Most people view taxes, phone bills, utility bills and death as immutable forces. But many of them wouldn't think for a moment of ever doing anything to reshape how those forces affect their daily business lives.
Indeed, it isn't often that users of a public utility get much of a say about the organization and functioning of a vital service. Yet that's exactly the kind of chance users of the mail are being given at this time of postal uncertainty and change. Sure, participating in the postal legislative reform process is one way of having your say, but other opportunities exist as well.
If a new law is ever enacted, there will be a fairly intensive period of rule-making to lay out how our reformed postal system should function. Many details will have to be decided upon, and the process of oversight and public review will ensure that avenues for input are available to those who wish to take advantage of them.
In addition, Postmaster General Jack Potter has made plain that the work he started in the first phase of his postal transformation plan wasn't going to be put on hold pending some decision from Congress. Rather, he's announced that transformation will be ongoing. It will look at the need for change as the postal environment and customers' demands evolve. Part of this will focus on the enhancement of mail's value as a vehicle for communication and commerce while another element centers on some of the nitty-gritty details associated with mail makeup, preparation, transportation and entry into the mail stream. Not the kind of stuff that makes sexy business headlines, but most assuredly the kind of stuff that makes up the dollars and cents that are part of the cost of operating a universal mail delivery system.
While it would be tempting to view “transformation” and “reform” as once-in-a-lifetime propositions, it would be a great mistake to do so. Unless the dynamics that underlie what we know as direct marketing today turn suddenly and unexpectedly in some new direction, mail will remain an important part of modern business's marketing and advertising mix.
If that's the case, then getting involved in the process that shapes our postal system's organization and operation is vital to every direct marketing company's long-term interests and well-being.
GENE A. DEL POLITO is president of the Association for Postal Commerce (PostCom) in Arlington, VA.
