Two-Way SMS a solution to Australia Post’s woes

Incorporating two-way SMS messaging into the logistics and customer service processes of Australia Post will make all of our lives a little easier. The Australian postal service has come under heavy fire recently following a barrage of complaints about redirected mail and bad customer service. In 2007 alone, there were more than 65,000 customer complaints about incorrectly redirected mail.

The Postal Industry Ombudsman has released his report on the investigation into the inefficiency of the postal service and recommended that Australia Post look into the use of more sophisticated tools and processes. In particular, the use of paper application forms and redirection stickers was noted as leaving significant room for human error. Furthermore, John McMillan, the Postal Industry Ombudsman, is quoted as saying that, “Australia Post and its staff need to be a little more responsive to the problems that people can encounter” and that “the organisation’s response to complaints needs to be addressed.”

SMS messaging is the most cost-effective way of communicating with any mobile audience – customers, employees and suppliers, as a result of the simplicity and ubiquity of SMS messaging. All modern handsets are SMS-capable and consumers are comfortable using SMS. In fact, it is estimated that more than 250 million SMS messages a month are sent in Australia. Furthermore, SMS’ are usually delivered almost instantaneously and delivery can be monitored, ensuring that important messages do not slip through the cracks. With a reliable SMS gateway provider, message sending can be automated and fully integrated into existing technology platforms.

One simple solution to dealing with Australia Post complaints is for customers to SMS their complaints to the customer relations office and, through two-way SMS messaging, receive an automated response acknowledging receipt of the message along with a reference number for the complainant. This eliminates the need for call centre personnel, cuts down on customer frustrations and means that all complaints are logged in an automated system where they can be dealt with systematically.

Additionally, Australia Post cannot afford to disregard the public’s growing lack of faith in the delivery system as the Letter’s division, in particular, has seen rapid profit declines over the last few years as more and more Australians turn to email and SMS to stay in touch. To restore the credibility of the system, SMS could be used to notify customer of where in the process of delivery their letters or documents are, with SMS messages potentially being sent out upon dispatch, upon receipt at the destination post office and again once they’re out for delivery by a postal worker.

Australia Post needs to follow the lead of its customers, many of whom have already turned to email and SMS as an alternative to sending a letter and communicating via ‘snail mail’. They could be reaching every mobile phone in Australia with an appropriate two-way SMS messaging capability available from a reliable SMS gateway provider.

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