Send Direct vs bulk-to-office: which delivery model fits your team
Once you've decided to send corporate cards and decided to stop doing the admin in-house - there's one more choice to make, where do the cards actually go?
There are two models. Send Direct posts each card straight to its recipient for you. Bulk to office prints everything and ships the lot to you, to send yourself. Both are valid. The right one depends on how your team works and how much of the process you want to keep your hands on.
The two models, plainly
Send Direct (managed)
Greetd designs, prints, packs and posts each card directly to the recipient via Royal Mail. You provide a list; nothing else touches your desk. Works for one big run or for scheduled individual sends through the year.
Bulk to office (DIY)
Greetd designs and prints; the finished cards arrive with you in bulk. Your team handles the signing, addressing, stuffing and posting from there.
The split is simple: Send Direct deals with the hidden logistics, bulk keeps it.
When Send Direct is the right call
This is the model most EAs and office managers land on, because the whole point is to make the work disappear. Choose Send Direct when:
The list is large
And addressing, stuffing and posting it yourself would eat real hours.
Recipients are spread out
You have multiple offices, locations, customer groups and want one central place to manage it.
You're sending on a schedule
Birthdays, anniversaries, onboarding milestones are not dates you can just forget. Sending direct ensures cards go out on their day without anyone having to remember to do it.
You don't have the capacity in-house
Running a signing and packing operation, requires staff which you may be short on in these modern times of ours.
When bulk to office makes sense
Bulk trades convenience for control. If the control is the point, it's the right trade. Choose bulk when:
A handwritten note or personal signature matters
On every card, and you want to do that in-house for your most important clients or valued staff, the personal touch can be worth the effort.
You're handing cards over in person
At an event, a meeting, reception. Which can resonate much further than posting them.
You want to add something
To the envelope yourself, like a small gift or a personal compliment slip.
The volume is small enough
That doing the last mile yourself is genuinely no hassle.
You don't have to pick just one
Plenty of teams run both. Send Direct handles the bulk of the list i.e. the hundreds who simply need a well-made card on time. While a smaller batch comes to the office for the handful of relationships that deserve a personal signature or a face to face hand-over.
That model is often the smartest setup: the admin disappears for the 90% where it's just a chore, and you keep your hands on the 10% where the personal touch earns its keep.
How to decide
Run through three questions:
- How many, and how spread out? Large and scattered then Send Direct. Small and local then bulk works fine.
- Does each card need something only you can add — a signature, a gift, a hand-over? Yes then bulk for those. No then Send Direct.
- Who has the time? If the honest answer is "no one," that decides it.
Whichever way you go, the design and print are the same Greetd quality, on 100% recyclable, sustainably sourced paper with a Woodland Trust donation on every card, the only difference is who handles the leg work.
Not sure which works out better for your run? Compare both in the ROI calculator, or request a free sample pack and see the cards before you decide. When you're ready, start with Send Direct.
Want to see which channel earns its place?
Run your own numbers in the ROI calculator, then request a free sample pack to see what lands on the desk. Don't wait for December.
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