Customer Connect is continuing its hot streak.
The program, which encourages letter carriers to identify new business opportunities for the Postal Service, produced more than 50,000 leads for USPS during the fiscal year that ended in September, up 6.7 percent from one year earlier.
Customer Connect also generated more than $160 million in estimated annualized revenue during fiscal 2017, a year-to-year increase of almost 9 percent. Since its inception in 2003, the program has generated almost $2.5 billion in estimated annualized new revenue.
“Letter carriers are the face of the Postal Service for most customers,” said Small Business Engagement Director Mary Anderson. “Customers see them at their homes and businesses every day and trust them with their mail. Leveraging these relationships is what makes the program so successful.”
The Postal Service celebrates the program’s success each year by designating Nov. 17 as Customer Connect Appreciation Day. Across the nation, Post Offices will conduct stand-up talks and other activities to educate letter carriers about the program and thank participants.
Customer Connect Appreciation Day is also used to highlight employees like James Cecala, a letter carrier who recently identified an opportunity while on his route in Staten Island, NY.
As Cecala delivered mail to a warehouse, he saw a competitor’s truck making pickups.
He then submitted a Customer Connect tip that led to a sale generating 125,000 new packages annually and more than $1 million in new estimated annualized revenue for the Postal Service.
“I could see firsthand how this company was growing,” Cecala said. “I knew the Postal Service could help them with their shipping needs.”
The Sales Blue page has more information about Customer Connect and other programs that allow employees to submit sales leads, including Rural Reach (rural carriers), Submit a Lead (Executive and Administrative Schedule employees), Clerks Care (retail associates and clerks) and Mail Handlers.