Speaking Out on Postal Reform

With prices increasing in all phases of our business, it sometimes feels that we are at the mercy of the postage system, paper vendors, and other suppliers.

Last week, the American Catalog Mailers Association (ACMA) held an advocacy and strategy forum in Washington, DC. As an industry, we have been remiss in making our collective voices heard.

Representatives from the USPS, PRC and Congress indicated that they had very limited contact from catalog mailers and the lack of contact allowed other special interest groups to gain ground and to adversely affect the industry.

We need to be speaking directly with our local representatives, to help them understand the impact of postal increases on our businesses. Here are some tips on how to connect with your representative:

1) Assign someone as your Postal Reform Advocate
2) Write a letter to your Congress representatives
3) Be specific about your individual issue (avoid form letters)
4) Reference how many constituents in your district will be impacted by your issue
a. Potential jobs lost is a powerful argument with Congress
5) If you have multiple locations – write letters to all representatives
6) The letter will start a file – so keep in contact via email, letters, calls, etc.