Within the last six to twelve months, many customers have reported an increase in return mail, even when those addresses are verified Australia Post delivery addresses as recorded within the Australia Post Postage Address File of over 15 million unique delivery points. Any increase in return mail is of great concern and must be investigated. For these customers I have managed their return mail for the last few months and have come to some conclusions; Australia Post have changed how they deliver posted letters and are either pre-filtering letters before they get to the postie, or there has been a decline in postie local knowledge; local knowledge that if a letter is addressed to ABC School at 123 ABC Street, that they still know to deliver the letter even if the address is ABC School on ABC Street, even if a numbered street address is absent, which is common in the Australia Post Postage Address File for delivery addresses that span multiple lots or entire streets. A posties local knowledge can be lost by a variety of reasons, i.e. when posties are moved from one delivery area to another delivery area regularly, high turnover of postal delivery staff or increasing the density of delivery areas so posties have less time to name a few examples.
Ok, if true, what would this mean for future posted letters?
Of course, I am only speculating but when local postie knowledge is lost, then posted letters MUST contain a 100% accurate EASY delivery address. Unmatched or unbarcoded letters should not be mailed to and removed from mailings. Further, if a delivery address’s letterbox is not clearly or easily observable from the street, or too difficult to deliver to, it’s not hard to imagine the outcome of the combination of a hot long day, a stressed postie and a solitary letterbox at the end of a long driveway. So even with a valid Australia Post delivery point, letters could easily end up as return mail for an increasingly variety of reasons.
In my Australia Post delivery area, there have been several different posties just in the last six months. When a postie is not familiar with an area, it’s inevitable that letters will come back as return mail. How often do you see your postie? How often do you see a different postie in your delivery area?
What can I do to reduce return mail?
Before mailing to a database, ask your mailing house to filter out any unbarcoded or unmatched addresses. Ask for these addresses to be returned for future address verification with the customer.
With over 15 years’ experience in print and mail, I can help you with any questions or concerns you may have. Please feel free to contact me.
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