It started with a small job—just a few hundred pieces for a local nonprofit. Nothing flashy or massive. It was the kind of project that could easily get lost in the shuffle for any printer with a to-do list begging for priorities. But for SouthEast Printing & Mailing Service (SMS), the job was no less important than the larger campaigns the Lexington, Kentucky, print and mail shop produces for large clients.
As owner Jeff Fraley recalls, the nonprofit client needed precision: correct names, correct addresses and personalized touches that could turn a simple mailing into a fundraising lifeline. So Fraley and his team did what they always do; they treated the project with the same level of care and sophistication they would apply to a 200,000-piece run.
The result wasn’t just a successful campaign, but a relationship that continues to this day.
The story is one Fraley says sets SMS apart from the competition, mainly its ability to “right size” its services for any client. “Our clients come in all shapes and sizes. We must be able to run a 200,000-piece job for one client today and a 200-piece job for a different one tomorrow. We regularly forecast our equipment needs to make sure we can provide the highest quality products and service. Our equipment, and our future investments, must line up with the needs and volumes of our clients.”
“We are positioned very well to continue moving forward in the industries that we currently serve. Education, nonprofits, and associations are all verticals that we excel in servicing.”
— Jeff Fraley, Owner, SouthEast Printing & Mailing Service
That philosophy is what drove SMS to enter the inkjet world with the purchase of a Screen Americas 520 roll inkjet printer. “It has proven to be the best piece of equipment I’ve ever bought—both in terms of uptime and profitability,” Fraley says.
Before, a 100,000-piece letter job required offset printing, trimming, perfing, toner box overprinting and folding—a process that took three to four days. With the Screen inkjet, partnered with inline MBO finishing, the first finished piece to the mail inserting area is about 30 minutes. Today, SMS prints about 80 million pages per year with Screen technology. “It truly revolutionized our business,” Fraley says.
Fraley calls technology SMS’s biggest strength. While he admits people are critical, technology is what allows talent to flourish. “You can have the most talented, hard-working team, but if you don’t have the technology, your business will stay stagnant.”
That’s why SMS has built a diverse portfolio of production capabilities, including UV inkjet technology, offset and toner. Each is combined with finishing processes like collating, folding and personalization, as well as delivering flexibility and quality.
Client-First Philosophy
For Fraley and his team, every decision the company makes comes back to a simple question: What’s best for the client? Typically, if something is good for the client, Fraley believes it also is good for the company. That philosophy extends to the way SMS handles the inevitable challenges that come with complex print and mail projects.
“Mistakes happen; it’s not an if, it’s a when,” Fraley says. “Our clients love our complex variable data, quick turnaround times and stunning graphics, but where do we stand when a job goes south? Our priority is to ensure our client’s job is fixed in a timely manner. We can worry about why the mistake happened later.”
This dedicated approach has earned SMS longstanding trust across industries where accuracy and timing matter most: education, nonprofits and professional associations. “What material and message must a recipient receive to invoke an emotion that leads to a response? This is what drives our brainstorming sessions with clients and keeps them coming back. Inkjet technology along with deep variable messaging is where the future of print and mail is.”
The perspective not only positions SouthEast Printing & Mailing Service as a vendor, but as a strategic partner. By blending data-driven insight with technical capability, it is helping its clients create mailings that resonate on a personal level. “We are not only positioned to move forward in the industries we serve, but I see opportunities everywhere. That’s what excites me every day.”
From that first small nonprofit job to the data-driven campaigns it runs today, SouthEast Mail has built a reputation on providing the right tools, the right philosophy and the right commitment to its clients.
