Trends in Print and Mail

I was in New York City last week, having coffee with my good friends, Ray and Marv. After getting caught up on personal matters, we started to talk about what we’ve been seeing lately in the industry. We shared stories about misfortunate mailings that seemed to become more commonplace. Departments with address lists so bad, they needed manual coding. Improperly formatted letters that were returned to sender, because the bottom lines of the address didn’t show in the window. A marketing mailing that included a Business Reply Mail envelope, with the Courtesy Reply Mail post office box.

Ray observed, “Everyone is so focused on digital, it seems that no one can do physical mail correctly anymore.”

Interestingly, we shared almost 100 years of industry experience between the three of us. Ray and Marv have run successful projects for physical billing and e-billing for their company. Some of the other companies in the stories had certified mail center managers. However, in each case, the professionals weren’t consulted. The experts were ignored. And the results included thousands of dollars in misspent print and postage.

In the world of digital natives and Customer Communications Management (“CCM”), physical mail doesn’t get the respect it deserves. However, most customers still prefer to receive their bills in their mailbox. Marketing campaigns are more successful when they include a postcard or a letter. Many industries are required to use mail to prove compliance with government regulations.

So, why the disconnect? Probably because people are more attracted to what is new. The latest software or mobile device. Hosted solutions that bring together multiple platforms. The buzz words and acronyms used by consultants and pundits (anyone else remember when “CRM” was the mantra of the day?).

Besides, physical mail is “just mail”. There isn’t anything magical or exciting about printing a piece of paper, inserting it into an envelope and putting a stamp on it. Anyone can do that. The mailroom is down in the basement. Surely, no one important works down there.

The preceding paragraph may slightly exaggerate how the rest of the business world views print and mail operations. But it’s closer to the truth than many of us care to admit. We must work to be recognized as experts in order to prevent bad decisions before they’re made.

Steps to take to create the change in perception include:

Last week, the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee (“Committee”) released the draft Postal Reform Act of 2016. The draft bill has already received praise and criticism by the postal community. Both fans and critics of the U.S. Postal Service (“USPS”) will find parts of the bill to support and oppose.

Overview

For people without the time to read the complete 188-page bill, the Committee has published a 4-page summary of the major provisions. Several key aspects of the bill:

Recently, the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) filed a request with the Postal Regulatory Commission to establish the 2017 Promotional Program. The first of the 2017 promotions will begin Jan. 1, 2017. There are six (6) proposed promotions:

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Title 39 of the U.S. Code states that the mission of the US Postal Service is:

“…to provide postal services to bind the Nation together through the personal, educational, literary, and business correspondence of the people. It shall provide prompt, reliable, and efficient services to patrons in all areas and shall render postal services to all communities.”

Before we had a country, we had post offices and post roads. For more than 375 years, dedicated men and women have delivered the correspondence and parcels that helped form and bind a nation together. Many of those same people helped our country in other ways – in business, politics and public service. This is the first in a series of occasional articles profiling their lives and contributions.

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From March 20 through 23, 2016, over 3,500 mailing professionals gathered at the Gaylord Opryland Convention Center in Nashville, TN for the 2016 National Postal Forum (NPF). Attendance was the highest in about 5 years, with about 30% first-time attendees. More importantly, there was a noticeably increased presence of mailing professionals under the age of 30 – a great sign for the future of our industry.

Classes were well-attended, with sizes ranging from 65 to 200 people. Even the last class on the last day at 4:30 in the afternoon, still drew a full house. Of course, the event with the most number of attendees occurred on Monday morning, when the entire NPF gathered to hear the Keynote Address from Postmaster General (PMG) Megan Brennan.

The theme of PMG Brennan’s speech centered on momentum and technology. She explained that there was never a better time to reinvent mail. Listening to their customers, the US Postal Service (USPS) will focus on:

Last week, I attended a seminar on mailpiece design hosted by my local Postal Customer Council (“PCC”). The presenter was a US Postal Service (“USPS”) employee whom I’ve known for decades. John has held a variety of roles, including an automation specialist, Business Mail Entry Unit (“BMEU”) supervisor and a Mailpiece Design Analyst (“MDA”).

I first became a customer of John’s back in the 1990s. One company I worked for redesigned statements to print the postnet barcode in the address block of our bills. John helped set up tests on the automated barcode evaluator – or ABE – as we were working through the design. Later, his staff provided training for my operators when we purchased a letter sorter. And we never ordered business reply envelopes without getting camera-ready artwork from John’s office.

When the USPS moved the MDA process out of the local districts, John didn’t let his customers down. He led classes on how to use the new online system. And if you got stuck, he would still take your calls. If he couldn’t solve your problem, he would find someone who could.

As I listened to John last week, I thought of the other USPS employees who’ve helped me over the decades. Not just in the Boston area, but wherever my business took me. People who not only knew the regulations, but who had built networks of experts within the USPS.

Lately, those networks have started to fall apart. A large percentage of USPS employees are “baby boomers”. Baby boomers is the term used for people born during the demographic post–World War II baby boom – generally considered between the years 1946 and 1964. That means their ages range from 52 to 70 years old. Many are deciding to leave the USPS – either to retire or to start the next phase of their careers. And the pace of retirement announcements seems to have picked up.

Consider the knowledge that’s leaving with these people. Letter carriers who built relationships with the people who live on their routes. MDAs who help business mailers prepare mail properly. Entry clerks making sure that the mail is compatible with postal equipment. Postmasters that are involved with their local communities.

The USPS needs to plan on how best to transfer this knowledge to their new employees. Replacements should spend time shadowing the veterans during their work day. Staff assigned to the business service network need to set up appointments with mailers and actively participate in the local PCC. New postmasters should introduce themselves to the local Chamber of Commerce and other community groups. And everyone needs to network with their fellow USPS employees – craft and management.

New blood and new ideas are good for any organization, especially large entities. At the same time, there’s distinctive value in the experiences of long-term employees. A good plan for the future will integrate these complementary strengths of the USPS.

On Friday, February 5, The United States Postal Service (“USPS”) released the draft postage rates for the rollback of the Exigent Rate Increase in April. While there remains some uncertainty around the implementation date, this is good news for mailers.