A Form-Fitting Solution Sifting through the supply closet of his client, a local bank, Dave Putney found seven different-sized envelopes—some with wide-address windows, others with narrow views. Each see-through spot was positioned in a different place, and each envelope was designed to hold a different, standardized form. "Unfortunately, because of the way the forms were designed, the bank ended up using a different envelope for every form," says Putney, president of Independent Forms Services, Joliet, Ill. The supply closet was cluttered with envelopes in all shapes and sizes as new forms filtered in. Existing statements and notices often were overlooked when new forms were created, and tailoring form size to fit envelopes in stock was uncommon. "Customers don't realize that with simple modifications and slight adjustments, they can fit all of their forms into one envelope," Putney says. "Employees are conditioned over the years to think that every product has an envelope to fit that need. But that isn't always necessary." His observations often surprise clients, who gloss over physical details as they concentrate on including critical financial information on forms. Pinching an inch off of a form's width or tweaking address alignment can save companies significant dollars, Putney says. He helped the bank tailor its forms to fit one or two envelope sizes, allowing it to order in bulk, reduce printing costs and increase its operational efficiency. "If their processing system allows, we help customers redesign forms so that names and addresses will always print in the envelopes' window box," Putney says. "That way, they can use one or two different envelopes for all mailings." This isn't possible for all customers because some banks send out forms that aren't printed in-house and altering information isn't possible, he says. But banks that can edit information in their computer systems and change address positioning can custom-fit their forms for one or two envelope sizes. This saves employees time when stuffing and stamping notices because they don't have to readjust postage machines when they switch envelopes. A one-size-fits-all approach also eliminates mix-and-match madness in the supply closet and frustration from jostling through a mess of different envelope sizes, Putney says. Putney's tips on redesign help customers, although sometimes that means reduced sales from envelope orders. The payoff for Putney is customer loyalty and sales from other products and services Independent Forms Services offers. "If you develop relationships with your customers and they're comfortable with you, you increase sales because they look to you for other products besides envelopes," he says.