Modern Day Boston Tea Party using the mail

TEA PARTY
TAX DAY PROTESTORS ARE USING THE MAIL
One of the many protest mailings sent in February.
Remember the Boston Tea Party?

The 21st century equivalent is at hand. A grassroots organization that normally uses the Internet to protest government objectives and initiatives is mailing teabags to the White House and members of Congress. The campaign began in February and will continue through April.

Teabags are lumpy, and tea leaves escaping from envelopes can look suspicious. So the Postal Inspection Service has responded to concerns about some of the mailings.

Tags: Address Change Service, addressing regs, Advertising, Ancillary Service Endorsements, Cost, Direct Mail, Direct Marketing, FSS regulations, intelligent mail barcode, Jack Potter, Jack Potter congressional testimony, junk mail, Mailing, move update, Move Update Requirements, new postal regs, non profits direct mail, one code, PCC, Philadelphia, Philadelphia Post Office, Postage, postage increase, postmaster, Savings, social media, USPS, usps regulations for flats

This is no joke: San Francisco Passes First ‘Do Not Mail’ Resolution in Nation

My opinion is that this is just another way to limit our freedom of speech and our free market economy, has anyone of the petitioners considered that!?!

San Francisco Passes First ‘Do Not Mail’ Resolution in Nation
City Calls On California To Give Citizens Choice Over Junk Mail

SAN FRANCISCO, March 31 — The San Francisco Board of Supervisors today passed a resolution calling on California to create a Do Not Mail Registry giving its citizens the choice to stop receiving unwanted junk mail.

Though non-binding, the resolution represents the first time American lawmakers have withstood pressure from the direct mail industry and the U.S. Postal Service to side with the majority of Americans.

Sponsored by Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi, the board approved the resolution by a 9-2 vote.

“Until now, junk mailers have stifled all efforts to give Americans what they want: an enforceable, comprehensive solution to junk mail’s waste and annoyance” said ForestEthics Executive Director Todd Paglia. “San Francisco is the first city in the United States to take political action against junk
mail, marking the beginning of a long-awaited government intervention to protect citizens from relentless and predatory junk mailers.”

Bills calling for Do Not Mail Registries have failed in more than 20 states, despite widespread frustration with junk mail. A 2007 Zogby poll revealed that 89% of Americans support the creation of a national registry.

“Reducing junk mail is in keeping with our nation’s efforts to reduce our carbon footprint and lead more sustainable lifestyles,” said Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi, upon passage of his Do Not Mail Resolution. “Just as Do Not Call overcame industry opposition to become the most popular consumer rights bill in history, I hope that this resolution will empower our representatives on the state and federal level to represent their constituents on this issue.”

Supervisor Mirkarimi has a record of trailblazing leadership on a variety of issues and policies, including the nation’s first municipal ban on plastic bags, and commuter benefits requirements for San Francisco businesses.

More than 93,000 Americans have signed ForestEthics’ petition at donotmail.org calling for the creation of a national Do Not Mail Registry.

Every year 100 million trees are logged to produce the 100 billion pieces of junk mail Americans receive. Junk mail’s production generates the carbon emissions of over 9 million cars. U.S. junk mail accounts for 30% of all the mail delivered in the world, though 44% of it goes to landfills unopened.

Visit donotmail.org for more information. SOURCE ForestEthics

William Craven of ForestEthics, +1-415-407-3426

Tags: Add new tag, Direct Mail, Direct Marketing, do not mail, intelligent mail barcode, Jack Potter, junk mail, lawmakers pass don not mail bill, Letters, Mailing, Money, new postal regs, non profits direct mail, PCC, Philadelphia, Philadelphia Post Office, Postage, postage increase, postmaster, san francisco, Savings, USPS, usps regulations for flats

GET ANGRY…OR JUST LAUGH

The following is a perspective by postal commentator Cary Baer, who serves on the Board of Directors of the Association for Postal Commerce (PostCom) in behalf of Reader’s Digest. Baer previously served as Chairman’s of PostCom’s board and was an active member of many other industry associations. The reader should note that the views expressed here are the author’s and do not necessarily reflect the official views of this association.

I don’t know if I should get angry or just laugh at the recent USPS request inviting “commercial companies, entrepreneurs, and creative people  to inspire us” … . According to a USPS website, Innovations@USPS, the Postal Service is seeking suggestions for business concepts that relate to:

• New products and services
• Improved financial performance
• Enhancements to existing products, services or operations.

Clearly the Postal Service is asking for industry suggestions that would increase mail volume or reduce postal costs.

So let me see if I understand this. After:

• Increasing rates by 4% during a severe recession;
• Establishing new and, for some, difficult address location requirements to meet the more stringent requirements of a new and presumably better postal flat sorter;
• Establishing confusing and expensive to implement requirements to meet the intelligent mail bar code requirements, which provide little benefit to the average mailer;
• Establishing new address update requirements, known as mail update, with severe penalties if a mailing fails a compliance test; and
• Establishing new requirements for “slim jim” mailing packages that could significantly increase the costs to use these popular mail piece formats.

After all these, and I suspect other USPS actions that will significantly increase mailer costs, impose mail package design constraints and restrict creativity, the Postal Service is now turning to its customers and asking for suggestions that would increase mail volume. That’s the definition of chutzpah.  

Before it embarked on many of the projects noted above the Postal Service should have reminded itself of the quote, often attributed to the Hippocratic Oath; “first do no harm”. 

However, with regard to the Postal Service’s request for ideas, it is in the industries own best interest to respond positively with ideas/concepts. However, in my view, for each idea/concept presented there is an obligation on the Postal Service to provide a meaningful response. Let me make my point “perfectly clear”. Just saying no to a concept/idea should not be considered an adequate response. Some explanation must accompany any rejection. I make this point because I’ve made, what I thought were a couple of worthwhile suggestions that were rejected without explanation.  

Since I believe one of my suggestions offered a very significant opportunity,  and because I’m stubborn, I will repeat that suggestion here in a more public forum. This  suggestion deals with an important address and mail processing issue. 

By its own accounting the USPS spends approximately $2  billion annually to handle, process, forward, deliver, return or destroy incorrectly addressed mail.  Unfortunately in spite of significant efforts(in my view many misplaced) on the part of the Postal Service this expense has been relatively unchanged over at least the last ten years. Although, given the current recession, we should expect fewer Americans to relocate this year. This should lead to a reduced USPS address quality related expense. However, it will still remain a huge expense.  

In an attempt to dramatically reduce this address quality related expense PMG Potter, in a major Postal Forum speech a number of years ago, set, as a goal, a 50% reduction in this expense. In the intervening years, as best can be determined, there has been no meaningful change in this expense. Indeed, about a year ago USPS Memphis address quality managers admitted that it had only recently been decided how to measure and determine if the PMG’s goal was being met.  

Why has the Postal Service been so slow to achieve any progress on this significant financial goal?  

In my view the basic reason, besides a lack of management leadership or Board of Governor oversight, is that the USPS has been acting as a regulator to try and solve the problem. All that has been done is to add additional and more stringent requirements regarding how soon before mailing a mailing list must be matched against a USPS approved NCOA based list.  

The reality is that there has been no fresh thinking on this issue.  

As you might expect I’ve got a thought on impacting this $ 2  billion expense. 

First, it has been revealed that $800  million, or 40%, of this $ 2  billion of expense is incurred by the return to sender, of undeliverable First Class mail. In other words, this undeliverable mail, from all across the country is returned to mailers, all across the country. This is sheer madness, and should be stopped, or correctly charged for. It must be noted that the very first NSA(negotiated service agreement) has provided the obvious solution to this problem. That is, provide the undeliverable information electronically, without returning the mail piece.  

Significant requirements are in place in order to receive the automatable First Class mail rate, the lowest rate available. Why not add one more requirement? That requirement is, if an automation rated First Class mail piece cannot be delivered or forwarded, the mailer, will not be permitted to receive the mail piece back, but rather must be electronically notified. The mailer should be provided with an electronic composite of the delivery address, including the addressee’s mailer provided account number. The Postal Service already does this for periodical(magazine) mailers. This will permit the mailer an easy, low cost update of their mailing list. The mail piece should then be destroyed. This was essentially the agreement in the very first NSA. 

If the mailer desires, or for legal reasons, needs the mail piece returned the mailer should pay the return cost. I would guess that this cost is at least $1.00. Given the $1.00 + charge, I believe those mailers would quickly determine how to process bad address information without the mail piece, and still avoid any legal consequences. Frankly most mailers would probably realize that it can be done at much less than their current cost. 

This change, the non return of the undeliverable mail piece for automation rated First Class mail, should eliminate a significant portion of that $800  million expense. 

To make it easier to gather support for this proposed change I would use much of the savings that will result, to reduce the rate for automation rated First Class mail. If automation rated First Class mailers share in some of the processing savings that the USPS will achieve it should make the program an easier sell. Indeed, a lower automation rate might entice more mail into this most efficient category.   

Tags: Add new tag, Direct Mail, Direct Marketing, intelligent mail barcode, Jack Potter, Letters, Mailing, Money, Move Update Requirements, new postal regs, non profits direct mail, PCC, Philadelphia, Philadelphia Post Office, Postage, postage increase, postmaster, USPS, usps regulations for flats

How the post office works

Tags: Direct Mail, Direct Marketing, Letters, Mailing, Money, new postal regs, non profits direct mail, PCC, Philadelphia, Philadelphia Post Office, Postage, postmaster, USPS

USPS: Too much discretion in price setting?

Commissioner Goldway compares USPS finances to the banking industry

Tags: Add new tag, Cost, Direct Mail, Direct Marketing, Jack Potter, Letters, Mailing, Move Update Requirements, National Change of Address, new postal regs, non profits direct mail, one code, PCC, Philadelphia, Philadelphia Post Office, Postage, postage increase, USPS, usps regulations for flats

Holy IMB suspensions

Make sure your mail processors have been approved for the full service IMB or you might miss out on potential discounts come November!

Intelligent Mail Readiness Alert
Intelligent Mail® Readiness Alert: Meeting critical dates this month will determine whether you will be ready for Intelligent Mail Full Service by November 2009. The USPS is changing its focus from helping companies getting PostalOne!® to those companies already using PostalOne!® and getting them ready for Intelligent Mail Full Service.

Cambridge, MA (PRWEB) March 12, 2009 — Business Maiilers who are interested in participating in Intelligent Mail® Full Service by November 2009 when the initial published rate discounts start, should have started PostalOne!® CAT (Customer Acceptance Testing) no later than March 31, 2009. The Postal Service will begin to shift resources from currently helping companies with their PostalOne!® CAT and Parallel testing applications to Intelligent Mail® Full Service readiness and certification. They will start putting fewer resources into companies that want to get into PostalOne!® and more resources on those companies using PostalOne!® to complete Intelligent Mail Full Service testing. The Postal Service will start shifting their limited resources into certifying companies that have already started with eDocs to be Intelligent Mail® Full Service certified.

The USPS is planning to help the early adopters of Intelligent Mail® eDoc acceptance (those companies that are already eDocumentation certified) to complete Full Service readiness by November 2009. In short, if you have not started with eDocumentation using Mail.dat upload (not just the Postage Statement Wizard) with the USPS by March 31, 2009, your company may not be considered one of the “Early Adopters”. As a result, your organization may be at risk of meeting delays for Intelligent Mail Full Service approval and acceptance by November 29, 2009, when the discounts begin.

From the USPS NPF Intelligent Mail® IM University in Addison, IL 02/24/09.

Mr. Tom Day, SVP of Intelligent Mail® & Address Quality, Ms. Pritha Mehra, VP of Business Mail Entry and Payment Technologies, Mr. Bob Galaher, Manager Business Mail Acceptance USPS Headquarters announced at the above conference, that the USPS resources available to process Intelligent Mail® CAT and Parallel testing applications will shift to helping companies that have already started with eDocumentation to finish being USPS Intelligent Mail® Full Service certified. The USPS is making system changes on May 18, 2009 and the resources will be stretched to their fullest. Therefore, they are suspending Intelligent Mail® CAT and Parallel testing applications as of March 31, 2009 until resources once again become available.

What does this mean to U.S. Postal mailers?

It means if the mailers have not started their application for CAT and parallel testing by March 31, 2009 they may NOT be able to participate in the USPS Intelligent Mail® Full Service solution in November 2009.

Tags: Add new tag, Direct Mail, Direct Marketing, IMB, IMB regulation, intelligent mail barcode, Letters, Mailing, new postal regs, non profits direct mail, one code, PCC, Philadelphia, Philadelphia Post Office, Postage, postage increase, Savings, USPS

Mail delivery 5 days a week is positive

One can be reasonably sure that when you drop a letter in the mail, it will arrive across the street or across the state or even across the country within a few days. In addition, whole industries rely on direct mail to generate income. Direct mail has helped fund the humanitarian efforts of The American Red Cross and The Salvation Army, just to name a few, as well as generated revenue that contributes to the research of depilating diseases and illnesses that afflict millions of people around the world.

The postal service’s operation is quite impressive when you consider that it has become an intrinsic part of our every day lives.

My personal opinion is that it makes perfect sense for the post office to deliver mail 5 days a week. With many people converting to online payments, companies will not be affected as much by the one day reduction in delivery. It is just another new schedule to get used to and in a few months people will adapt, as we having been adapting to change for thousands of years.

A Modest Proposal for the United States Postal Service
By Mark Fallon

The United States Postal Service is in trouble.

It seems whenever and wherever you turn to for news, another large organization is announcing bad news. Banks, insurance companies, and car manufacturers are reporting record losses and requesting assistance from the federal government. Is it really surprising that the United States Postal Service (“USPS”) is in trouble, too?

Faced with a weakened economy and the diversion of bills and payments to the Internet, the USPS saw mail volumes drop by 4.5% in Fiscal Year (FY) 2008. (The USPS follows the same FY as the federal government, October to September). Against revenues of $75 billion, the USPS posted expenses of $77.8 billion, a $2.8 billion loss.

The first quarter of FY2009 brought more bad news. Volumes continued to decline, and the USPS posted a $348 million loss. And the news was worse in January, with an estimated $751 million loss. Even with the modest postage rate increases this year and continued cost-cutting plans, the USPS is on track to lose over $5 billion in FY2009.

Postmaster General Jack Potter testified before a Senate subcommittee in late January and outlined the challenges facing the USPS. Mr. Potter explained the cost-cutting measures that management had implemented by streamlining operations. He then requested assistance in two areas: that Congress remove the requirement for the USPS to deliver mail 6 days per week, and that Congress adjust the schedule that the USPS must follow to prepay future retiree health benefits.

The second request – adjusting the schedule for the prepayment of future retirees’ health benefits – would have an immediate positive impact to the USPS and no impact on the American public. Last year, the USPS paid $5.6 billion to pre-fund future premiums. Without this payment, the USPS would have posted a net profit for FY2008.

Of course, that wasn’t the point that the Senators, or the news agencies, seized upon. Just the suggestion of cutting mail delivery services by one day produced a backlash that the USPS was unprepared for. For the next several days, the USPS was on the front page of major newspapers and the homepage of news websites. If Mr. Potter was trying to draw attention to his agency, he succeeded.

To add fuel to the fire, 2 weeks later, the USPS announced its annual postage rate increase, 2 cents for First-Class Mail®. At the same time, it was made public that Mr. Potter and other postal executives had received almost 40% in pay raises since 2006, and significant bonuses for their pensions. These pay increases took place while the USPS was losing money.

Another Congressional hearing is scheduled for March. The chairman of the House subcommittee is Stephen Lynch (D-MA). His mother was a postal clerk for 25 years and his two sisters work for the USPS (my father was also a postal clerk for 25 years). It should be an interesting hearing.

Despite all this bad news, I remain a staunch supporter of the USPS. Outside of the military, it’s the only government agency included in the US Constitution. For the 5th year in a row, it was named the “Most Trusted Government Agency” in a survey of 7,000 Americans. And, the USPS is the lynchpin of a nearly $1 trillion print and mail industry that employees 9 million people.

The USPS does need to change. Some of the decline in mail volume is temporary, and an improved economy will help. But much of the mail volumes, especially bills and payments are gone, forever. Lower volumes don’t mean lower expenses, as the number of delivery points – homes and businesses – continues to expand.

To be successful, the USPS needs to bring in new leadership with a renewed focus on service, employee morale, and an efficient operating model. These challenges aren’t competing priorities, but complementary issues. And bringing in an outsider may be the only way to be successful.

On-time delivery of First-Class Mail® has risen over the last several years. But that is only one measure of service. New regulatory guidelines and proposed changes to mailing requirements have put additional pressure on mailers – the people and businesses who are the primary source of revenue for the USPS. Recently, there’s been a significant increase in fines and penalties on mailers in apparent attempt by the USPS to find other ways to collect new income.

Many of the recent proposals and changes reveal that the USPS doesn’t understand “mail”. The USPS doesn’t know how companies create, manufacture and process mail. That would be okay, if the USPS would understand that it’s not in the “mailing” business. Rather, the USPS is in the logistics and delivery business.

As a logistics and delivery business, the USPS needs to expand services, not cut back on services. The USPS is the only organization that delivers to every address in the country, including Saturdays. The largest competitors, UPS and FedEx, don’t want to deliver to all addresses, especially on weekends. The USPS has already partnered with FedEx and UPS on certain delivery and return products. These partnerships need to be further exploited, especially with the continued growth of people purchasing merchandise over the Internet.

The announcement of record losses, the cutbacks in staffing through attrition, and the announcement of massive pay raises for executives have had a negative effect on employee morale. The tensions between management staff and union employees have increased. To get a small sample of the bad blood, check out some of the comments posted by both sides on sites like www.postalnews.com.

From an outsider’s point of view, the USPS is top-heavy. Automated reporting from equipment, information gathered from barcodes on letters, and better business practices have eliminated the need for so many supervisors. Mr. Potter has cut the size of the staff at the USPS headquarters, but more cuts are needed.

At the same time, the unions need to support some of the hard changes proposed by USPS management, especially in the area of consolidating processing facilities. The unions have a responsibility to their members to question changes and validate management’s assumptions. But, the unions also have a responsibility to make sure the USPS remains a viable organization.

Which leads to the current business model for the USPS. Since 2001, the USPS has consistently worked to improve efficiencies and reduce costs. While successful, the current financial situation calls for even bolder changes.

Most of those changes will require further consolidation of sorting facilities and closing small post offices. That means job cuts, which will be opposed by the unions and members of Congress. But those cuts must be made. And closing post offices is harder than you may think.

I’m not recommending closing post offices in rural areas. In many of these places, the local post office is often the center of the community, and the nearest post office may be 15 or 20 miles away. A better target is where there are many post offices in a smaller geographic area.

For example, the city of Newton, Massachusetts. There are 8 post offices in an area less than 19 square miles, and located on some of the most expensive real estate in Greater Boston. But to close those post offices would require confronting two powerful US Senators and a very powerful US Representative. A difficult proposition.

Where do you find a leader willing to take on these challenges? Where would you find someone whose organization has gone through such significant changes during tumultuous times? The same place where many postal workers began their government career – the military.

The last several years have seen the retirement of generals and admirals whose service began during, or immediately after, the Vietnam War. These people were leaders during the 1970s, a decade requiring major organizational restructuring, changing focus and overcoming morale issues. Challenges that have only increased over the past decade with the changing political environment, at home and abroad.

Most importantly, these men and women are committed to public service. The spirit of service to our country must be the preeminent requirement for the leader of the USPS. The USPS is an important part of our government and provides an invaluable service to our citizens. The USPS isn’t a business, but a government agency that should be run like a business.

Even if you don’t work in the mailing industry, the future of the USPS will impact you and your business. Get involved and write, email and call the President, your Senator and your Representative. Express your concerns about the one government agency that touches every American, six days a week.

Our United States Postal Service is in trouble.

Tags: Add new tag, Address Change Service, addressing regs, Advertising, Ancillary Service Endorsements, Booklets, Cost, Direct Mail, Direct Marketing, FASTforward, flats, FSS regulations, Jack Potter, Letters, Mailing, Money, move update, Move Update Requirements, National Change of Address, NCOA, new postal regs, PCC, Philadelphia, Post Office, Postage, postage increase, postmaster, Savings, USPS, usps regulations for flats

From CNN: Postal Service draws criticism for $1.2 million home buy

By Abbie Boudreau, Scott Zamost and Jessi Joseph
Special Investigations Unit

LAKE WATEREE, South Carolina (CNN) — At a time when the U.S. Postal Service says it is experiencing a financial crisis, it purchased a $1.2 million home from an employee so he could relocate, a CNN investigation has found.

The Postal Service bought this 8,400-square-foot South Carolina home so an employee could relocate.

Postal Service spokesman Greg Frey said the home will be resold, as others have been.

“It’s not like we threw away a million dollars,” Frey told CNN. “We are hoping it’s going to go for the appraised value.”

But a real estate agent in the area said the home could be a tough sell in a depressed housing market — and the USPS said it lost an average of more than $58,000 on the 500-plus homes its relocation program bought and sold in 2008.

The 8,400-square-foot, six-bedroom home on Lake Wateree, about 30 miles north of Columbia, is likely to be the last million-dollar home purchased by the Postal Service. A $1 million cap on homes eligible for the relocation program took effect in February, Frey said.

But the program has raised eyebrows among critics and is under scrutiny by the USPS inspector-general’s office in the wake of a CNN investigation.

The South Carolina home belonged to Ronald Hopson, the former postmaster in Lexington, South Carolina, and his wife, Evelyn. The property includes five acres, four bathrooms, two half-baths and an indoor swimming pool.

Hopson is now the customer service manager for the USPS branch in Carrollton, Texas. He would not discuss the house and referred CNN to the service’s press office for additional questions. But property records show that the house was purchased by the Postal Service’s relocation contractor, Connecticut-based Cartus Relocation, in February.

Just weeks earlier, Postmaster General John Potter told a congressional subcommittee that the post office was considering cutting back mail delivery because of the economy.

“The Postal Service, like the rest of the economy, is experiencing a severe financial crisis, and I’m here today to ask for your help to protect America’s postal system,” Potter said.

He added that the post office has cut travel expenses and frozen executive salaries.

Faced with those cutbacks, Billie Bierer — who owns the lot next door to Hopson’s old home — called the purchase “crazy.”

“I mean, this should not be allowed in any company, and in this economy, things need to change,” Bierer said.

The Postal Service is a semipublic corporation, chartered by the U.S. government but not supported by taxpayer funds. Corporate relocation services are a common executive perk in the corporate world, where companies typically buy a property from an employee who is transferring to another city and resell it later.

Some U.S. government agencies do the same thing, but with limits on how much they will spend. For example, the Food and Drug Administration limits its relocation assistance to homes under $330,000.

Frey said the average cost of the 1,022 homes purchased through the USPS relocation program in 2007 and 2008 was $257,874. Fifteen of those remain on the market, he said.

Of the 1,022, 14 cost between $1 million and $2.8 million. All of those have been sold, Frey said, but typically at a loss once closing costs, attorneys fees and commissions are paid.

In 2007, after the U.S. housing boom peaked, the USPS lost an average of $50,542 on each deal, he said. In 2008, with the market in full retreat, the average loss climbed to $58,397.

And in Lake Wateree, real estate agent David Beckroge said, buyers for million-dollar properties are hard to come by right now.

“That would be very tough,” he said.

The purchase of Hopson’s home drew criticism from Pete Sepp, vice president of the National Taxpayers Union, a Washington-based government watchdog group.

“At a time when the Postal Service is considering cutting back on delivery, raising stamp prices, perhaps even going to the federal government for a taxpayer bailout, this sends the wrong signal. It is likely to make customers very angry,” Sepp said.

And Sen. Chuck Grassley, who has been a critic of the Postal Service relocation policy, has asked Postal Service Inspector-General David Williams to investigate the deal. A spokesman for Williams’ office said it was conducting a preliminary review of the case.

“We need to know that the Postal Service is for the patrons of the Postal Service, the people that are buying stamps, the people that are supporting it, that they’re getting their money’s worth,” said Grassley, R-Iowa.

Tags: Address Change Service, addressing regs, Advertising, Ancillary Service Endorsements, Booklets, Cost, Direct Mail, Direct Marketing, FASTforward, flats, flats regulations, FSS, FSS regulations, Jack Potter, Letters, Mailing, Money, move update, Move Update Requirements, National Change of Address, NCOA, new postal regs, PCC, Philadelphia, Philadelphia Post Office, Postage, postage increase, postmaster, Savings, USPS, usps regulations for flats

A great PCC event!

Today the Greater Philadelphia PCC held a general membership meeting and explored two very informative topics.  The Greater Philadelphia PCC meets with all of its members at least three times during the year to provide valuable postal information for the membership so they can stay as up to date as possible in the ever changing world of mail.

The first topic was MoveUpdate and Address Standardization co-presented by yours truly.  During this presentation we explored the importance of maintaining your mail file and the various methods that are available to mailers to help with this initiative.  Steve Rose, a veteran USPS employee with 42 years experience, started with explaining how important address stadardization and address validation were to ensuring that your mail will be delivered to your intended recipient.  He also let us in on the fact that CASS cylce M will be coming online soon as a mandatory component to acheive automated postal rates in the future.  This new CASS M will require mailers to not only validate the main address, but also the secondary address.  This new mandate will help the USPS process mail that is being delivered to companies in highrise buildings or individuals in Apartment complexes more efficiently.  Currently there is a problem when this information is omitted from the mailing address for the USPS to automate the processing of this mail for delivery.  Next, I discussed the MoveUpdate standards that went into effect in November and went through the various methods that are available for mailers to stay in compliance.  This process is crucial not only to stay in compliance with USPS standards, but also to stay in contact with customers.  The cost impact is also a consideration; if a mailer is not updating their list then they are probably wasting money in postage and printing because the mail is not making to their intended audience.   What this all means for mailers is that now you will increase your probability of getting that advertisement, bill, or general correspondence into the intended recipients hands in the most efficient manner.  Follow this link to view the slides. http://www.fmidm.com/Documents/MoveUpdate.ppt

The next topic was the “Value of Mail”.  This presentation dealt with how the mail recipients feel and act towards their incoming mail.  There was a study commissioned by the USPS to survey people and ask pointed questions to find out how they view incoming mail, what they do with their mail and what makes mail relevant.  The findings were very interesting for anybody who utilizes direct mail in their marketing mix. To summarize, the surveys showed that people looked forward to receiving mail and that in most cases they retreived the mail everyday.  It also found that there was usually one person in the household that viewed retreiving the mail as their “job”.  This person was also most likely to be the one that did the household shopping and was incharge of the household finances.  Further, the survey uncovered that individuals will sort their mail everyday, but they do neccessarily open it right away.  The key factor to determining whether a piece is kept or trashed had to with relevance.  The individuals needed to feel that the piece was relevant to something in their life or that fulfilled a need.  To view the entire presentation, follow this link. http://www.fmidm.com/Documents/ValueOfMail.pdf

All in all it was a great and informative day.  If you have any questions about the topics, the PCC , our our services please contact us:

lformica@fmidm.com

eformica@fmidm.com

 

Tags: Advertising, Direct Mail, Mail, Marketing, PCC, Philadelphia, USPS