Will USPS Going Out of Business Kill Your Business?

The United States Postal Service (USPS) is going broke and could shut down. The economic impact on graphic designers doing direct mail and on print shops will be substantial. Email marketing is cheaper and offers many advantages. It does have its limits though, and sometimes does a poor job of breaking through cluttered inboxes. You can’t email everything you need for your design business either, whether it’s finished brochures, copy materials or other works. Like it or not, the USPS can play a critical role in your business and without it, you could experience the following effects:

Loss of Clients

If the USPS going out of business affects your clients’ businesses, then it will affect yours. For example, if you build websites for online stores or print stationery for direct mail campaigns, you’ll suffer a decline in business if your clients can no longer use the USPS. Your success is dependent on your client’s success, and the USPS can play a major role in that. No matter how much your clients like you, they won’t retain your services if they cannot run a business that’s sustainable.

Decline in Leads

Direct mail campaigns are a powerful way to generate leads for your business. For example, you can send a sales letter to prospects inviting them to contact you for a free report, and end up converting a small percentage of those leads into long term clients. If the USPS goes out of business, then you may never reach those prospects. Believe it or not, some prospective clients don’t do much on the Internet and you won’t win their business through online marketing. The best way to reach them is by mail, but it may not be cost effective if you no longer have access to your local post office.

Increase in Expenses

The USPS may have to increase prices dramatically to save itself. Any increase, whether it’s 20 percent or 75 percent, can impact your budget for mailings. A jump in your expenses can blow your marketing budget or cause you to make cuts in other areas of your business. Not only will your expenses increase, but also the expenses of the vendors and suppliers you do business with. If you’re a printing company who subcontracts with promotional companies to offer bulk mailing marketing packages to clients, then you may have to raise your prices alongside your promotional company. You could pass the increased costs to your customers, but that strategy might cost you clients.

Longer Sales and Work Cycles

You can also expect it to take longer to process mail if the USPS continues its downward spiral. That will lead to a lengthier sales and work cycle. For example, let’s say it typically takes you 30 days to close a sale for each lead after you drop a sales letter off at the post office. If the mail takes longer to process, then it may take you 60 days instead of 30 days to close a sale. You may need to double your sales efforts or live with a decrease in sales as a result.

It’s important to keep abreast of the news regarding the USPS and research alternative forms of postage and delivery. You may not have a choice but to reach some or all of your leads and customers using alternative means.