Member Article

Postal Rate Change set to hit SMEs

Almost 80% of SMEs in the financial services sector believe that Royal Mail’s rate change announcement will have a negative effect on their business.

As of today, the price of a first class stamp is set to rise from 46p to 60p, while second class stamps have increased from 36p to 50p.

New research by Pitney Bowes indicates that half of all businesses will now send less post, and change they way they communicate. One in seven firms questioned also found that advance information provided to them was ‘poor and confusing’, and were unaware that changes would have such a significant impact on their business.

Phil Hutchison, marketing director of Pitney Bowes UK, said “The Royal Mail’s announcement is inevitably going to have an effect on Britain’s SMEs.

“One in two (50%) SMEs across the UK with between 101 and 200 employees fear that the postal rate change will have a ‘big impact’ on their businesses, forcing them to change the way that they communicate with customers or even worse put their business under threat.”

He is now urging businesses not to panic and abandon physical mail in a bid to avoid high postage rates.

“Successful customer communications depend on a delicate balance of message, medium and timing.” He added. “Although digital communications undoubtedly have their place, traditional print campaigns are still critical for most businesses and are likely to remain so for many years to come.”

Phil believes that the changes could also provide SMEs with a good opportunity to review their entire communications strategy, and is encouraging them to consider moving to metered mail.

Metered mail can help businesses make significant time and money, whilst delivering a range of benefits such as better ‘open rates’ and a more professional image to customers.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .