When the 2020 Race for a $Billion campaign finished in September, Arizona/New Mexico District found that it had surpassed its own goal for the initiative by almost 200 percent.
Race for a $Billion began Oct. 1, 2019, and aimed to raise $1 billion through employee-generated sales leads by the end of the fiscal year on Sept. 30, 2020.
The campaign ultimately brought in $1.2 billion in estimated annualized revenue nationally. Arizona/New Mexico District’s share of that result was $16.2 million, which exceeded its goal by 188 percent.
Kevin Kiszczak, a business development specialist, credits participation in the district’s Go for the Gold challenge for better-than-expected new revenue results there.
He and fellow business development specialists Sherry Brown and Darlene Archibeque created Go for the Gold in 2019 to acknowledge employees for submitting leads that resulted in sales above a certain level.
Employees earned a bronze designation for combined sales leads of $100,000, silver for $250,000, and gold for $500,000.
“This spurred friendly competition among employees,” Kiszczak said. “People really wanted to win one of the special certificates.”
By the time the fiscal year 2020 campaign ended, the district’s business development team had awarded five gold, seven silver and 25 bronze designations. The sales team also gave 116 recognition certificates to employees whose leads resulted in less than $100,000.
Kiszczak said the district will use the Go for the Gold competition for this year’s national employee leads campaign, which is called The Power of One and has a goal of achieving an employee participation rate of 35 percent.
He encourages other districts to adopt a Go for the Gold challenge — or create something similar.
“You can’t lose with this,” Kiszczak said. “There is no downside to more recognition for employees.”
In addition to offering programs like Go for the Gold, the Postal Service is encouraging managers and supervisors to promote initiatives like Customer Connect Day, which is held each year on Nov. 17 to promote the lead-sharing program for letter carriers.
Mary Anderson, small-business engagement director at USPS headquarters in Washington, DC, said recognition programs help increase the number of employee-submitted leads.
“This effort shows the difference that one person can make,” she said. “Each person who participated helped the district beat its goal — that’s the ‘Power of One.’”
Employees can submit leads through the Business Connect, Clerks Care, Customer Connect, Mail Handlers, Rural Reach and Submit a Lead programs.
The Sales Blue page has more information about the Postal Service’s employee lead-sharing programs.
Share your feedback at uspslink@usps.gov. Your comments could be included in the “Mailbag” column.
