Blame social media, customers’ expectations of instant gratification, or the fast pace of modern life, but the reality is that today’s consumers expect faster shipping speeds than ever before. This is where USPS for business comes in.
This is important because, as a small business owner, you know firsthand just how much hefty shipping costs—even if you’re not using expedited shipping—can eat into your profits.
You want to be able to meet customer demand, but you’re concerned about how that might affect your bottom line.
The truth is that using the U.S. Postal Service to ship your items is often just as effective as choosing pricier shipping companies. You just have to know the right ways to use it.
In this post, we fill you in on the best ways to save both time and money by using USPS for business.
1. Choose On-Demand Pickup
There are few things that business owners hate more than wasting their time standing in line at the Post Office in order to get their packages shipped.
What’s one of the top little-known USPS for business hacks?
You can pay a small fee for their on-demand pickup service and save yourself some time and serious stress. As long as you’ve already paid for postage (more on that in a minute) a carrier will come to pick up your packages within a two-hour window that you can schedule.
Whether the carrier is picking up one package or many more, you’ll pay the same amount.
Click here to learn more about how to schedule your pickup with USPS for business. It’s shockingly simple.
Don’t feel like paying a fee, and aren’t in need of a two-hour window?
In that case, the mail carrier can pick up your packages for mailing for free when they come to drop off your daily mail.
2. Pre-Pay for Postage with USPS for Business
Another major hassle that a USPS shipping account for your business takes care of is postage.
For example, you can easily print your own postage and shipping labels from your office, or even at home after hours. Also, you can print Priority Mail Express or standard Priority Mail labels.
Best of all, if you download USPS’s Click-N-Ship Business Pro™ software, you’ll easily be able to pay for all of your postage via PayPal on your computer.
What’s even better is that the software also comes with tracking and reporting metrics. This means you’ll know where your packages are in the shipping process at all times. Then, you can share that information with your customers.
3. Take Advantage of Security Features with USPS for Business
What if a customer is shipping a return, if you’ve ordered supplies, or even if you’re expecting stock from another business to sell for a profit? However, you’re not there to get it?
When you’re out of town, you want to know your packages are safe.
Through your business USPS shipping account, you can place a hold on your mail deliveries up to a month before you leave.
What if you’re going on a longer buying trip (or a much-needed vacation?)
USPS can also have your mail forwarded to a temporary address where you’ll be staying for more than 30 days.
Another great security feature is the USPS return receipt program.
When your package arrives, you can request to have someone at the delivery address sign a receipt to let you know your package has reached its destination. The receipt will specify the date, time, and the signer’s name on that receipt. Then, an electronic copy of that receipt gets saved and sent to you.
This means that you can easily keep track of where your most important deliveries are. Plus, you can ensure that your deliveries have made it to their proper destination.
(It’s important to note that this feature is available for all USPS customers, not just USPS business customers.)
Learn more about return receipts to see if they’re the right choice for your business.
4. Try the Every Door Direct Mail Strategy
Are you interested in using direct mail marketing to grow your client base and, in particular, to connect with your local market?
Believe it or not, the USPS can help you with that, too.
This is because they’ve created the Every Door Direct Mail™ program (EDDM) to assist you with everything from choosing the best possible postal route to delivering up to 5,000 pieces of marketing mail per day, per Zip Code.
This doesn’t just save you tons of time. It also means that you no longer have to shell out hundreds of dollars for mailing lists that may or may not be profitable.
Instead, the program has a unique online mapping tool. You can use this tool to figure out where your target demographic lives. Then you can filter by age range, income level, or the size of the household.
What’s more, you can even use the tool to simply spot heavily populated residential areas.
Plus, you can include coupons, information about an upcoming sale, takeout menus, flyers, or anything else you can dream up.
RELATED ARTICLE: SELL MORE WITH A MARKETING CAMPAIGN THAT INCLUDES DIRECT MAIL
Ready to Make USPS for Business a Part of Your Strategy?
We hope this post has made you think about relying on USPS for business as opposed to shelling out your hard-earned money for so-called “premium” shipping services.
Not many people are aware of the cost savings that the USPS business program provides. Therefore, this is a great way to get a few steps ahead of your competitors.
In short, the US Postal Service can help you to track packages, make buying labels and postage easy, and even assist with direct mail marketing.
What’s Next?
Interested in finding marketing research studies that verify the importance of direct mail marketing? Want to learn more about your target market’s overall expectations? Curious about the upcoming trends in e-retail?
Then check out our collection of research studies and how-to articles. This is the perfect place to start preparing for what’s next.
