Congratulations on presenting so many thoughtful articles on the problems facing the list industry (“State of the List Industry,” Aug. 1). I believe that the place to begin reform is in the billing. Our industry has the most convoluted, labor-intensive billing imaginable. We need to make it simpler. The first thing to go should be the computer verification.
After taking deductions for nixies, panders, edits, etc., we have saved the mailer less than $50 on an order. This is the cost of the shipping. Why can’t we agree on a simple pricing arrangement? Forget the “shipping and handling.” That should be part of doing business. Forget the computer verification. A net name arrangement should be simply a discount for taking a certain volume of names. As an industry, we have grappled with this dilemma for years. Now is the time for simplification.
