The Postal Service has declared victory in its Race for a $Billion campaign — with seven weeks remaining.
The initiative began last October with the goal of raising $1 billion through employee-generated sales leads by the end of the fiscal year on Sept. 30.
As of Aug. 12, the campaign’s total stands at $1.01 billion.
“Postal Service employees have done extraordinary work this year in serving our customers during difficult times,” said Postmaster General Louis DeJoy. “The revenue generated from their sales leads will help our organization continue to serve the American people.”
Revenue for Race for a $Billion comes from sales leads submitted by employees through six programs: Business Connect, Clerks Care, Customer Connect, Mail Handlers, Rural Reach and Submit a Lead.
Each program allows employees to provide tips about businesses that could benefit from using USPS products and services. Business development specialists then contact the firms to explain how the Postal Service can help them.
Although employee leads dropped by almost two-thirds at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, the Sales team shifted gears as businesses began to adapt.
The team encouraged employees to look for leads about restaurant reopenings, companies that were offering sought-after supplies, and businesses that were changing operations, such as a Wisconsin cinema chain that began a movie snacks mail-order business.
“Our goal was for the Postal Service to be a big part in getting America back to work and to help businesses revive and thrive,” said Mary Anderson, small-business engagement director at USPS headquarters in Washington, DC. “Our emphasis was on saving Main Street USA.”
The new focus worked.
By the end of June, revenue from employee sales leads had more than doubled from February’s $400 million total, hitting $850.3 million. The campaign was knocking on the door of the $1 billion goal at the end of July.
The Race for a $Billion victory isn’t the only milestone that the Sales team is celebrating.
In March, the Clerks Care program passed $1 billion in revenue since its creation in 2013. In July, the Customer Connect program surpassed the $3 billion mark since its inception in 2003. And the Sales team is hoping that total revenue from Business Connect will hit $4 billion before Sept. 30.
Said Anderson: “While we have reached our goal for Race for a $Billion, we are going to use the next seven weeks to see how high we can go before the campaign officially ends.”
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