Maltapost unveils enhanced range of solutions in bid to ‘partner’ customers

Maltapost plc is striving to partner both the country’s business community and individual customers with an enhanced range of solutions to increase efficiency and convenience, chief executive officer Joseph Gafà told The Times Business.

After a rebranding exercise that saw an overhaul of corporate image and services, the legacy company has now embarked on a marketing campaign to unwrap a host of innovative solutions to support clients’ mail and e-commerce activities

“Up until now, Maltapost never channelled significant investment into promoting its services,” Mr Gafà said. “Internally, it was a sore point. We face tough competition and a drop in traditional mail in this age of substitutions like e-mail. We must regenerate and innovate continuously.”

Mr Gafà explained the post office assessed its image and decided to rebrand, replacing its blue and yellow corporate colours with the more traditional black and red in a bid to marry legacy and foresight.

The chief executive emphasised Maltapost’s top priority was not necessarily to be the least expensive option on the market – there are at least 10 other players in the industry, including two with full postal services licences – but the best choice for all customers.

Maltapost has comprehensively branded the nine service suites in its portfolio, including the more traditional ‘Collectit’ offering that encompasses a range of philately products and online services targeting Maltese and international collectors.

Over the next few months, Maltapost will roll out a range of services that will spare small businesses labour-intensive and costly mail handling procedures while unveiling new functions like document management. Individual customers will have more choice for delivery and collection options of packets and parcels.

Mr Gafà explained substantial investment in IT will allow Maltapost to win more business in mail management like preparation and hybrid mail. Among the many options in its ‘Manageit’ offering, Maltapost will print ‘bulk’ electronic mail entrusted to it and fold, envelope, label and distribute it for large clients requiring delivery of statements, letters, circulars, and marketing material, addressed or unaddressed.

Maltapost has already secured business from the Malta Environment and Planning Authority for a back office solution that sees mail like planning application documents opened and scanned and then resent to MEPA officials’ terminals. With a guarantee for confidentiality, Maltapost is able to process highly sensitive documents for a range of clients in a similar manner.

Maltapost’s document storage and archiving offering can help firms reduce paper document storage requirements and free up prime office space. A widening portfolio will also see electronic data stored within the post office’s own systems.

Additionally, businesses may no longer need dedicated mail handlers as regular mail can be stored for delivery and collection by appointment.

After the refurbishment of some postal branches and the inauguration of another on the University campus, where student and staff population has risen to equate that of Malta’s largest towns, Maltapost is seeking to leverage its network further.

Building on the displays of third party products like stationery, Maltapost is in discussions to introduce shop-in-shop concepts in branches, and is to invest in footage production and screening facilities in a bid to serve as in-branch promotions. Small businesses, Mr Gafà explained, could benefit substantially from targeting the “very high footfall” in branches.

The three-storey extension of the Qormi headquarters is now in its final stages and will serve to enhance customer experience for the collection of parcels and packets.

“Maltapost has identified several ways to support its parcel handling workload. This extension will offer much larger areas for our staff to work in,” Mr Gafà explained.

“We also have other products planned so that customers may choose from a variety of options such as different locations to collect their mail other than from the branches which have limited opening times. We will also use different communication channels like SMS and e-mail to exchange information with customers about their mail and will also introduce an online account service thanks to our new portal.”

Mr Gafà added Maltapost was negotiating with solutions providers to make online shopping more accessible to a wider customer base. Individual customers seeking to purchase goods from overseas companies which only dispatch domestically will soon have Maltapost to thank for finalising transactions and shipment.

Following feedback from customers, Mr Gafà said Maltapost will tap into its network of postal and postal-related partnerships in a bid to facilitate e-commerce and open up channels. Additionally, Maltapost will introduce an insurance product for local and international mail later this year.

Maltapost’s network of international partners will also be tapped to ensure the company wins as much business as possible from incoming mail. With the international postal market widely liberalised, the days of mail flowing through the state operator are long gone.

“We are preparing the necessary infrastructure and building our international network to ensure that as much incoming mail as possible flows through Maltapost,” Mr Gafà stressed. “We are embracing the challenges of substitution and competition so that we can exploit advantages created by this new scenario and create opportunities.”

At the time of its initial public offering in 2008, Maltapost had indicated plans to venture into low-cost financial services. Mr Gafà continues to be tightlipped about the plans, only saying that the preparation for roll-out of these products and services were “at an advanced stage from all aspects”.

Maltapost will leverage the expertise and network of its parent company, Lombard Bank, to offer enhanced financial services. Dedicated space has also been earmarked in many Maltapost branches to deliver this new function, which will build on the current limited offering of cash encashment.

Maltapost, Mr Gafà said, had largely succeeded in shedding its legacy company image. In the corporate world it has gained a strong foothold with its stock clinching the best performer title on the Official List of the Malta Stock Exchange last year with a 42.9 per cent gain. Maltapost plc will publish its interim financial statements in a month’s time.

“We continue to invest in our staff, and our clients now expect more from us,” he added. “Customer feedback is not only about complaints. We do have mishaps but they are relatively few and far between considering we process more than 200,000 transactions a day.

“It is important to understand customer requirements. The culture change within the company has been ongoing since 1995 and now we have fully embraced a strong commitment towards our shareholders, our 620 employees, and our clients,” he said.