One idea circulating for enhancing our Post Office Box service is the option for box holders to receive an email or text message when a parcel or signature piece of mail has been received.
It could be something as simple as, "You've got mail! A certified letter was received for you at the Littlebigsville Post Office. Hours are 8-4:30 M-F and 10-12 Sat. (555)313-3333."
Do you think customers would pay for such a service? Comment here.
19 comments:
I definitely would use the service but the price would have to be right. I'm not a marketing person so I would have no idea about pricing this service.
People don't pay for emails from others
so I doubt they would want to pay for one from us. We could do like the others and add some advertizing along with the email.
I'm kinda on the fence on this one. I have a P.O. Box and I don't believe I would "pay" for the service. If it is included with the P.O Box as a courtesy, that would be OK. On the other hand, I can see how it could be very helpful, especially for a business. I say do a "Test Run" and see what kind of response we get.
The box holder already pays for the box. The email should be sent for free as part of our service to the US public
Let's do it !
I do not agree. First of all now you need their e-mail addresses plus someone or a computer generated program would have to be developed to send said e-mails. Which means said box would have to be scanned then the scanner downloaded and the program would then send out e-mails. So what happens when someone scans the box below or above by accident then that person makes an extra trip to the Post Office only to find out that they have no mail. I would not be happy.
Most of my customers are elderly and they don't even have a computer. Plus I wouldn't pay for the service. Just let the item arrive when it arrives.
As we know, mailing addresses change
email addresses change as well
How many times do we get a parcel in for a former resident who forgot to update their address in eBay?
This would be a perfect item to be tested in a pilot program.
No! No! No! That would be more time for a clerk and we are already trying to cut their hours back. Normally if a customer is looking for a package or signature item they will call and ask if it arrived.
Notifying people via email of what is in their physical mail box is a step in the right direction. Next we should rent an email address to them, so they can choose to get some of their communications via a secure postal email address or an even more secure postal "real mail" address. Rather than crying about how email is encroaching on real mail, we should own it.
The USPS lost the market when email was getting started and we didn't try to get into the email business. I could see this as a positive for our online shippers, where they could link their email address to their postal account. Then as the parcels where shipped they could receive automatic updates. If I shipped a parcel and Having a person email customers when things arrive....I think that would be a big hassle. It would also be a huge expense on the delivery unit who traditionally doesn't receive any revenue to cover the cost.
No. No one pays for emails. The clerks are short staffed enough; adding this to their long list of box related duties would not be a good idea.
PMG is already cutting hrs.,closing PO's,excessing employees... Where would we get budgeting for the man hrs. required to offer this service AND as most have already stated here "most people won't pay for such a service" and IF we offer it for "free" then what's the point??
I don't think it'll work.
Doesn't this happen already? I do believe there are some companies that have tied our scans to their customers emails so they know when it has arrived. I don't believe the Postal Service should do this.
I believe there are those who would pay for this service. However, I think this service would be a good selling point to promote renting a PO Box.
Why not?
Lets add another job(s) to an already bloated workforce.
We couldnt possibly conserve resources and cut unneeded personell to help with the huge shortfall? Nah ... that would make to much sense...
I think we should try this, myabe for a flat rate. Just an email or text message that says your mail is up or you have a parcel. It could be tied to our scanners, the mail up scan and parcel scan, so it could just be a computer program. Hmmmmm, we all know how well USPS computer programs work. But its a good idea and I think people would pay a reasonable fee for it, especially businesses so thye would know when the mail is up and they can get it.
I think this is a great idea and we should do it!
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