I've spent obsessing about these cards and instead spent it calling people about insurance then I would have probably made enough extra money to buy SOC's biggest packages x2. lol

My account says the Legacy package. Not sure what it includes but I pay 0.39 per point and a two panel card is 5 points. So about $2. Plus postage.

So i guess it’ll start costing me $100 month. I know I’ve never spent that much before tho.