Growing market demands and changing customer needs call for total commitment by all postal operators to better service quality throughout the postal chain, Edouard Dayan, director general of the Universal Postal Union, said at yesterday's opening of the World Postal Business Forum in Paris.
The forum, taking place in conjunction with the ninth Post-Expo exhibition, brings together 300 postal sector representatives including 40 postal leaders from around the world.
“There can be no development or sector growth without service quality,” Dayan said. “By making quality their No. 1 priority, posts will be able to benefit from growth opportunities in areas such as direct marketing and e-commerce.”
Jean-Paul Bailly, chairman of France's La Poste, also referred in his opening address to La Poste's program begun three years ago to modernize its production system.
But the postal situation differs in each country, Dayan warned.
“A homogeneous, coherent network is necessary to ensure better service quality,” he said. “Closing the development gap is an essential element in any effort to promote a flawless network.”
Dayan reminded audience members that the UPU's development cooperation efforts aim to help the postal services of developing countries attain the best possible service for the benefit of all.
While improving service quality throughout the physical postal network is a priority for the UPU, the organization is also looking to the future, highlighting the postal sector's role in building an inclusive information society. The postal sector will be represented at the World Summit on the Information Society on Nov. 16-18 in Tunis, Tunisia.
The UPU, a United Nations agency based in Bern, Switzerland, is the main forum for cooperation among posts. In addition to maintaining a universal network that provides modern products and services, it establishes rules for international mail exchanges among its 190 members and makes recommendations to stimulate mail volume growth and to improve the quality of service for customers.
Melissa Campanelli covers postal news, CRM and database marketing for DM News and DMNews.com. To keep up with the latest developments in these areas, subscribe to our daily and weekly e-mail newsletters by visiting www.dmnews.com/newsletters
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