One of the nasty things about the stock market is how it reacts to good and bad news. Give a hint that something may be bad for business, for example, and stock prices go down even before the news happens.
OK, we're all creatures of our economic environment, so we have a tendency to do the same with news that promises the possibility of good fortune for our industry. The recent news regarding the U.S. Postal Service's overpayment on its civil service retirement obligations and the appointment of a presidential commission on the USPS are two cases in point.
For the past several years, we've had to contemplate more than our fair share of challenges facing the postal service and mail-dependent businesses. So it's only natural to hear our collective sigh of relief as the news from Washington about our postal system takes a positive turn. What we need to remember, though, is that this “positive” news holds out only the hope of better days to come if we do what needs doing to make it all happen.
For instance, unless Congress soon enacts a change to the way the USPS pays its civil service retirement obligations, we'll still be facing a postal rate case this year and yet another round of rate increases in 2004. So have you contacted the White House and Congress to urge swift passage of such a new law? If you haven't, what are you waiting for? Still more postal rate hikes?
The same is also true of the commission on the postal service. The persons the president has appointed know nothing about the direct mail business. They have no idea of the contributions your companies and our industry make to America's economic well-being. They know nothing of the people you employ, the taxes you pay, the wages and benefits you provide, and the many other contributions you make to your local communities and the nation. And they will continue to know nothing — unless you make an effort to tell them.
There's an old saying, “The shoemaker's children always need shoes.” Well, the essence of the direct marketing business lies in our ability to use our communication skills to inform and persuade customers and readers to take the actions we deem desirable.
This is not the time to suffer a loss of words. Rather, it's time to exercise our professional skills to the max.
GENE A. DEL POLITO is president of the Association for Postal Commerce (PostCom) in Arlington, VA.
