By Bruce Lewis, Payne Consulting Group

E-mail, in many respects, has replaced written correspondence as the preferred medium of communication in the legal community. Even so, mass mailings continue to offer one of the best ways for law firms to keep in touch with large numbers of clients on a regular basis. Paralegals, acting on behalf of attorneys, frequently send out industry alerts, holiday cards, monthly newsletters, and other similar types of information to hundreds or even thousands of clients simultaneously.

Good data is critical

The success of any mass mailing depends on the quality and accuracy of the data used to produce the final document. In a typical law firm environment, client lists are often stored in many different applications, ranging from e-mail contact folders to complex databases. In many cases, the information is redundant or inaccurate.

Some basic guidelines that you can follow to more easily maintain client contact information include:

• Create a standardized data set  Avoid using multiple applications or files to store client contact information. A centralized data repository makes the process of setting up and manipulating the data prior to creating the mailing much easier and more efficient.
• Maintain accurate data  Periodically review client data to make sure that addresses, phone numbers, and other important contact details are accurate and up to date.
• Eliminate duplicate data  Make sure that client contact information is not duplicated within the same data file, perhaps under a different title or address. In larger firms, the issue of duplicate data is often more prevalent — for example, an entry for Contoso and one for Contoso LLP results in the client receiving multiple copies of a mailing.

Planning the data structure

Maintaining an accurate, centralized data source is just one step toward creating a successful mass mailing. Planning the data structure is equally important. A detailed data source provides you with the ability to send out targeted mailings directed toward clients in specific industries, professions, and geographic locations.

Follow these guidelines as you plan and create your data structure:

• Break down the data  Use as many fields as possible in the data file. A highly parsed data source is more flexible and can be more easily sorted, filtered, and manipulated during the merge process. For example, rather than creating a single Name field that includes Title, First Name, and Last Name, create three separate fields — one for each piece of information.
• Make the data unique  Include data fields that help to establish a unique identity, or "profile," for each client. For example, including data fields for such things as profession, industry, and title can help to produce a more detailed data record, which in turn translates into a more targeted mailing.
• Use only the data you need  Remove data fields that aren't relevant. Some data sources contain a number of default fields — some of which might be unnecessary, depending on the type of mailing you are sending out.

Setting up the main document

After you finish planning and creating the data source, you need to decide which type of main document you want to use for the mailing. The most important consideration with respect to the main document is choosing the medium best suited to the mailing. For a mass mailing to 500 clients, is it more efficient to create labels or envelopes? Is it worth the additional time and effort to create professional-looking individually addressed letters?

Merging the document and data

When it's time to merge the main document with the data records, you can follow a few guidelines to achieve the best possible results:

• Sort and filter the data  Use the appropriate tools to filter and sort the data before merging the data records with the main document. This is particularly important for targeted mailings.
• Preview before merging  Preview the merge document to verify that the data is accurate and correctly positioned. Previewing the merged document can save you time and paper in the end.
• Review and revise before printing  Perform a final review of each merged record and revise where necessary before you print. At this point, you can add a personal note to letters for those special or very important clients.

Tying it all together

Law firms use mass mailings to send information to hundreds, and even thousands, of clients at the same time. Taking the time to plan and organize the data before you create a mass mailing helps streamline the process and, most importantly, create an effective and accurate result.

More information

• Frequently asked questions about mail merge
• How to design and set up a mail merge address list
• How to use mail merge to create e-mail messages
• How to use mail merge to create envelopes
• How to use mail merge to create form letters
• How to use mail merge to create mailing labels
• Word mail merge: A walk through the process
• Use mail merge for mass mailings and more

About the author   Bruce Lewis is Vice President of Publishing for Payne Consulting Group, a software training and development company headquartered in Seattle, Washington.