DHL 2006 Annual Report Download - page 29

In the reporting period, we again improved on the already good results in mail
transit times. In Germany, well over  of the letters posted during our daily
opening hours or before the last mailbox pick-up are delivered to their recipients the
next day.
Our transit times for international letters, as determined in a study by the Universal
Postal Union, are signicantly better than the standard set by the EU. As in previous
years, our quota for three-day delivery of cross-border items mailed within the EU
was , as compared with the EU requirement of .
In scal , we focused our sales activities even more closely on the needs of
our customers. We have placed responsibility for our customer segments – private
customers, small and large businesses as well as key accounts – at the top management
level, thus ensuring that each customer group is oered the solution ideally suited to
its needs. To support this objective, we have harnessed market research studies in
developing measures to boost customer satisfaction.
Goals and strategy
Our goal is to oset impending losses in market share in the domestic mail market
and maintain our protability. We intend to apply three approaches toward achieving
this goal: We are expanding the range of services oered to business customers; we
are increasing our presence abroad; and nally, we are optimizing the costs of our
transportation and delivery network and making them more exible.
Deutsche Post has moved far beyond its image as a mere mail-carrying and delivery
company. We have today evolved into a provider of end-to-end services at every
link in the mail value chain. To this end, we are focusing our sales and marketing
activities more closely on the needs of individual customer groups and adapting our
organizational structures accordingly. We are devising and gradually expanding
specic product oerings for individual customer segments. In addition to our
traditional services, we are bundling products from various business units, ranging
from individual services to the performance of a company’s entire business processes.
For example, under the Williams Lea brand we oer our customers outsourcing
solutions for document management and corporate information solutions.
rough direct marketing, we aim to maintain the loyalty of existing customers,
attract new customers, and generate additional revenue. At the same time, we
provide advice to our customers, for instance, on how to optimize their processes in
order to save costs.
While liberalization of the German mail market poses a challenge, we see this
development as an opportunity at the international level. We are intensifying our
activities in markets outside Germany where acquisitions, cooperative activities, and
the creation of our own networks will ensure that we stay on course for growth.
Business and Environment 25
Deutsche Post World Net Annual Report 2006
Group Management Report