“Mystery shoppers” sounds like a new reality television series, but it is actually one of the tools the U.S. Postal Service uses to gauge customer service. Mystery shoppers are customers unknown to the retail staff and who fill out evaluations on their shopping experience, which helps determine how well retail units are performing.
The U.S. Postal Service has made improving the customer experience a priority. Postal officials see a positive customer experience as a key to revenue generation because customers are more likely to return if their experience was good. As Deputy PMG Ron Stroman noted to a gathering of postal officials in August, “Our customers have choices, they don’t have to come to us. How people are treated makes all the difference in the world.”
Could post offices be redesigned to improve their appearance and ease of use, perhaps modeled after the pleasant, comfortable designs of other retail outlets?
Often when you make a charitable donation in response to a direct mail campaign, you’re asked to put a stamp on the prepaid envelope. It’s another way to help the organization save on costs. And for a nonprofit, those savings can add up.
The prepaid envelope is known as business reply...
Read More
This fiscal year (FY) appears to be unlike any other. In December, just two months into FY 2016, the U.S. Postal Service Board of Governors lost its last remaining presidentially appointed governor when his holdover term expired. The Board, which operates much like a corporate board of directors...
Read More
It seems the pricing of parcels in today’s market is a lot like the story of Goldilocks and the three bears (with the U.S. Postal Service playing the role of Goldilocks): If USPS sets prices too high, it opens the door for the big retailers to come in and make their own deliveries. If it prices...
Read More
The rapid growth in ecommerce and expansion of the package delivery market has created opportunities for the Postal Service, helping drive double-digit growth in package volume since 2015. To expand package processing capacity, the Postal Service plans to purchase and install an additional seven...
Read More
The Postal Service uses competitive fixed-price contracts to hire Highway Contract Route (HCR) contractors to transport mail between post offices and other designated stops. In fiscal year 2016, the Postal Service spent about $3 billion for about 8,664 HCR contracts, making them the largest...
Read More
The post office lobby is the principal business office of the Postal Service and often the only close-up view customers get of postal operations. The lobby’s appearance and maintenance directly affect the Postal Service’s image and are essential to its business. A bright, clean, and welcoming...
Read More