Greetings & salutations from your neighborhood survey partners, DataForce, here!
Like most of our clients, you are involved in survey research, and a large part of that is distributing / receiving your survey materials with respondents. The ultimate goal of your research being to evaluate the data collected, but the burning question for everyone is, how long will it take to receive that data?
While there are many factors that contribute to the timeline in what we call, “Data Collection”, many of these are within our control, such as artwork approval, printing timelines, data collection timelines, etc. When it comes to delivering your mail though, there are guidelines to consider, but ultimately these are just guidelines.
If you use the USPS to mail your surveys, most of your surveys will arrive within 3-7 days. A few outliers will get delivered earlier / later than that, but the majority will see mailboxes within the first week.
The kicker though, don’t expect 100% delivery…ever! For a variety of reasons, 2-5% of your materials will just ‘vanish’. Not saying these aren’t being delivered. Most of that 5% do in fact get delivered, but just don’t get scanned at the local offices. However, some pieces just get lost.
In fact, the longest recorded delivery time for a piece of mail through the USPS, is 89 YEARS! Likely, the envelope fell behind a counter where it remained until building renovations uncovered it…but it STILL got delivered! For your research timelines though, delivery after 89 years is the same as not being delivered.
It may cost more, but if you need guaranteed delivery, you should invest in a priority mailing. These can require signature prior to delivery, and often guarantee the arrival by a certain date, making research scheduling a bit easier and more reliable.
For more information regarding survey mailing schedules, or to receive a quote for your own project, please reach out to our business office and one of our sales agents will be happy to assist.
DataForce Research
Businessoffice@dataforceresearch.com