Inside the Envelope and Label Spring 2011 : Page 1

the Envelope & Label What’s Inside Innovation at Work for You . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . page 2 Your Intelligent Mail Survival Guide . . . . . . . . . . page 2 Less is More . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . page 3 Spring 2011 In the Know . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . page 3 A Tear-iﬁ c Marketing Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . page 4 Customers' Corner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . page 4 President’s Perspective You frequently observe me using this space to encourage our customers to partner up with Western States Envelope & Label to get ideas regarding ways in which to grow their business. Evidently, some of you were listening. Here are recent tales of success experienced by three of our customers who chose to employ us as a resource to get new business. Customer #1 (along with more than 2 dozen other printers) received a quotation request from a local municipal purchasing department who was looking for some colored remittance envelopes. After checking with us, they found out that the envelope requested was a stock item with us and could be shipped very quickly. After submitting their bid, they were awarded the job and discovered that they were the only one to respond to the quotation request. Using Western States as a resource got them a job that all of their competitors thought would be too difﬁ cult to source. Customer #2 recently told us that their business was up 30% this past year…in part because they have chosen to partner with Western States to pursue new envelope business as one of their growth strategies. They ﬁ nd that growing their envelope business is easy when they work with us. Customer #3 explored a number of different options to expand their business this past year. One of the paths they chose was to partner up with Western States and they have now added label products to their Website. These three customers are examples of the many who have recognized that Western States Envelope & Label can be a valuable resource to help them grow and prosper. Labels and envelopes are easy if you have the right partner. Call your Western States Sales Representative and put us to work for you today! Thankfully Yours New PMG Brings Relief With the swearing in of new Postmaster General (PMG) Patrick Donahoe, the goal of growing mail volume is gaining traction. One of the ﬁ rst things Mr. Donahoe did was postpone indeﬁ nitely the move from POSTNET to the Intelligent Mail barcode [more information on that on page 2]. He wants a good working relationship with mail service providers and printers. Later this year, the Postal Service will roll out a quarterly Grow Your Business Day program at the local Postmaster level. Meetings will focus on growing mail volume and engaging the small business customer in the process. Local mail service providers and printers will be invited to participate. By Steve Brocker Walking the tightrope between service levels and cost control is exempliﬁ ed by the Postal Service’s push to eliminate Saturday delivery. By and large the mailing community is against this move, saying that it will lead to accelerated abandonment of mail as a medium. The Postal Service estimates it will lose $200 million of revenue with this move, but have operational savings of $3.3 billion. The Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) released its advisory opinion on March 24, 2011 on this issue. The PRC disagrees with the ﬁ gures cited by the Postal Service stating that they have over-estimated operational savings by $1 billion and under-estimated potential lost revenue by $400 million—a $1.4 billion discrepancy. The Postal One of the new methods of encouraging mail Service will continue to push this “Six-to-Five” growth is a program now being implemented delivery change, and eventually Congress will titled Every Day Direct Mail Retail (EDDM Retail.) make the decision. In my opinion, before throwing The program will use simpliﬁ ed addressing and in the towel on a day of delivery, every effort saturation mail rates for small business mailings should be brought dropped at the local bear on growing or retail delivery Six months into the new PMG’s tenure, the tone to mail volume–both destination unit and focus of his programs are encouraging. First Class and (DDU). Six months Standard Mail. into the new PMG’s Congress needs to unshackel the USPS to allow it tenure, the tone and focus of his programs are to close underpreforming locations quickly, and encouraging. The key will be the ability to stay provide relief on the $50 billion to $75 billion in true to that goal, especially given the difﬁ cult overpayments made for retiree health beneﬁ ts. economic pressure and operational challenges. In my role as MTAC representative for the Cost-cutting in the postal world is a double-edge Envelope Manufacturers Association, I spend sword. Mailers are ﬁ rm on the agency’s need to maintain service measurement standards. Selling two days per quarter at USPS headquarters mail in this day and age with multiple alternatives working with other MTAC representatives and Postal Service staff to help eliminate barriers out there will be difﬁ cult if service levels slide and are not consistent. In his role as Deputy PMG, to processing and growing mail volume. In a changing world of communications, the value of Mr. Donahoe was a driver of improving service mail needs to be increased to make it relevant to levels as the Chief Operating Ofﬁ cer. He fully understands the importance of service and what the future. To this end, I am encouraged by Mr. Donahoe’s initial brush strokes. This canvas is can happen if service levels drop. deﬁ nitely a work-in-progress. Mark Lemberger President 1

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