Snail Mail Handicaps

Twice in the past three weeks I have been handicapped by snail-mail.

The post office is not at fault. Canada Post is pretty good at next-day delivery for anything posted within the GTA going to the GTA. I’ve known this for years, because I’ll drop something in the letter-box across the street and get a phone call about it the next day at 10:30 a.m.

1 A well-loved client stopped sending cheques. Turns out it coincided with my switch from hand-delivery to twice-a-month mailed invoices. My contact rarely goes down to the mail-room (and the company doesn’t have a clerk), so the letters just pile up in her pigeon-hole.

2 A well-loved colleague ignored my evaluation form and gift-card. Turns out he usually checks his PO Box twice a week, but has been too busy this past fortnight to do so. His mailing address is a street address, not a PO Box number, so I had assumed it had gone to his home or shared office.

The solution to both these situations is obvious: Whenever I am mailing something to someone I’ve not previously mailed to, I should send an email as soon as I have dropped the letter in the box, so that people like these are made aware that something will be waiting for their attention.

Talk to Me !