The Del Polito Letter

Gene Del Polito gives readers insight into the United States Postal Service each month in The Del Polito Letter. He is an advocate for those who use mail for business communication and commerce, and the president of the Association for Postal Commerce (PostCom).

An Urgent Wake-Up Call
Apr 1, 2007 12:00 PM, By Gene A. Del Polito
The word is out. The Postal Regulatory Commission has issued a schedule of recommended rates that could very well be the death knell for some of our industry's ...

Is Anyone Listening?
Dec 1, 2006 12:00 PM, GENE A. DEL POLITO
FROM MY EARLIER CAREER AS AN audiologist, I can remember the many corny jokes made about diagnosing and rehabilitating people with hearing disorders. ...

No Serenity Here
Nov 1, 2006 12:00 PM, GENE A. DEL POLITO
HAVE YOU HEARD OF THE Serenity Prayer? It goes like this: God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things ...

Memo to APWU: Get Real
Oct 15, 2006 12:00 PM, GENE A. DEL POLITO
What's up with the American Postal Workers Union? Here's an organization that's supposed to secure the long-term best interests of a key sector of the ...

Spotlight on Marketers
Oct 1, 2006 12:00 PM, GENE A. DEL POLITO
In earlier columns I've said that mail is under attack in the media and in several state legislatures by those who are striving mightily to reduce direct ...

Many Questions, Few Answers
Sep 1, 2006 12:00 PM, GENE A. DEL POLITO
INQUIRING MINDS WANT TO know: Will R2006 be the last rate case mailers have to deal with under the present postal ratemaking system? Will we see an end ...

Rate Shock
Aug 1, 2006 12:00 PM, GENE A. DEL POLITO
MANY DIRECT MARKETERS ARE still in shock after seeing the U.S. Postal Service's proposed rates for standard mail parcels weighing less than a pound. If ...

Educate Yourself
Jul 1, 2006 12:00 PM, GENE A. DEL POLITO
THE POSTAL INDUSTRY IS UNDER attack, and it's time people in our business took it seriously. Too many who make their living from the mail are turning ...

Still Frustrating After All These Years
Jun 15, 2006 12:00 PM, GENE A. DEL POLITO
WELL, THE LATEST RATE CASE is under way, and that means sometime in late spring or early summer of 2007 new postage prices will go into effect. The U.S. ...

The Blind Leading the Blind
Jun 1, 2006 12:00 PM, GENE A. DEL POLITO
OK, I'LL ADMIT IT: I'M A postal nut. The first thing I do every day to tap into the latest buzz is search the Web for postal news from around the world ...

A Weighty Issue
May 1, 2006 12:00 PM, GENE A. DEL POLITO
The U.S. Postal Service has done an amazing job reducing costs. But thus far, despite stiffening competition, mailers haven't seen it do much to increase ...

No Value Added
Apr 1, 2006 12:00 PM, GENE A. DEL POLITO
Not long ago, the U.S. Postal Service created quite a fury in the business mailing community by proposing to charge marketers a premium if they wanted ...

Mail Delivers
Mar 1, 2006 12:00 PM, GENE A. DEL POLITO
THOSE WHO OVERSEE THE DIRECT mail industry's welfare dread the beginning of every new legislative year. I'm undecided whether this should be characterized ...

What's Down the Road for Mailers?
Feb 1, 2006 12:00 PM, GENE A. DEL POLITO
WHAT CAN BUSINESS MAILERS expect this year? In a nutshell, a dollop of uncertainty and a heaping helping of change. On Jan. 8, postage rates rose 5.4%. ...

Two Little Words
Jan 1, 2006 12:00 PM, GENE A. DEL POLITO
THE MATHEMATICIAN AND general semanticist Alfred Korzybski once wrote, The map is not the territory. Anyone who's ever used a road map can tell you that ...

Get on With It!
Dec 1, 2005 12:00 PM, GENE A. DEL POLITO
IT'S BEEN FASCINATING TO WATCH the Board of Governors and the Postal Rate Commission trade barbs over what they believe is good or bad about postal reform. ...

A Blueprint for Change
Nov 1, 2005 12:00 PM, GENE A. DEL POLITO
If you haven't read the U.S. Postal Service's 2006-2010 Strategic Transformation Plan, you should. It will provide as clear and concise a guide to what ...

Address It Right
Oct 15, 2005 12:00 PM, GENE A. DEL POLITO
OK, it's time for a pop quiz. Can you tell me what facet of any direct mail pitch is sure to influence the response rate you get? If you said the address, ...

USPS: Port in a Storm
Oct 1, 2005 12:00 PM, GENE A. DEL POLITO
IF THERE EVER WAS ANY DOUBT THAT mail and the U.S. Postal Service still play important roles in the way we communicate and do business, it dissipated ...

USPS Plays It Close to the Vest
Sep 15, 2005 12:00 PM, GENE A. DEL POLITO
The U.S. Postal Service's financial picture has been looking pretty good. There's no doubt the postmaster general has done a yeoman's job in keeping a ...

Defend Yourself or Pay the Price
Aug 1, 2005 12:00 PM, GENE A. DEL POLITO
IT'S CLEAR THAT SOME MEMBERS of the media think unsolicited direct mail ranks right behind spam as one of the 21st century's great plagues. So what's ...

Doing What's Right for the USPS
Jul 1, 2005 12:00 PM, GENE DEL POLITO
THIS, LADIES AND GENTLEmen, is the 11th year the U.S. postal world has been considering legislative reform. At this point we're about where we left off ...

You Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet
Jun 1, 2005 12:00 PM, GENE A. DEL POLITO
Recently the U.S. Postal Service filed a request for higher rates with the Postal Rate Commission. The postmaster general is on record saying the USPS ...

A Golden Opportunity
May 15, 2005 12:00 PM, GENE A. DEL POLITO
Most people view taxes, phone bills, utility bills and death as immutable forces. But many of them wouldn't think for a moment of ever doing anything ...

It Just Makes You Wonder
May 1, 2005 12:00 PM, GENE A. DEL POLITO
Any businessperson worth his or her salt knows it costs more to find a new customer than to keep an old one. The more customers you retain, the better ...

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