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Austrian Post Branches Out - January 27, 2010
[Post & Parcel.]Austrian Post has presented the Post.Partner Concept 2010, the first cornerstone of its drive to improve customer service.

In a bid to provide greater accessibility and improved opening hours, Austrian Post is offering all municipalities the chance to establish a postal service point.

Austrian Post will cooperate with the Austrian Association of Municipalities and the Austrian Federal Chamber of Commerce to find new Post.Partner (partner-operated postal service points) throughout the country.

“This represents the first step in our programme to provide more service and expanded customer proximity on the part of Austrian Post”, said CEO Georg Pölzl.

A new study gives high marks to Austria’s postal partner offices. 77% of the 500 people interviewed in communities where a partner-operated postal service point was opened in recent months said they were very satisfied or satisfied with the service provided.

“We want to ensure that Austrians are provided with modern postal services in a service-oriented manner and on a nationwide basis, exceeding the requirements stipulated by law. For this reason, we offer communities the opportunity to discuss with us the possibility of setting up a postal partner office in their own town. For our customers, this will mean even more service, shorter distances and longer opening hours”, said Pölzl on launching the nationwide search for new partners of Austrian Post.

“The focus of this initiative being carried out in cooperation with the Association of Municipalities and the Federal Chamber of Commerce is clearly to increase the density of our network of postal partners and improve our service-oriented operations. In this way, Austrian Post fulfills the spirit of the new Postal Act, requiring Austrian Post to provide the population with nationwide postal services on a sustainable basis,” he said.

“Within the framework of this Austrian model of success, i.e. the postal partner system, domestic firms throughout Austria are making a major contribution towards maintaining local services. Some 420 postal partner offices perceptibly demonstrate that it is possible to ensure that people do not have to do without postal services”, said Christoph Leitl, Austrian Federal Chamber of Commerce.

“The postal partnership comprises an important support mechanism enabling local businesses such as grocery stores to survive economically. Assuming responsibility for providing postal services is a three-fold win-win situation. It not only provides the population with crucial postal services, but postal partner offices attract new customers and generate additional income whereas Austrian Post increases its competitiveness,” Leitl continued.

More than 200 partner-operated service points have been opened since the summer of 2009 alone. On balance, Austrian Post operates a total of 419 postal service points together with its postal partners, alongside 1,133 company-operated branches. Since the contracts were changed in the previous year, the postal partners have featured an expanded product portfolio. Accordingly, they now offer the same services provided by a small post office.