It’s estimated that around 20% of businesses fail during their first year. The numbers get worse over time, though, and almost half will fail after five years.

While this might seem concerning, it’s worth noting that businesses that implement the right strategies can definitely stay afloat. One thing companies should consider is a virtual mailbox.

A virtual mailbox is a unique approach to receiving physical mail in digital format. It goes through a third party that takes pictures and sends them to the business in question. Keep reading for seven reasons why your business probably needs a virtual mailbox.

Location Flexibility

It’s quite common for even small companies to have customers from around the world. In some cases, the team or many staff members have to travel or live abroad. This can turn managing physical mail into a nightmare, especially without a proper mailing address in the country of business.

A virtual mail and address service offers location flexibility. This is because the business doesn’t have to have its own personnel or a mailing address to receive and process physical mail. The virtual mailbox company receives the contents, shares the pictures, and then stores or discards the mail in question.

Convenience

While it’s possible for a business to pay for a mailing address and hire someone in that area to receive physical mail, paying for a virtual mailbox simplifies the overall process. It skips the hiring process and mailing address filtering process entirely. A monthly fee is enough to get a team that scans and forwards physical mail contents whenever necessary. Best of all, it’s accessible from anywhere in the world.

Ease of Use

Virtual mailboxes are well-known for their ease of use. Both setting up and using a virtual mailbox is simple. Most companies that offer this form of digital mail let users sign up online, as well. So, the entire process is streamlined, easy to understand, and usually comes with a way to contact customer service around the clock.

Typically, the digital mailbox personnel will receive mail and distribute it to each client’s mailbox. They’ll then open the mail and take any necessary pictures. These images are then compiled and sent digitally to each client. That’s how each business receives the contents of their physical mail.

Security

A common issue that comes with hiring someone you don’t know well to manage your physical mail is that they might make mistakes or intentionally discard important content. A virtual mailbox makes the whole process much safer.

The idea behind a virtual mailbox is that your physical mail arrives at a secure location in the hands of a professional and trustworthy team. And any mail that isn’t discarded stays safe at a secure location. Not to mention, these services typically have guarantees that ensure every package is received properly.

Scalability

Another common issue that businesses managing their physical mail run into involves scalability. In an ideal situation, a business will grow and increase its customer base over time. This means the company has to scale its internal and external services with that growth.

As you might imagine, this means a business also has to invest more time, money, and effort in its physical mail management. A virtual mailbox, however, makes it much easier to scale mail services. Instead of increasing staff, changing a mailing address, and otherwise investing in mail management, a company only has to change its subscription.

Some virtual mail systems offer additional services rather than a plan change or upgrade.

Professional Image

Maintaining a professional image is perhaps one of the best benefits of investing in a virtual mailbox. This is true for businesses that don’t have a brick-and-mortar location or a business that would prefer publicly displaying a separate address.

For businesses that don’t have a brick-and-mortar location, a virtual mailbox provides the aforementioned benefits. These include scalability, better security, and help to avoid a ton of inconveniences.

Businesses that would prefer a different address, though, are an entirely different story. For example, if a company has customers in the US, but has a mailing address in a different country, its professional image can take a serious hit. Potential buyers might doubt the business’ legitimacy or worry about sending or receiving packages internationally.

So, a company could hire a virtual mailbox in the US to facilitate mailing back and forth between the company and its customers. Additionally, people that see the address based in the same country as their residence are more likely to trust that business. It’s something that has the potential to make or break a company.

Cost Savings

While it might seem obvious, it’s worth mentioning that a virtual mailbox is typically much more cost-effective than renting a physical space or even purchasing a PO Box. This is especially true when you factor in the additional costs that come with managing mail, including time and money on travel costs.

Investing in a Virtual Mailbox

More businesses have an international reach than ever before. Managing content for customers in multiple countries isn’t easy, and can cost quite a bit. Investing in a virtual mailbox looks to solve quite a few problems that businesses can run into.

A digital mailbox is more cost effective, often more secure, and solidifies a professional image for a business. It doesn’t stop there, though, as they’re easy to use and even scalable. Any company that’s looking to better engage its customer base and remove the hassle of managing a mailing address and the contents that arrive should consider investing in one.

Hopefully this article provided you with some useful information on managing business mail digitally. If it did, consider taking a look at some of the other posts on the site!