The U.S. Postal Service should display standards in Post Office lobbies. As part of its participation in the National Performance Review, the U.S. Postal Service should expand its plans to display the following standards in Post Office lobbies. --You can expect First-Class mail delivered anywhere in the U.S. in three days, your local mail overnight. --You will receive counter service within five minutes. --You can get postal information 24 hours a day by calling the following local number: (appropriate local numbers will be used). The standards above are ones that the Postal Service itself has developed and that are included in the Postal Service's plans. The National Performance Review believes that publishing and posting these standards even more broadly will highlight and reinforce the Postal Service's growing program of customer service. The First-Class mail standard was revised in 1989; it is not well known. Posting it in at least all post offices in the largest 95 metropolitan areas, beginning in the spring of 1994, will enhance the public's awareness of this commitment. The commitment to service within five minutes is a new standard; the Postal Service began a comprehensive program to introduce it this past summer. It will be posted in retail lobbies nationwide as staff are trained and demonstrate that they can meet this performance standard consistently. Information on the 24-hour postal information line is currently posted in some post offices. NPR's recommendation will mean that this sign will be placed in all other retail lobbies in the 80 metropolitan areas where this service is offered. These standards and their public display are part of the Postal Service's plans to reach 100 percent customer satisfaction. As its service levels improve and as it gets additional customer feedback, the Postal Service plans to set additional customer service standards. Currently it is working on two additional areas, complaint handling and improved service to business customers. The Postal Service is seeking ways to improve its complaint handling processes. It now handles consumer complaints via telephone and written complaint forms that are available in retail lobbies. It is completing what appears to be a highly successful test of a 1-800 number for complaints in two metropolitan areas and has expanded the test to three more cities. The Postal Service hopes to begin nationwide expansion during the latter part of 1994. Increasing its responsiveness to business customers is also a priority for the Postal Service. Although this program is earlier in its development than the residential program, efforts are under way to develop an index and a survey instrument to measure the satisfaction of business customers. Within the past year, the Postal Service has opened 95 Business Centers nationwide to assist small and mid-size business customers. The National Performance Review supports the efforts of the Postal Service in making customer service a core part of its strategic planning; using focus groups and customer surveys to assess customer issues and concerns; developing innovative customer service programs; and commissioning and publishing external assessments of customer satisfaction.
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