Focus Sales Approaches to the Commercial Market

The commercial sales organization of the Postal Service has made important strides since the 2002 Plan. Bringing private-sector expertise to lead the sales force, the Postal Service has built new disciplines and processes to pave the way to success. These include:

• Increasing the number of managed accounts from 15,000 to 40,000.
• Adding direct selling resources ("feet on the street") to help commercial customers better understand the power of the mail.
• Blending six previously disconnected sales support systems into a single integrated system to better serve customers.
• Renewing focused training and metrics, which now include commercial customer satisfaction as a measure of success.
• Experimenting with compensation strategies that support results within the professional sales force.

In April 2005 the Postal Service launched Branding through the Mailbox, a marketing campaign that positioned the Postal Service as a strategic partner uniquely equipped to help companies build brands and achieve more effective direct mail communications. This award-winning campaign has been very successful in generating awareness in the advertising industry. The Postal Service will build on this success with additional sales campaigns based on market opportunities and technology shifts. It will also leverage field successes by identifying new mailer applications and replicating them nationwide.

The integrated market approach will include personal selling techniques, team selling, customer engagement strategies, training, direct mail lead generation, sales support, and advertising coverage. The change in focus from product-specific sales training to continual professional sales leadership training ensures a professional sales force that provides commercial mailers with Postal Service solutions. To bring products and resources to market in a consistent manner that drives business results, postal sales professionals will work cross-functionally within the Postal Service to represent the needs of customers. Every opportunity to become a strategic partner with America's largest companies and organizations will be taken to make certain that these high-potential customers consider the value that mail can deliver to their bottom line.