• The speed and reliability of end-to-end mail delivery.
• The quality of customer service provided at all customer contact points — at home, at their business, at the Post Office, on the phone, and online.

Under the 2002 Transformation Plan, the Postal Service successfully improved service performance across all product lines. At the same time it enhanced the quality of customer service and expanded access to postal services and information. Much of the success in end-to-end service performance resulted from the Postal Services' ability to make the most of advances in information technology. In addition to independent measurement systems, data from the passive scanning of mail containing Delivery Confirmation, CONFIRM, and Indicia Based Information (IBI), helped to pinpoint quality problems and improve service across all product lines.

Efforts will be focused on all components of the mail value chain, from mail creation through delivery. The Postal Service will continue to work closely with mailers to improve address quality, to maximize barcoding on all mail, and to improve the accuracy of information about their bulk mailings. New service measurement approaches will be developed to allow for an even more open and transparent mail system. More data will become available to help target processing bottlenecks and untimely or inconsistent distribution or transportation handoffs.

New customer access channels have been developed to give customers many more options for conducting postal transactions. Customers have the flexibility to do business with the Postal Service in person, over the phone, over the Internet, and by mail. Even so, there are still opportunities for improvement across all contact points. The Postal Service will continue ongoing efforts to make it easier than ever to use the mail, while providing a level of service that exceeds customer expectations — as is expected of one of the nation's premier service providers.

1. Provide Timely, Reliable End-to-End Service

Customers expect timely, reliable mail service, and the Postal Service has delivered. For 2 years running, 95 percent or more of First-Class Mail with a next-day standard has been delivered on time. First-Class Mail service performance improved in all measured categories — overnight, 2-day, and 3-day service areas. Express Mail and Priority Mail continue to meet or exceed objectives. Customers have taken note and customer satisfaction scores have never been higher. For 15 consecutive quarters, more than 93 percent of residential customers rated their overall satisfaction as excellent, very good, or good. Similar ratings came from the three categories of business customers surveyed. Ratings are from the Customer Satisfaction Measurement system, an ongoing independent assessment of customers' experience with the Postal Service.