“The 4 Seasons of Success” is the Business Connect™ contest that can earn qualified participants great prizes throughout the year.
“The 4 Seasons of Success” Business Connect contest coincides with our fiscal year quarters, and winners are selected at the end of each quarter.
Each quarterly season will focus on communicating different products and services. Quarter 2, for Winter FY 2008, runs from January 1, 2008, to March 31, 2008. It is focused on using USPS.com® as a resource to help contestants make five Business Connect activities to demonstrate the convenience of doing business with us at www.usps.com/business. It also makes customers aware of how simple shipping can be with our flat-rate envelopes and flat-rate boxes, which can be used to promote both domestic and international packages.
1. Qualified participants include postmasters, station managers, branch managers, supervisors, and managers of customer service. Customer relations coordinators, small business specialists, and business development team members are not eligible to enter, but they will be critical in the support and success of participants.
2. Activities throughout the competition will automatically count towards monthly program targets, but to qualify for the contest, activities listed as requirements for that quarterly season must be completed and documented in the Business Connect Data Center. (An activity can be an individual meeting, group presentation, or lobby event.)
3. After each quarterly season (i.e., after December 31, 2007, and March 31, June 30, and September 30, 2008), the names of all qualified participants (i.e., those who have met the minimum activity requirements) will be entered into a prize drawing for one Grand Prize winner and 50 runner-up winners.
4. Bonus Points: For every sale for at least $10,000 in estimated annualized revenue, the qualified participant will have his/her name entered an additional time into the drawing. For example, a qualified participant who doesn’t make a sale for $10,000 will have his/her name entered once in the drawing (for having completed the requirements); a qualified participant who makes one sale for $10,000 will have his/her name entered twice (once for having completed the requirements, and once for the $10,000 sale); and a qualified participant who makes one sale for $10,000 and one sale for $20,000 will have his/her name entered three times (once for having completed the requirements, once for the $10,000 sale, and once for the $20,000 sale). After each quarterly season, all successful candidates who complete the criteria regardless if selected as a Grand Prize winner or a runner-up winner will earn 20 bonus points towards the Chief Marketing Officer’s Growth Award.
5. Additional seasonal rules:
a. Participants must complete five Business Connect activities to demonstrate the convenience of doing business with us at www.usps.com/business. This also makes customers aware of how simple shipping can be with our flat-rate envelopes and flat-rate boxes, which can be used to promote both domestic and international packages. Participants can use the Business Connect kit and highlight the value of using USPS.com to assist customers when sending packages.
b. To be credited, participants must document their activities in the Business Connect Data Center by 11:59 p.m. Central Time on March 31, 2008.
c. To qualify, participants must document at least five business connect activities by selecting any of the following dropdown options:
1. Domestic Express Mail (BC Contest).
2. Domestic Priority Mail (BC Contest).
3. Domestic Parcel Post (BC Contest).
4. International (BC Contest).
5. USPS.com (BC Contest).
6. District recognition: At the end of the fourth quarterly season, each of the top three districts with the highest percentage-to-activity target attainment and each of the top three districts with the highest percentage-to-revenue target attainment (based on the Business Connect Activity/Revenue Ranking Report) will receive $1,000 towards a district celebration.
7. Prizes: A drawing will be conducted after each quarterly contest period to award one Grand Prize winner and 50 runner-up winners.
After Quarter 2, a qualified participant will have his/her name entered into a drawing for the Grand Prize — a trip for two to Anaheim, California, for the National Postal Forum to be held May 18–21, 2008. This Grand Prize will include airfare and hotel accommodations for four nights, as well as two passes to Disneyland in Anaheim, California. Also, 50 runner-up winners will be selected to receive a gift certificate for a prize selection of their choice ($50 value).
For questions about “The 4 Seasons of Success” Business Connect contest, send an e-mail to BusinessConnect@usps.gov. In the subject line, please include the word “Contest” and your district name (for example: “Contest — Houston District”). Manual offices that don’t have computers should contact their local district marketing manager for manual activity forms. To qualify for the contest, you must complete manual forms and submit them to district offices for input into the Business Connect Data Center to meet the above contest deadlines.
For more information about “The 4 Seasons of Success” Business Connect contest, see the article titled “Business Connect ‘4 Seasons of Success’ Contest Kit: Quarter 2, Winter FY 2008,” starting on page 34 in this issue of the Postal Bulletin.
— Customer Development,
Customer Service, 1-3-08
