William Edmundson was visiting the offices of his consulting client, iPostal1, when he heard a bell ringing.A senior leader was strolling down the hall, happily ringing a bell in celebration — the company had just had a record setting day — and it wasn’t even lunch yet.
Edmundson is no stranger to us here at Coworks, having shared the stage with CEO DeShawn Brown for the Community Manager of the Year Awards, and shared insights on the value of being part of the Global Workspace Association. But recently, he was consulting with iPostal1, and something unexpected happened.
His research into the company and analysis of the market complete, Edmundson had become a fan. He found iPostal1 to be a company that delivered a quality service to partners and end users, and he was able to map out exciting potential new avenues. So it was no surprise when he was invited to come on board as Senior Vice President.
“I liked the culture and the investment back into the company,” he said. “But what really blew me away was the customer service and support. They provide free training on the front end. They support the staff at the center as well as the end users — all from four different time zones.”
With his own vast expertise in hospitality and flex, and deep industry relationships with operators and owners across the vertical, Edmundson is now leading the effort to expand the company’s reach — and bring more options to coworking operators.
The mainstay of iPostal1 is its digital mail offering for people and companies that don’t have a fixed business address and don’t want to use their personal information. A user comes to the iPostal1 website and selects a center or partner space in a geographic area they choose. The company has over 2500 spaces in its network now.
“This is about funneling customers to our centers,” Edmundson explained. “iPostal1 does the marketing and sends virtual clients to our partner spaces. And not just leads — complete customers are being delivered.”
These partner spaces get listed on the iPostal1 website — this is quite an advantage considering average web traffic is in the millions of visitors per month and far more than any other company in the industry.
For the user, the iPostal1 not only provides a ‘brick and mortar’ address, but a service that scans, processes, stores, and shreds mail in a safe and secure way. For the centers or partner spaces, they get a ready-made system and process that streamlines the work and outsources administration and support to the iPostal1 team for customer service, training, credit card processing and USPS Form 1583 compilation for center approval.
A mail service product that delivers 2 revenue streams to coworking operators
Coworking spaces have long promoted themselves as business addresses for entrepreneurs and small businesses. And they can all collect and sort mail, as long as they are compliant with Commercial Mail Receiving Agency (CMRA) guidelines as a private business that accepts mail.
But that’s an informal way to deliver an everyday service, and it definitely has its challenges.
“Community managers have their hands full.” Edmundson observed. “They are often on the front lines to greet visitors, welcome members, talk to FedEx, clean the meeting rooms, make the coffee, sell events... they do everything! Then they get asked all day long if the mail was sorted yet. It feels like a much larger, more frustrating task on top of all the other work they have to do.”
The most effective operations successfully integrate mail service into their workday with one simple ingredient: routine.
“For even the largest operations, we’ve seen most mail sorting and handling tasks completed in under 30 minutes per hundred customers. We also have an option for centers to use scanners that scan a piece of mail in just one second, and a custom app experience for members to get their notifications. The spaces that do it really well report doing it the same way, at the same time everyday, ideally by the same person.
Adding iWorkSpaceMail offers coworking spaces and flex offices a documented, organized process for receiving and managing member mail and packages through a proprietary software platform. In addition, the service allows operators to use their logo for branding so it doesn’t feel like an outside party for the member. Plus that all-important resource: support and service from real people at the center who are supported by the iWorkSpaceMail team.
“This is the best source of revenue per square foot that a business center can have,” Edmundson declared. We offer two revenue streams. With iPostal1, we pay for the marketing and send the clients over and pay space operators twice a month. With iWorkSpaceMail, an operator can upgrade their members to a digital mail experience and make money on tasks members request.
“Today’s operators know they need to offer a wider array of services to differentiate and keep members in their community. iWorkSpaceMail with iPostal1 means more revenue, and more reasons for your members to remain part of your community!”
For more information or to speak with a member of the team go to iworkspacemail.com and provide your contact information and they will connect with you.
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