Expands the main menu

Breadcrumb

Audit Reports

Sep
25
2014
Report Number:
MS-AR-14-008
Report Type:
Audit Reports
Category: Customer Service

Customer Retention

Background

The U.S. Postal Service has a significant customer base, ranging from residential customers to large commercial mailers. Commercial mailers account for most of the Postal Service’s revenue — 71 percent ($46 billion) in fiscal year (FY) 2013.

The Postal Service has implemented customer retention efforts, including making changes to its Sales organization, enhancing its analytics to predict which customers it risks losing, and operating customer retention call centers. Our objective was to evaluate the effectiveness of the Postal Service’s customer retention strategies. We focused on the customer service and operational issues that hindered the Postal Service’s retention efforts as they were (a) identified by customers we surveyed as key reasons they churned or defected and (b) primarily within the Postal Service’s control. 

What the OIG Recommended

We recommended the Postal Service enhance the effectiveness of its customer retention efforts by implementing strategies to promote organization-wide collaboration for handling customer service and operational problems that could lead to churn or defection, effectively sharing information on at-risk customers, and reaching out to former customers.

Report Recommendations

# Recommendation Status Value Initial Management Response USPS Proposed Resolution OIG Response Final Resolution
1

R - 1 -- Implement a strategy to improve the effectiveness of the Postal Service’s customer retention efforts by promoting organization-wide collaboration for handling customer service and operational problems that could lead to churn or defection and effectively sharing information on at-risk customers.

Closed $0 Agree
2

R - 2 -- Implement a strategy to improve the effectiveness of the Postal Service’s customer retention efforts by reaching out to former customers.

Closed $0 Agree