The era value of postal service

Every once in a while there will be a trip to the post office. Usually, it is the return high-speed rail ticket stub of a certain itinerary sent by registered mail, and sometimes it is a real package. Watching quietly while waiting, I also have some understanding of the unique value of the post in this era.

Post is home

The post office is like home: maybe not pretty, maybe a little messy, but that’s what your home looks like. In contrast, a bank branch is like an office: there is a guard at the door, the environment is neat and serious, and the etiquette is polite, but you won’t really be at ease. It’s a bit like the comparison between the Taiwan Railway and the high-speed railway. The Taiwan Railway is the home, and the high-speed railway is the office. Take the train home, take the high-speed train for business trips. The comfort of the two is completely different.

So the feeling of waiting is different. It takes some time to get to the post office and bank. In the post office is to watch the people and things around you slowly unfold while you are empty, whether it is postal service or savings. It’s a place where you can slow down as if you were home.

“Slow” is rarely a problem. Even if it is a difficult post office, everyone will naturally switch to that rhythm when they come in. Everything is slow, but done well, just fine. If I don’t understand, I ask the question. The counter seriously solves my doubts. I even think a step further, see the problem I really want to solve, and then help me find a solution. I am very happy.

Post is alive

The person walking into the post office is still not the same as the person walking into a bank branch. Because of the multi-industry integration of the post office, the customers are more diverse. Also in a bank branch for a period of time, the heterogeneity of the people I see is not so high. Even if the staff are tall, short, fat, thin, old and young, the post office has a wider range. That is a quality of life.

The same is true of the difference between the Taiwan Railway and the high-speed railway. The staff of Taiwan Railway are more diverse, especially the age distribution, just like our neighbors. Most of the high-speed train service staff are young, with neatly fitted uniforms, as you would experience in a typical business environment.

Twenty years ago, I lived in the American countryside, and my impression of the US Postal Service was actually very similar to that of China Post. There are many very old (six or seventy) elders in the post office staff. Especially in the countryside where I live, everything is slow. The employees just live in the same town as you, like neighbors. Much like the post office in a small Taiwanese town.

That’s the taste of the post. Regardless of the United States or Taiwan.

The post is secular

Postal services are available everywhere, even in rural areas. The postal service has more human-to-human contact than other public utilities, such as utilities. Whether it’s at the post office or at your doorstep. There are better service touch points than competing industries (logistics, banking, insurance, etc.) or other government services, and it is easier to impress customers.

Post is stable

The overall environment of the post office is not so modern, and there are even a lot of decrees on the bulletin board. But that just conveys the stable value of the postal public sector. And this era is much more conservative than at the end of the last century (the world is changing too fast, people are more insecure), and stability is more important.

A while ago to update a post office account that I haven’t used for more than 20 years. The experience was very good. I wanted to just turn it off. The commissioner said “the post office account is very useful, keep it”, and I was persuaded. Even if you have a post office account, you can also check the service experience of Deposit Money.

“The bank’s account is very useful.” Only Chunghwa Post, which is still public and symbolizes stability, can say. I can’t use such a strong reason when I close a normal bank credit card account and the other party tries to keep someone.

Another example. Chunghwa Post cooperates with the Agriculture and Food Administration to launch a variety of agricultural products on the i mail order platform. Agricultural products themselves are a bit difficult to sell because of the unstable output. Chunghwa Post also felt that it was only doing public welfare, but did not realize that it was actually a manifestation of the postal value.

After the food safety storm a few years ago, the public now pays more attention to health, safety, sustainability, and local sentiment and identity for agricultural products. The strength of Chunghwa Post and the Agri-Food Administration’s guarantee is unmatched by other e-commerce companies. And Chunghwa Post’s services also go deep into the origin of these agricultural products.

An example similar to the postal service is Taiwan Salt. The value proposition to the end consumer during the transition has always been clear: health. This is also in line with the tone of the original industry. In the context of the food safety crisis in recent years, their advantages have also been highlighted.

Post is emotional

The postal business, especially the postal service, connects people and the emotions behind them. In fact, the same is true of foreign exchange, many of the needs of customers come from the situation of life. Many people’s first financial account in their lives, and the first seal they have for opening an account, is that of Chunghwa Post.

Continue the account update mentioned in the previous paragraph. The specialist will then help me update my information, reset my account (some options that were not available this year), and issue a new passbook and a new VISA debit card.

What impressed me was how smooth the process was. I don’t need to fill out any forms at all, whether paper or digital. The commissioner asked the question orally, and I answered it orally. The atmosphere was a lot like gossip. Finally, she printed out the information for me to confirm the signature. If this process is a bit cumbersome, such as filling out a very complicated form, I may give up.

The authorities are fans, and sometimes what postal practitioners think is natural is actually very difficult in other fields. For example, highway supervision services, regardless of vehicle registration, driving registration or fines, are common to everyone. But no matter how convenient these services are, the people still have complaints. If the car you drive is a little old, you need to test it once a year or even half a year; think about that feeling.

Conclusion: The future of the post

Chunghwa Post is a multi-industry integration, and each industry (postal service, savings and remittance, life insurance) has its own private competition. State-owned enterprises are also relatively conservative, and have faced considerable pressure for transformation in recent years.

But the apparent disadvantage is actually the value. Like multi-industry integration, if properly integrated, there will be considerable insight into customers. The conservativeness of public enterprises, or doing things that private enterprises do not do, has instead made it precipitate a unique and not outdated value in this era.

Transformation will always be driven by a clear value proposition. Only by recognizing your core values ​​can you know which direction to turn to and how to go. And not just chasing, but also going ahead.