The Del Polito Letter: Under the Radar Screen

There should be no doubt that under Postmaster General Jack Potter's leadership the U.S. Postal Service has learned how to spot and cut out some of its own fat. Potter's USPS is much leaner than it's been under any PMG before him.

Part of all this slimming down, however, is as much a result of the economic doldrums the country has suffered since the beginning of the decade. Part also has been the result of the way America has changed the way it communicates and does business.

More and more of what formerly was mail-based communication is now handled electronically. Indeed, the metamorphosis of business and personal communication is speeding up, not slowing down, which means the postal service has only begun to experience some real structural changes to its core operations.

Even so, many in the business world believe that mail has far from played out its value as an economic tool, and remain convinced that the nation will need a vibrant postal infrastructure for some time to come.

If that's true, then what is the PMG's plan for enhancing the value of that essential business tool? Experience has shown that his management team has learned how to cut, but what's its second act? Has it learned how to do anything else, such as make a convincing case for why mail should remain in the communication and marketing mix of every business?

And what has the USPS done lately to make mail's appeal a compelling business proposition? Most postal observers will tell you it really hasn't done a thing.

What then can Potter's plan really be for the postal service of the future? Vibrancy and growth? Or a slow, sure trek to oblivion? Everything these days, to use the postal service's most recent and favorite phrase, is being done “under the radar screen.” While the USPS means it's trying to do its thing out of the glare of public notice, it's important to keep in mind that this is no great accomplishment if your products and services don't have much value.

Unless the postal service embarks on a more customer-centered focus, both in the way it deals with current customers and tries to appeal to new ones, it may render itself irrelevant as an indispensable part of the American economic fabric.

GENE A. DEL POLITO is president of the Association for Postal Commerce (PostCom) in Arlington, VA.