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Fine balance

Best practices: Prompt transitions matter

USPS employee standing in front of Post Office
White Mills, PA, Retail Associate Myrtle Quinn says she strives to do a good job both behind the scenes and in her office’s lobby.

Myrtle Quinn knows what it takes to successfully juggle providing customer service and ensuring the mail gets processed.

The White Mills, PA, retail associate begins each shift by checking the lobby to make sure supplies are fully stocked before she heads to the “back of the house” to sort and process the mail.

When the retail window opens, Quinn quickly transitions to a customer focus.

“We’re constantly going back and forth between the mail, placing notices in the mailboxes, stocking the lobby and tending to customers,” Quinn says.

Employees like Quinn understand the importance of their behind-the-scenes work to make sure USPS lobbies are stocked and working, according to Retail and Customer Service Operations VP Kelly Sigmon.

“The work we do away from our customers’ eyes is just as important as what we do face-to-face,” she says.

Quinn has three tips for her fellow employees:

• Be on the lookout. While back-of-the house work is important, make sure customers are served promptly at the retail counter.

• Be organized. “When you come into work in the morning, your work station has to be in order so you know where your forms are,” Quinn says.

• Greet the customer. When customers walk through the door, acknowledge them right away.

“Each customer should know they’re the priority,” Quinn says.

“Best practices,” a new series on employees who demonstrate on-the-job excellence, appears regularly in Link.

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