In March ONEPOST were invited to attend a formal Postcomm presentation of the annual Business customer survey and customer survey findings for 2009.

These surveys have become recognised by the industry as valuable insights in gaining an understanding of the characteristics and trends in the business mail market as well as assessing the needs and changing requirements of all customers in the UK

As with previous years, the surveys reveal that the majority of people – ranging from the ordinary householder, to a small business and through to a large corporation – are relatively happy with their postal service.

Businesses were asked to rank how satisfied they were with the overall service that they receive from their provider; the mark was given out of 10, with 10 being very satisfied:

• Royal Mail scored 7.8

• Other providers scored 7.9

So, with very similar scores, it will be interesting to track trends in future years.

Both sets of data were gathered towards the end of last year when there was Royal Mail industrial action and evidence of falling mail volumes as a result of the economic recession.

Tim Brown, Chief executive of Postcomm best summarises when he states “These are difficult times for post but these results show that despite falling volumes in mail as a result of the changing world – and even despite strike action – customers say they are generally pretty happy with their postal services, whether they get them from Royal Mail or rival operators.”

But, there is evidence of reduced loyalty towards Royal Mail.  Business customers are sending out mixed messages about their feelings towards Royal Mail.  Despite their apparent satisfaction their loyalty towards the company has increased.

In answer to the statement: ‘We would never move mail from Royal Mail to another provider’…

• 47% of businesses agreed they wouldn’t move mail (2007)

• In 2008 this figure reduced to 39%

• And in 2009 the figure has reduced to 25%

In view of this response it is unsurprising to see that 41% of respondents stated they would consider moving some mail to another provider – but not all. This figure has increased significantly from the 2008 figure of 27%.

Usage of postal services

As we know, the postal industry faces challenging times, but there is still real evidence that for many businesses, mail remains a key distribution channel

•  51% of businesses stated that mail is core to their business operations (49% in 2008)

•  31% of businesses stated that mail is critical for ‘our customer communications and statements but not core to our business’ (unchanged against 2008)