In less than two weeks, Postage rates will increase. Here is the latest news released about that changes

On July 10th, postage rates will increase. The last postage rate increase was August 2021. This was expected as part of the Delivery for America plan. As the postmaster General stated, increased rates are needed to ensure the USPS reaches its goals. For the public, the impact will be an increase in the forever stamp.

For mailers, the increase proposed averages are 6.5% for First-Class and Marketing Mail letters and 8.5% for Marketing Mail flats. While similar to the price increase from August, this increase has a different primary driver. In 2021, the increase was driven by the COVID decline in mail density (fewer mail pieces per delivery), while the logic behind this year’s increase is due to the current rise in inflation.

Many mailers will be looking to offset these costs. Even with the understanding that this would occur, such options as special USPS promotions, expanded address hygiene methods, and enhanced segmentation. Here is an excellent article from PI world with a deeper dive into ways mailers can alleviate this issue.

As the postal industry and the companies that work with mail try to adapt

GrayHair had three objectives this year for the postal industry’s largest trade event. The first was to see many of our clients and friends after a two-year drought. The goal was achieved as our team spent time with many of our clients and their vendors (You can check out the classic tradeshow pics on our FB page).

Our next was to showcase that GrayHair not only persevered through the pandemic but prospered. In 2021, we started showcasing our Business-Ready Intelligence (BRI) Solutions and it felt great to introduce how postal data is the newfound hero beyond the mailstream.

Then, we always love to showcase our industry-leading experts’ workshops. They deeply dive into topics such as Informed Visibility (IV), address data quality, the evolution of postal data in the cloud, and how to deliver outstanding customer support to clients.

We may not have had our puppies, but with our focus on postal data as the hero, our “Hero Within” t-shirts were a hit. If you couldn’t attend this year’s NPF and get one, do not hesitate to reach out, and we will be glad to send one to you (while supplies last).

​​​​​​​​​See you next year in Charlotte!!! See you

After numerous delays, #USPS CASS Cycle O goes into effect on August 1, 2023. GrayHair’s Director of Address Intelligence Adam Collinson talks with the editor of Mailing Systems Technology, Amanda Armendariz, on some straight facts about how it will affect mailers. Read the full interview in the May/June Issue

You can read the article on MST’s site. 

Smart Decisions start at the National Postal Forum

We are back, live, and in-person for the 2020 NPF. It will be fantastic to catch up with old friends, new friends, and everyone else at the Phoenix Convention Center. The last few years have been trying, but the GrayHair team is excited to showcase how postal data is the newfound hero for our clients. So stop by Booth #402 to find out how to turn data into decisions.

You can expect GrayHair’s industry-leading experts to drive the conversation on a diverse series of topics, including data in the cloud, UAA mail, and the power of customer service. Add these workshops to your schedule.

• Sunday, May 15 – PERIOD 2 – 2:45 PM – 3:45 PM – The Answer is Cloud-Powered Postal Data (Jeff Hummel, COO/CIO)
• Monday, May 16 – PERIOD 7 – 4:00 PM – 5:00 PM – Where’s My Mail? – Creating Business Efficiencies and Customer Engagement with Informed Visibility (Angelo Anagnostopoulos, VP Postal Affairs)
• Tuesday, May 17 – PERIOD 11 – 2:45-3:45  – Using Address Quality to Improve UAA – (Adam Collinson, Director of Address Intelligence)

GrayHair continues to increase the depth of its teams in critical areas – such as client support, postal experience, and data.

Cathy Wall-Loomis (Cathleen M Wall-Loomis) brings 22 years of industry experience in project management and production support to GrayHair’s growing Client Operations team. Cathy’s focus will be on strengthening vendor relations and responding to client needs.

Himali Mehta has joined the GrayHair team. As Data Scientist, Himali will support the innovative work from our data analytics team to support our client’s current and future data needs and prepare for the organization’s upcoming transformation to a cloud-based platform.

Alan Southard has joined GrayHair as Customer Solutions Manager. He brings extensive experience as an Information Technology leader, highly versed in metrics-driven analysis and aligning IT vision with corporate goals. He will ensure our clients are matched with data-based solutions to meet their needs.

They are ready to make a difference.

On March 8, the Senate passed legislation that includes several provisions, including providing the USPS relief on retirement prefunding obligations and requiring the use of Medicare. On March 14, the USPS filed with the PRC to reduce the retirement rate authority, assuming that the legislation is signed into law. This would reduce the July Price Change increase by 0.286%. The President officially received the bill on Monday and is expected to sign the legislation this week or next week.

What does it mean to you? First, there will be a reduction of 0.286% in the July Price Change. This should encourage the PRC to review the additional authority it granted the USPS as part of the 10-Year Review and make adjustments, given that most of the USPS debt has been eliminated from their books.

Below are some links for further reading:

• NPR
• Forbes
• Mailing Systems Technologies

The House passed legislation (H. R. 3076) on February 8, by a wide majority. Due to a technical issue on the Senate side, the vote was delayed and is now expected to come to a vote next week. It is possible that the Ukraine situation could delay it, but we are hopeful the vote will go forward.
The bill repeals the prefunding of postal retiree health benefits and integrates postal annuitants into the Medicare system which they have been paying into for a long time.

So what does this mean for the mailing industry? It will remove the large pre-funding burden on the USPS® books and in future July Price Changes, the 1% additional rate authority granted by the PRC will mostly disappear saving on Postage.

There are a few items that the bill does not address so additional legislation will be needed in the future.

Some items that were not addressed include:

• Changing the scope of the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) by restricting certain powers and expanding on others to make their mission more effective.
• Does not address the additional above CPI Rate Authority that was granted to the USPS by the PRC resulting in twice per year Price Changes on Market Dominant
  

The number of reports of identity theft, already on the rise, doubled increasing by 113% from 2019 to 2020. It’s important for mailers to remember that identity theft can begin at the mailbox. The financial losses linked to identity theft are not just linked to consumers — all parties involved are hit with the loss. Be part of the solution to prevent identity theft by taking steps to protect your mail campaigns and your customers.

Get an idea of what 2019-2020 statistics were: https://www.fool.com/the-ascent/research/identity-theft-credit-card-fraud-statistics/

WHAT WE KNOW

Customer satisfaction increases and call center activity drops with proactive mail delivery status notifications.

WHAT WE DO

Improve customer experience by supporting clients and call centers with delivery data visibility. BRI for CX

WHAT WE KNOW

Mail theft is at an all-time high with credit card fraud being a major concern for credit card companies and banks.

WHAT WE DO

Prevent incidents of fraud with chain-of-custody visibility and alert system for high-value mail. BRI for Fraud

WHAT WE KNOW

Marketing mail volume is above pre-pandemic levels with new credit card solicitations being among the highest.

WHAT WE DO

Enhancing customer data leads to higher response rates and improved marketing campaign effectiveness. BRI for Marketers

WHAT WE KNOW

USPS processing and service delivery standards changes, pandemic challenges, and price increases are causing angst across major mailers.

WHAT WE DO

Postal optimization for high-volume mailers focused on improving communications to ensure a mailpiece gets to the right person at the right address at the right time. BRI for Postal

National Association of Presort Mailers (NAPM) is planning their traditional in-person Annual Conference event for February 15-17, 2022 (including a golf outing on Feb. 14) at the TradeWinds Resort, St. Pete’s Beach FL. This event will hopefully start a season of in-person industry events. What you can expect from a NAPM is an event packed with leading industry experts and Keynote Presentation – Postmaster General Louis DeJoy.

Registration Details