This week’s question: Will the presence of a new Postmaster General change anything? Does anybody expect any dramatic difference from how the USPS was under Jack Potter?
Our current panel includes: Jackie Gizzo of Leon Henry Inc.; Dave Hare of New England List Services Inc.; Bill LaPierre of Direct Media Millard; Melissa Marchetta of All That Marketing LLC and Kirk Swain of DirectMail.com. (Would you like to be considered to be a member of our roundtable? Contact Larry Riggs at [email protected].)
Jackie Gizzo, vice president, Leon Henry Inc.:
In December of this year, Patrick R. Donohue, current Deputy Postmaster General and COO became the 73rd Postmaster General. During his tenure, Donohue worked with Jack Potter to create an ambitious modernization plan for the USPS. I would expect Mr. Donohue to continue to address the demands of a changing business climate and take the necessary steps required to ensure the health and longevity of the USPS.
Dave Hare, president, New England List Services Inc.
I hope that the Postal Service will become more open to change. My experience is that the focus has been on cutting costs rather than incorporating new ideas to increase mail as a marketing channel. My suggestion to use several standard A stamp designs to make direct mail look more important fell on deaf ears. Secondly, I deal with several Business Reply Mail Units and all but one never answers the phone, never sends me a balance and seldom sends a receipt. The one BRM office that does is excellent in every way. Why the other offices don’t take more of an interest in direct mail is a concern.
Bill LaPierre, senior vice president, Direct Media Millard:
Let’s be real. The USPS lost $8.5 billion in its 2010 fiscal year and that’s on top of a $3.8 billion loss last year. The volume of mail continues to decrease, from 213 billion pieces in 2006 to 177 billion in 2010. Yes, part of it is attributable to the economy, but most of it is due to the inexorable migration of mail to electronic media. Who is going to fix that? No one, no matter how talented, no matter how well established within the USPS, will be able to reverse that trend. Add to that trend of lower mail volumes (and lower revenue), the USPS’s rising costs
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