That's why Doc is concerned about the United States Postal Service and its plan to raise postage rates in response to a lower volume of mail. Higher postage rates will more than likely translate into even lower sales as magazines, catalogers, and other direct-mail users look for ways to cut back on expenses. It surely isn't a given that volume will remain constant.
Here's a small preview of what the USPS is proposing:
Doc's glad to see a few incentives in the proposal to reward large-volume mailers, but there is no denying that for most companies the net result of all these new rates will be an increase for the same volume of mailings.
You may call me a dreamer, but in many businesses when sales go down you find a way to cut costs, not raise prices. And the USPS is, in fairness, also looking to cut costs, mostly by eliminating Saturday mail delivery.
But is that really going far enough? If mail volume is down as much as the USPS is claiming, there may be a systemic problem that eventually has to be addressed: the drop is permanent and volume may not come back.
One thing for certain – if prices go up enough, then volume will drop even more and the whole cycle will repeat itself over and over again until only those who absolutely have to will be using the mail as a marketing and communications vehicle.
So let's be careful not to price direct mail so high that moving to electronic communications is the only viable option. Doc prefers choice in the marketplace and encourages the USPS to consider the competition very carefully before raising rates as the solution to a budget shortfall. Maybe now is the time to have a big sale!