In the second part of our Show Daily series about matters postal, Catalog Age interviews postal gurus Joe Lubenow and Dan Minnick of Experian Direct Tech (booth #304).
Catalog Age: Why would postal reform be good for my business?
Dan Minnick: Postal reform will definitely realign the relationship among the Postal Service, mailers, the postal unions, the Postal Rate Commission, and Congress. The USPS hopes to achieve greater marketing and pricing flexibility, which should be very good for its future growth and subsequently eliminating the need for frequent dramatic price increases.
On the other hand, mailers hope that reform will open the mailboxes to competition and establish incentives as a significant part of union compensation, much like UPS and Federal Express have. This would be a step toward linking postal pay to productivity; another significant means to avoiding frequent dramatic price increases.
Catalog Age: How can catalogers help push reform along and work for a more efficient Postal Service?
Joe Lubenow: Talk to our representatives in Congress and explain how our industry depends on universal postal service at affordable rates. Also, don’t overlook the chance to improve postal efficiency through product redefinition, “niche” classifications, negotiated service agreements, and the results of MTAC [Mailers Technical Advisory Committee] work groups such as Presort Optimization. Don’t wait for a magic bullet solution, but start from where you are and take one step at a time.