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Mail handler helps small biz with shipping

Robin Black, a Greensburg, PA, mail handler, used a lead generation program to generate new revenue for USPS.

A lead from a Pennsylvania employee has resulted in a shipping deal worth more than $3,000 for the Postal Service.

Robin Black, a mail handler at the Greensburg Post Office, is a big fan of a local cookie baker and followed the business on Facebook.

She then noticed the bakery had started selling its cookies through Facebook and reached out to the owner about using USPS for shipping.

After the owner agreed to hear more, Black submitted a lead through the Mail Handlers program, which allows mail handlers to pass on information about businesses they think could benefit from USPS products and services.

Postmaster Michael Cialone and Robert Lessman, a Pennsylvania 1 District business development specialist, followed up with the customer. They closed a deal for $3,466 in new estimated annualized revenue for the Postal Service.

Sales generated from Mail Handlers leads count toward the USPS Power of One campaign to raise revenue through sales leads from employees.

“Robin’s interest in a small local business provided an opportunity for the Postal Service to help that company ship its cookies,” said Dorothy Muir, small-business sales program specialist at USPS headquarters in Washington, DC. “Our mail handlers don’t interact with our customers while on the job, but that doesn’t mean they can’t spot opportunities to help our customers and the Postal Service’s bottom line.”

USPS is encouraging as many employees as possible to submit at least one lead through any of its six lead programs by Sept. 30.

The small-business team is tracking program participation rates through its weekly “Drive to 35” downloadable report. The team has also begun its annual Get the Red Out campaign to encourage employees who haven’t submitted a lead to do so.

The Small Business and Lead Generation Programs Blue page has more information about Mail Handlers and the other employee lead programs: Business Connect, Clerks Care, Customer Connect, Rural Reach and Submit a Lead.