Published here in theconversation.com first, read the pre-edit version here below.
Signalling
the last post: from Penny Black to Amazon drones.
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| Historic British vs. efficient Irish stamps |
I am fighting a home front battle against former-monopolies and outdated
working practices, as I have finally succeeded in brokering an agreement to
send e-cards next Christmas. As a low
volume personal customer I object to subsidising business post, sometimes known
as spam mail, by paying 62p for a first class stamp and nine pence less
for a second class stamp whilst business account holders pay much less, as
little as 35p, would you believe it ? (on SPAM http://mbadirector.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/the-age-of-digital-crm-has-arrived.html
) It has been so long since I purchased stamps I had to look up the
pricing, having bought in bulk a couple of years ago to avoid having to stump
up for the beyond belief pre-privatisation price hike. Call me Victor Meldrew
if you like, but it has been working....
http://www.royalmail.com/sites/default/files/RM_Business_Price_Guide_Dec2014.pdf
The foundation to my griping is not the pricing per se, but service. (on griping http://mbadirector.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/toilet-conundrum-which-one-do-you-choose.html
) It annoys me profoundly that the
world’s largest German courier service Deutsche Post (trading as brand DHL in
UK) can get boxes to me, quickly, and even when I’m not in the house.
They have pioneered an innovative garage agreement (Garagenvertrag http://www.dhl.de/de/paket/pakete-empfangen/wunschort.html ) that allows the insurance liability to
transfer following delivery to a specified place such as garage or
neighbour. Yet Royal Mail parcels insist
on having me drive 13 mins to Woking, to a tiny sorting office, show
specific identification that matches the name on the package and say thank you
to them for not delivering it in the first place. And then drive home
again.
You see, I have a healthy online shopping habit, I spend big without the
inconvenience of leaving my house. Historically I have found it very difficult
to arrange a re-delivery because more often than not the 17 number package
identifier on the ‘sorry we missed you’ slip is missing. I am sure the Weltmeister’s would have a
scanable sticky label as part of their quality assurance process. (on Weltmeister http://mbadirector.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/pop-up-mcdonalds-container-outlet-in.html
) Royal Mail don’t try automatically to redeliver the next day (like those nice
DPD people do) or allow me to easily call a speaking robot (no ID, no work) to
re-arrange for a time slot that suits me, I spend fully 25 minutes on hold
waiting to speak to a very lovely and helpful real person, eating up pretty
much my travel time to the depot. Should
be called a partial delivery service ?
From my home office I interact with new entrants, who can have funky
names like Yodel, using portfolio employment concepts ideal for retirees who
usually use small, clean private cars, to pop by in the evenings when
people are often home. http://www.apply2yodel.co.uk/EnquiryForm
Helping to make the roads less congested, delivering first time with happy,
smiling staff who might deliver ten packages each shift…why is this kind of
business model innovation so hard ? Yet
the propaganda of the freshly minted red army is intent on whining about being
cherry picked by urban efficient Whistl (formerly TNT http://www.whistl.co.uk ) in a competitive
market whilst beholden to the universal delivery obligation, every household
nationwide, six days a week. Letter
delivery is a dying business, let us be upfront about this, bye bye Penny Black. https://theconversation.com/australia-post-telstra-and-the-dying-business-dilemma-27859
Regulator Ofcom http://www.ofcom.org.uk should
continue to hold its ground deflecting the inevitable restructuring as long a
possible. Public ownership brings an
even sharper stakeholder focus on the profit motive, but let’s not allow
excessive profiteering take place in a terminal wind up. http://www.theguardian.com/business/2014/dec/02/ofcom-rejects-royal-mail-competition-concerns
I note that whilst Amazon the-virtual-shopping-mall is keen to capture
your delivery experience for its trading associates, it does not invite the
same feedback on its own service. I
would have recommended quite strongly to change its agreement with the Royal Mail,
Amazon representing circa 6% of its packages volume. http://www.theguardian.com/business/2014/nov/19/royal-mail-amazon-delivery-service-uk-parcels-profits It
has figured this out without my help, with recent announcement that the trade-logistics
western super power is building its own same day delivery using Connect Group’s
newspaper distribution network. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/43878128-5433-11e4-84c6-00144feab7de.html#axzz3NrkXZ3Vs
I’ve asked if the Royal Mail sells a safe store box, the Australians are
on it already, the whinging POHM’s (Post Office of Her Majesty ?) offer Smart
Lockers to solve the fake delivery note problem. https://theconversation.com/smart-locker-competition-may-also-deliver-unexpected-outcomes-11130
The answer: no, and it does not recommend one either. There is, however, a charged for service
called SafePlace for business customers. http://www.royalmail.com/parcel-despatch-medium/uk-delivery/safeplace Gouging a delivery premium for a basic service surely ? Hermes https://www.myhermes.co.uk
has recently arrived in our community of grocery store and customers rave about
the pricing being one tenth that of the Royal Mail for packages to Australia. UK Mail https://www.ukmail.com have just emailed me a
one hour delivery window and I can sign up for a free text alert for a tighter
timing. (For balance I have to note that
my poorly wrapped drum has arrived damaged, again.) And even if you do have a nominated safe
place, they will not use it if the package needs signing for. Customer empathy, what is that ? The
rules is the rules. Of course lots of
things in the Royal Mail system need signing for. I assume through better
tracking the newbie operators know where the packages are and can spot
patterned theft. I need not link up the gaps here…
Now, to be clear - this isn't a rant about people in the Royal Mail,
it's about the company. Our posties are decent chaps (I'd say people -
but both ours are men). I particularly object to the whinging about the
universal delivery obligation and being cherry picked when change focuses on squeezing
additional sales revenues and shoring up a limited delivery offering. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-27514531
I am delighted that finally in the 21st Century we are getting our
postal delivery in the afternoon. No pretense here, and the latest impressive
performance stats show next day first class deliveries at 93.3%, 0.3 over
target and second class 99%, half a point over target. http://www.royalmailgroup.com/royal-mail-beats-first-and-second-class-quality-service-targets
Not just after at 11:00 - properly in the afternoon, in what is no longer an
over night promise. Great. Of course, making deliveries in the
afternoons makes that ‘next day’ delivery window that much easier to
achieve. Umm, is there not competitive pressure from our growing instant
gratification culture to see same day deliveries ? Customer problem solvers Amazon have city
centre lockers, Prime for fast delivery and the headline capturing intention to
drone.
I think the Royal Mail is in dire need of a CIO, Chief Innovation
Officer, a Director for Service Excellence, and a Director of Marketing, not
communications propaganda, which is terribly old fashioned. https://www.myroyalmail.com/sites/default/files/media/RMG%20org%20chart_July%202012.pdf
Look at how nimble, yet cash strapped, services are in the Irish Republic,
innovating using generic reels of a sticky stamps, the price inked on at your
point of order. Resulting in fast and
efficient service, gone the cost and hassle of managing high value stock books
of paper money. http://mbadirector.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/the-anglo-irish-experience.html
Perhaps a broken economy helps drive the e-economy agenda harder. When will
Royal Mail be introducing virtual stamps that you print yourself using PayPal
or another online micro payments system ?
Australia Post, no longer targeted for privatisation, has got a clearer idea
of its role in offering essential services for remoter communities. https://theconversation.com/the-future-of-australia-post-will-be-off-the-beaten-track-27448
Instead of droning on about the draining universal obligation, how
about revolutionising the existing offer ? Less Penny Black and more virtual enabled
instant gratification is needed please.
