Shipping Store Education

AMBC offers live training throughout the year, coast to coast. We offer both RSi® certified and elective classes. Upon completion of a certified course and/or degree, you’ll receive an impressive certificate that you can proudly display for your customers that will set you apart as a professional.

In order to obtain your Master of Retail Shipping Degree, you will need to complete 152 hours of industry related training. College business courses, notary classes, and other professional development classes may all be used to work toward your degree. Review our Course Catalog to see how you can qualify for this degree. Then fill out the application for the degree. Once received, hang it on your wall with supreme confidence that you are establishing respect in your community for your professional and well-trained business.

Check out our Events page to see when we are coming to a location near you! Online classes are also available.

Elective Classes:

(Examples, not all classes offered at all training events)

POS Sessions: PostalMate and ShipRite User Training

Creating a Business Plan: No one likes writing a business plan, but everyone knows they need one. This session is designed as a workshop for creating that business plan. We will walk through a simple business plan template designed specifically for the MBC Business model, and look to share information from participants on benchmarks and goals.

Profit in Declared Value: Providing declared value coverage can be more than an add on shipping service. Declared value protection can be a true profit center for your location. The key is to understand the rules and regulations. Get a handle on the finer points of covering shipments, so you can sell this service with confidence.

Retail Symposium: A special session dedicated to helping MBC locations improve their retail layout and design, finding products that work well in an MBC, proper financial management and expectations and retail selling skills.

Selling Packing: Turn the packing portion of your business into the profit center it can be. Review the best practices for inventory and pricing of supplies. Learn how to combine these practices with pack estimating to create a smooth workflow environment with increases sales.

E-Commerce and Shipping: From experts within the industry, learn how e-commerce has interacted with major carriers and forever changed shipping in the United States.

Processing Mail: The USPS serves an important niche of our product offering. Understanding how to properly process postal services can help you improve your profitability, expand your offering and ultimately better serve your customers.

Customer Service: Discussing the principles and methods to retain customers and to obtain new customers. The course includes the following key areas of concentration: needs and expectations of the customer, service excellence, handling difficult customers, and challenges of customer service.

College Marketing: If you are in the area with college students and recent grads, and you are looking for proven ways to reach that audience, this class will help you realize the profits in college marketing. Learn who that customer is and what they’re looking for, innovative marketing techniques for converting customers into a marketing team, and the value of community outreach. You’ll get examples of marketing that not only pushes the envelope, but is effective as well. It takes practice and attitude to be successful in this area, and this program can give you just that.

Selling Your Postal Markup: USPS shipping can be a profitable part of your services. This class focuses on how the USPS gives you the opportunity to add profits to your business. In this class you’ll learn about the postal products available (and which are profitable), evaluate electronic postage and meters, and find out the tricks and tips to successfully market stamps.

Internet Advertising: Yahoo, local.com, Merchants Circle, switchboard.com, yellowpages.com, findashippingstore.com – are you listed in all of these? Find out the secrets to Google Adwords and how it can market your store within any budget you set, what to put in your ad to minimize costs, and more.

Effective Ad Copy: Getting potential customers to hear your message when being barraged with an ever expanding media is a daunting task. This class explores the science of focusing your message and getting it noticed.

Best Marketing Practices: Growing your business in the face of a recession is not only possible, but necessary. This class will give you the needed marketing skills to do that. Now is the time you need to be actively marketing your business. Learn how to make your advertising stand out in a world where consumers are overwhelmed by hundreds of marketing messages each day. You will learn to automate messages that go out to your customer database so you don’t have to lift a finger to bring profits in throughout the year. We’ll teach you to branch out and expand you pack and ship business into new and profitable areas, and lastly, you’ll see five strategies that will make your business more profitable.

B2B Sales: It’s great to get customers in the front door, but sometimes you need more. Discuss and learn the best products for B2B sales, what material to prepare and how to find the best potential customers.

Email Marketing: Email marketing is a powerful component of today’s marketing mix. An effective email campaign can help you boost sales and improve customer loyalty. Learn the basics behind effective marketing and how to build email into your marketing plans.

In-Store Marketing: Marketing within your four walls is often an overlooked component of any sales plan. Make sure your store is sending your customers the right message through signage, displays, colors, lighting, layout, staff presentation, and more.

Loyalty Marketing: Loyal customers make the MBC business go. This session will show you the actual step-by-step process for implementing your loyalty marketing from the first time they set foot in your door.

Financial Case Study: A composite of actual data from actual stores compared to industry averages will tell you where you stand financially, how to manage your operations to match the best stores, and how to gage your product and service mix compared to store averages. This is a financial management workshop, showcasing the best and the worst.

Best Accounting Practices: Collecting your financial data and information in a coherent and standard manner so that you immediately know whether you’re making money or not, are ready at tax time with full and accurate records, and can grow your business by reviewing what is working and what is not.

Pricing for Profit: The most valuable lessons in business are a part of this session. We’ll show you the methods to price your products and services to be successful and competitive, how to collect and read the vital information that will indicate the health of your business, and what to do with that information.

How to Value Your Business: If you are ready to sell, establishing the worth of your business is the first step. Become familiar with the specific ways you can establish a price for your business. This class will focus on the factors and issues surrounding the initial process of selling an MBC. You will learn the most commonly used formulas and methods in establishing a solid sale price. In addition, some veteran business sales advice will be shared in a casual and informative atmosphere.

Lease Negotiations: Discuss how to deal with your landlord, what to expect during a lease renewal and/or renegotiation, and how to properly negotiate lease points with your landlord.

QuickBooks Basics: This is general overview of QuickBooks. The class is geared toward giving you practical ways to set it up for use in your mail and business center.

Financial Analysis (Workshop): What do your P&L and balance sheet tell you? In this workshop, analysts will work through your financials and help you adjust your business and your product mix to optimize your earnings.

Financial Analysis: The most important part of business is not how much you sell, but how much you keep. Financial analysis is the best way to evaluate your pricing, your costs and how to grow your business moving forward.

Selling Your Business: Business plan is an exit strategy, and you need a plan for selling your business. Learn to get your business ready to sell, how to find buyers and how to leave with a peace of mind.

Introduction to Direct Mail: You’ve heard people talk about it, and you’ve wondered if it’s right for you. This session will help you understand exactly what the Direct Mail product is. Learn who the customers are, how it’s produced and sold, and what it takes to get started.

Paper 101: An introduction to the world of paper for printing and copying services. This class will help you understand the various aspects of paper, including weight, texture and brightness and how to use these factors to improve the quality of your printing and copying.

To Lease or to Purchase: Copy and print equipment can reflect a significant investment. It’s important to understand the positives and negatives of purchasing or leasing. Understanding the options can help you better make the decisions that affect your business today and tomorrow.

Graphic Design: Graphic design is a fundamental part of the print and copy world. From basic typesetting to detailed design, you need to understand this part of the business. This session will review how to properly price, produce and control your graphic design. You will also learn tools and tricks for using some of the graphics software available.

Wide Format Printing: Wide format printing is an exciting product in the print-for-pay business. With a market that continues to grow, wide format could be the right product for you. This session will discuss the equipment and technology involved in generating high quality wide format printing. You will also learn about pricing and marketing wide format services.