EPISODE 720: US Postal Service Selling Insights from Sales Intelligence Leader Shibani Gambhir

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Today’s show featured an interview with Shibani Gambhir, Vice President, Sales Intelligence and Support at United States Postal Service.

Find Shibani on LinkedIn.

SHIBANI’S TIP:  “It’s an exciting time to be part of the Postal Service. We’re going through a major transformation. We work in the millions and billions when we talk about programs and customers. You can have a very significant impact to customers, because you’re able to offer great products and solutions. You’re binding the United States together with the product offerings. That’s something to be so proud of. The transformation that we’re undertaking right now is unprecedented, and it’s the single largest insourcing transformation in the United States. Lots of investments in our IT infrastructure, in our facilities, in our employees. The energy at the Postal Service is fantastic.”

THE PODCAST BEGINS HERE

Fred Diamond: You are the first sales professional that we’ve had for the federal government. I’m going to ask you to explain why in your introduction. I’m really excited to have you here. Shibani Gambhir, give us a little bit of an introduction. Tell us about yourself a little bit, your title, and then we got some really good questions I’m excited for you to answer.

Shibani Gambhir: Fred, thank you for having me. I’m super excited to be a part of your podcast and get the word out about the United States Postal Service. I’ve been with the Postal Service for about 15 years. My background is in supply chain and logistics, and that’s actually where I started at the Postal Service, in supply chain and logistics. Throughout the years I try different positions out here at the Postal Service because that’s what this organization affords you, the ability to really try and work in different parts of the organization.

Over time, I started working in marketing and then sales. Now I am the Vice President of Sales Intelligence and Support. My background is logistics and supply chain, but I work in sales and my department, I oversee about 100 people. We’re about a year old, so it’s sales intelligence and support. What we do is we really provide all the sales intelligence for our sales team for those people, the boots on the ground, so all the leads, all the collateral, all the marketing material, all the tools that they need also, in terms of selling. We provide all of that to our sales team.

Fred Diamond: People are probably saying the Postal Service, sales, and we’re going to talk about it for a second, when I was thinking about the questions, it’s actually quite remarkable. For example, I wrote a couple books. Someone asked me to send them five copies of the book signed. I signed the books, I put them in a box, went down to my local post office, and I thought it was going to take a week, two weeks to get there. Two days later, he sends me a message, “Hey, I got the books. Thanks.” This was across the country. I don’t think people really appreciate the intricacy of how the Postal Service for centuries operates and how much of a gift it is for citizens to be able to send things via the Postal Service, and they’re going to get there. Maybe we’ll do another show on the logistics of it. Obviously, that’s what guys specialize in, but today we’re talking about sales. Let’s get right to it.

What is it like? You mentioned that you provide the sales intelligence and support and leads. What’s it like to sell for the Postal Service? Just to make sure we’re clear, it’s the only federal agency with a sales force. I guess the military recruits, technically they’re in sales, but that’s a whole different ball of wax. Answer some of those questions. Give us a little bit of a peek into what is it like to sell for the Postal Service.

Shibani Gambhir: This is just an amazing job because we connect the entire country. Our 640,000 employees deliver 425 million pieces of mail-in packages to and from 330 million people. We go to every door every day, six days a week. It’s 167 million delivery points. The mission of the Postal Service is to bind together the United States. That is exactly what we do on a day-to-day basis. We are out there, we are talking to businesses, small, medium, and large, talking to them about what their needs are, making sure our products fit their needs. We are selling, selling, selling. We have a new product, the Ground Advantage product. That is a ground product that is cost competitive. It binds the entire nation, it goes coast to coast. We are finding that it’s exactly what our businesses are looking for.

Fred Diamond: One other thing I discovered, which I didn’t realize, is that the Postal Service is self-sustaining. It doesn’t rely on taxpayer dollars. If you could explain that a little bit more, and maybe even talk about the Postal Service as a profit center.

Shibani Gambhir: Generally, we’re self-funded. No tax dollars are used to keep the lights on in many of our facilities across the country. That is a myth out there that we are supported by taxpayer dollars. We are not. All of our funding comes from the revenue that we generate from stamps and postage, our packages and our mail. That is what is our mission for being self-sustaining. We do not rely on taxpayer payer dollars. Everything comes through the revenue from postage.

Fred Diamond: Let’s talk about sales. Let’s get really deep into this. Who do you sell to? We’re not just talking about a person in line buying stamps, we’re talking about corporate, I presume, and we’re talking about engaging, because there’s a lot of big competitors we’re going to be talking to. Do you have a Salesforce? How are your salespeople measured and compensated? A lot of people listening to the Sales Game Changers Podcast, thousands of listeners, they’re typically working in tech, professional services, or hospitality. Talk about what is it like to be a sales professional for the US Postal Service.

Shibani Gambhir: It’s very unique. We have over 500 sales reps that are located all across the country, and they are selling to package customers, and they’re selling also to mail customers as well. Predominantly, our emphasis and our focus has been packages because we need to get that business going. We have a new product. We’re making a significant amount of infrastructure investments. We are in there every day selling against our competitors. You know the other two carriers that are our main competitors, we are working to win that business. We sell to small, we sell to medium, and some of the largest customers that you are all familiar with, we deliver those packages. There’s no one else in the United States that has to go to every delivery point six days a week. We are the only carrier. When you see three trucks out there delivering to your neighborhood, and you see the Postal Service, know that that’s what we’re required to do, it’s mandated.

Fred Diamond: Talk about your organization. You said you have 500 salespeople, correct?

Shibani Gambhir: A little over 500.

Fred Diamond: What exactly does your department do? You said you’re the VP for Sales Intelligence. What are some of the things that you do to support the sales professionals?

Shibani Gambhir: We really provide all the data and the analytics, all the dashboards. How are you doing? How are you growing your portfolio? How are the customers moving their product to use Postal Service? They’re using competitors. We’re giving them the information that says, “Every month, what’s it looking like in terms of packages?” Which packages are they using? We get down to specifics like which weight breaks, which zones are they using. Because we can look at that coast to coast, we can see where all the patterns are. What’s unique about our sales force is that they are not commissioned, they’re very atypical of a traditional sales force. They’re not commissioned, but they are performance based. It’s all about yearly performance, and we’re looking at how they’re growing their accounts, how they’re retaining that account, how they’re bringing in more usage of our products and services within that account. We provide them all of that analytics. We provide them leads, “Hey, here are some new customers. You need to go out and talk to them.” New businesses. New opportunities. We arm them with all the collateral that they need to have that educated discussion with those customers about how the Postal Service can help their business.

Fred Diamond: Do your salespeople have a quota? In a typical sales thing it’s like, “You’re in charge of this zip code or area, or whatever it might be, and your quota is a million bucks this year, or 500 million,” whatever it might be. Are they quota-driven as well?

Shibani Gambhir: Yeah, they are divided by territories. We have multiple territories that’s broken out and there are sales reps within those territories, and they have a target that they have to grow. That is something that they have to do every year. They have a quota and they have to grow, and then they have to retain.

Fred Diamond: Selling packages, you alluded to this before, there’s fierce competition. Everybody listening to this I’m sure knows the two main companies that you’ve alluded to before. They have their names on stadiums and we see their trucks and vans everywhere we go. They have stores in some cases. You guys have post offices but how do you compete? How many post offices are there?

Shibani Gambhir: Over 30,000.

Fred Diamond: Wow. Talk about the competition. For every package that’s delivered, you’re either going to deliver from the Postal Service, or there’s probably more than two competitors, I guess, but probably those two are going to be covering. How do you help someone who’s in logistics, or the office manager, or the doc, or whoever’s in charge of making this decision, why would they choose the Postal Service compared to the multiple competitors?

Shibani Gambhir: There are multiple reasons. I would say one of the big reasons is sustainability. We are required, it’s mandated, that we go to every door every day. We deliver six days a week. If you’re choosing the Postal Service, you’re choosing the most sustainable solution because we’re required to go there. Nobody else is. Carriers pick and choose where they want to go. It’s a big density play. We are required. That’s something that’s very different than a carrier. That’s what we talk to our customers about, is one, sustainability is huge for corporations. They’re looking to have great sustainability goals. You select the Postal Service, already right there. That’s a sustainable choice.

Also, nobody else goes to every door. There’s no other carrier that goes to every single door six days a week. That is the Postal Service and that is a huge differentiator because lots of businesses don’t want to manage multiple carriers. They don’t want to manage five, six carriers. What we find is that creates multiple processes, different systems that they have to manage, different customer experiences. What we tell folks who are looking and contemplating whether to use a Postal Service, we say it’s single chain of custody. You give it to us at Origin, we’re going to take it all the way through and deliberate. I think that’s a huge benefit for customers, because it just creates a simple process within the supply chain.

Fred Diamond: You mentioned before Ground Advantage. Talk about what that is and why that’s a differentiator.

Shibani Gambhir: We didn’t have an end-to-end ground solution. What our postmaster general recognized is that consumers want that end-to-end ground solution. We worked very hard to invest in our network, make sure our transportation system had that connectivity, and we launched the Ground Advantage product, which is cheaper from a price perspective, but it gets coast to coast within five days. There’s no other product that can do that. That’s been a huge game changer for the United States Postal Service. I encourage everyone to try it. When you go to the post office, you get options. Try the Ground Advantage option. It is fantastic.

Fred Diamond: We talked before about the over 500 sales professionals, and then we talked about your competitors. Why would someone want to work in sales for the Postal Service? You mentioned there’s no commission. If I were choosing between my next opportunity and I see something posted on your website or whatever, as a sales professional, why would I want to come work for the Postal Service?

Shibani Gambhir: I would say that right now, it’s just an exciting time to be part of the Postal Service. We’re going through a major transformation. I would say that the things that I’ve been able to do, we work in the millions and billions when we talk about programs and customers. You can have a very significant impact to customers, because you’re able to offer great products and solutions. It’s quasi-public, so you’re binding the United States together, you’re binding the country together with the product offerings. That’s just something to be so proud of. The transformation that we’re undertaking right now is unprecedented, and it’s the single largest insourcing transformation in the United States, is what I would say. It’s just an exciting time. Lots of investments in our IT infrastructure, in our facilities, in our employees. I will tell you, the energy here at the Postal Service is just fantastic.

Fred Diamond: Is the number of packages growing? The customer demand, is that growing or has it stabilized, or is it going down? Give us a little bit of a peek into are companies delivering more packages?

Shibani Gambhir: There is competition out there. You have a lot of regional carriers that have popped up throughout the past several years because of the rise in e-commerce. We have seen some declines in our package volume. But now with our new product, we are seeing a lot of customers take interest in the Postal Service. The old school mentality of it being snail mail and slow is changing. The customers are seeing the transformation and we are seeing great growth in our package delivery volume.

Fred Diamond: Besides just to the Postal Service, are people delivering more packages in general, or are they delivering less, or is it peeled off? Any insights into the “industry”?

Shibani Gambhir: Some are saying there’s a slight softening in the e-commerce space for total overall packages. For the Postal Service, we’re seeing good trajectory in growth. I think it’s a lot attributed to our transformation.

Fred Diamond: That’s exciting to see. As a citizen, we rely on the Postal Service for so much. Shibani Gambhir, your energy is great. One thing we talk a lot about in the Sales Game Changers Podcast is you’re not going to be successful if you don’t have passion for what you sell. You see this from the inside, and again, it’s such a massive operation. All these things that have to happen, and the demand from customers, just curious, how do you keep your energy and your passion going?

Shibani Gambhir: We have a fantastic leader here at the United States Post Service that keeps us going. With all of the projects that we have working, all the irons and the fire, it just keeps that energy going because we see change, we see momentum, we see customers who are taking interest in the United States Postal Service. When they start giving us business, that’s a huge trust. They start giving us their packages to deliver. That’s huge. That’s what we’re seeing, and that’s what keeps us going day in and day out. The wins, the customer wins. When we give them a contract and they accept the pricing and they start shipping, that is what drives me, that’s what drives the 542+ sales reps, is that we are building momentum and it’s all back behind our fearless leader who is doing things to help us be self-sustaining and put us on a good financial path over the next 10 years.

Fred Diamond: Are there any things that people may not know about the Postal Service? It’s a pretty remarkable operation. Are there any secrets that you’re allowed to share that we may find fascinating?

Shibani Gambhir: We are the first ones who started delivering, mail-in packages. We are 250 years old in our history. It was started by Ben Franklin. Ben Franklin was the founder of the post office. We have a rich history. We’ve always been the first ones to deliver. That’s very significant. Other people came in, but they came in way later into the delivery space. That’s huge. We have a huge retail footprint and I do want everyone to know that we are making billions of dollars’ worth of investment, $40 billion of investments to get the Postal Service back into a place that we can thrive, we can make sure that there’s longevity there, and we’re investing in our facilities, our equipment, and our people. It’s a rich history.

Fred Diamond: A lot of people joke about when salespeople go in and make a call or a presentation, they always put up that company history slide. Two interpreters created our company in 1970. Your salespeople put a picture of Ben Franklin. That’s pretty remarkable.

Before I ask you for your final action step, this is a sales podcast. We have thousands of sales professionals listening to this. What is your advice as a sales leader for the sales professionals listening to get better at sales? How can they be more successful? In general, what would be your advice? What have you learned? You’ve reached a great place in your career. What would be your advice for them?

Shibani Gambhir: What I always say is being curious. That’s very important in any aspect. But really listening to the customer, understanding what their needs are and being very curious in their business is extremely important. It’s active listening, consistent follow up. It’s a firm understanding of not only your business, but also of their business. I think being able to have that connection and make that connection early on as a sales rep is super important with your customer. That’s what I believe.

Fred Diamond: A lot of companies have customer councils and they bring together users. Is that a part of your sales process as well? Do you do a lot of listening to your customer and take their advice and implement things? Yes? No? Is that something that’s part of the sales process? You got to have companies that are spending hundreds of millions of dollars.

Shibani Gambhir: Billions.

Fred Diamond: You have some that are spending billions? Wow. They want to be listened to and they expect their vendors to listen to them. If you don’t mind talking about that for a second or two, about how do you spend time with those customers and get input, et cetera?

Shibani Gambhir: We have multiple advisory councils that we open up to. We meet with them quarterly. We have a mailers technical advisory committee. It’s a number of mailers, both mail and shipping, who come in and provide us feedback. They provide that to us quarterly. Then they help us test. They look at some of the requirement documents and they provide their feedback. We do have that, it occurs quarterly.

Then yearly, we have a national postal form where it’s a gathering once a year of all of our vendors. It’s customers, major customers, small customers attend. Next year it’s in Nashville. That’s that forum to get customers’ insights. Then when we have contracts with our customers, we have signed deals with them, we meet with them quarterly. They provide us information, they provide us feedback on our product, and that’s how we make improvements.

Fred Diamond: Shibani, thank you so much. You’ve given us so many great ideas that people can implement, and I appreciate you giving us some insights. You have customers you just said who are spending billions. Obviously, every company needs to send packages, but not everybody listening understands the depth and breadth of what the USPS does. Thank you for giving us some insights into that.

Give us one final action step, something specific that sales professionals can do right now to take their sales career to the next level.

Shibani Gambhir: The most successful salespeople that I’ve encountered are ambitious. They communicate very, very effectively. They possess a tremendous amount of drive. They are persistent. They’re in there every day. They take no, they come back. They get a no, they come back. I think that is so key to being an effective salesperson, really establishing themselves as credible. Like I said before, developing that trust, they can really knock it out of the park.

Fred Diamond: Once again, I want to thank Shibani Gambhir for being on today’s Sales Game Changers Podcast. My name is Fred Diamond.

Transcribed by Mariana Badillo