Why Office Evolution Coral Springs started selling digital mailboxes before opening day
Josh and Mark Mendel had been searching for the right spot to open Office Evolution Coral Springs. They finally found it— just before the pandemic shut everything down.
They opened the doors in 2021 with roughly 8,000 square feet of modern workspace.
Then, they spent the next stretch figuring out what a coworking launch could look like in the middle of a global shutdown. "In this area, it's the only true flexible office space," Mendel says.
The location filled its initial footprint within three months.
By 2023, demand pushed them to nearly double their square footage with a second suite in the building.
Today, they support hundreds of businesses and local professionals, and a meaningful share of that growth traces back to a decision the two made before they had a single member:
Start selling virtual mailboxes and pre-selling offices during construction.
Why Josh and Mark Mendel started selling mailboxes before the doors opened
A new coworking location starts with a hard problem: you're paying for the space, but you have no members, revenue, or foot traffic to build word-of-mouth.
The Mendels refused to sit on their hands until opening day.
"Even before we opened, we were in a temporary office in the building, set up as a ‘model office’ with a meeting room, private offices, and a space we could meet with people looking for our services," Mendel says. "We started selling iPostal1 digital mail services right away. It just made sense, and provided some initial revenue."
That early start did two things:
It allowed them to begin building a community of professionals, some of whom could grow their business from just a digital mailbox to a coworking plan or physical office.
Being on site during the build-out allowed them to really sink their teeth into the business model and understand how to operate a space and provide services, such as mail handling and meeting room reservations.
Mendel adds, "It let us dip our toes in the water and figure out how to service mail customers through a system that's completely different. I think it was really good."
The bigger payoff showed up on opening day.
Because the Mendels were already on-site, furnished, and working out of the building, they were ready to receive mail and sign up members from the first hour.
"The day we opened our first space, we were already at sixty-five percent occupancy," Mendel says. "The temp suite we used during construction gave us a place to conduct tours and meet with potential new members, as well as to grow a roster of digital mailbox customers, so there was foot traffic in the newly completed space from day one.”
He adds, “This brought an energy to the space that helped sell our services. An empty space is certainly harder to sell than one full of people.”
Digital mail gave a brand-new location a reason to be open and active before the official launch, and that presence helped fill the space faster than any other location in the franchise.
How a digital mailbox customer becomes a long-term member
A digital mailbox is one of the lowest-cost and easiest commitments a business owner can make.
For the Mendels, that low barrier is exactly what makes it valuable:
People come in for mail, then notice everything else the location has to offer.
Mendel explains, "I've had several iPostal1 customers come to me and say, 'While I was picking up mail, I noticed you have meeting rooms. Can I reserve that space for a meeting?"
Some of those customers grow into much more than a mailbox.
"I have two office members who've been with us for years who started with iPostal1," he says. "As their business grew, they transitioned to being an Office Evolution member. It's a nice pipeline."
Mendel is careful not to force that path. iPostal1 customers who book a conference room are considered guests of Office Evolution and pay the standard rate rather than a member discount. He's comfortable letting people stay right where they are.
But when they’re ready for more robust services, they know the location and can make the transition easily.
"It's really important that there's a difference in product,” he explains. “That’s because each customer is at a different stage in their business, and having a range of packages provides options to meet their needs no matter what.”
Why a consultative approach to sales works and how it pays off
Mendel's approach to the partnership is most evident when a sale could go either way.
He shares one concrete example.
One evening, well after hours, he found three people hovering outside the door to his building, trying to get in.
They were a group of foreigners setting up a business and had been told to look at iPostal1's website specifically for registered agent service, which they believed they needed.
It turned out that the group didn't need a registered agent at all. Instead, they needed a business address, as well as access to a place to meet with people regularly after hours.
After a full needs analysis of their business, Mendel steered them to a product that satisfied everything on their list.
Mendel uses a consultative approach to sales, helping customers find the exact service that meets their needs. That philosophy has built him a roster of more than 500 businesses across Office Evolution and iPostal1.
"I don't sell people on things they don't need," Mendel says. "It's more so just trying to figure out how we can support their current growth or goals. It's been immensely successful for us."
Matching each customer to the right product, even when it earns less in the moment, is what turns a one-time mailbox sale into years of loyalty.
Finding the right product-market fit for digital mail at Office Evolution in Coral Springs
In the first 18 months, Office Evolution Coral Springs went from zero to roughly 125 iPostal1 customers.
Over the next couple of years, the iPostal1 customer base settled around 100 businesses. He's looked closely at why, and his read is straightforward.
"We're priced at the higher end for iPostal1," Mendel says. "There are other iPostal1 locations in our city, but we have the nicest address, so it's deserving of the highest price point."
He continues, "My guess is it dipped because some people don't really care about the specific address; they just need a spot to receive mail.”
The customers who stayed, though, are the ones who value a premium address, which is the demographic the location was built for.
Mendel elaborates, "Mail's not tethered to square footage."
As it turns out, fewer accounts at a higher price, made up of the right customers, is a healthier position than a long list of members who churn the moment they find somewhere cheaper.
Why iPostal1 is the partnership that stuck for the Office Evolution Coral Springs
Mendel works with four or five third-party partners, but iPostal1 is the busiest by a wide margin, and he credits the company for improving the parts of the service that matter most to operators.
"The way they set up compliance now is great," Mendel says. "Their deep understanding of CMRA requirements and the support they provide in helping operators be compliant is great.”
He points to the ongoing work from William Edmundson and the broader team as the reason he expects the service to keep getting better for customers and operators alike.
"As iPostal1 keeps evolving, just like we do, it's only going to get better for the customers and the operators," Mendel says.
His verdict after years of running the location is short.
"I think it's the best third-party partnership that we have," Mendel says.
For a new operator, the lesson from Coral Springs is practical:
Digital mail can bring in revenue before the lights are even on, and it gives people a reason to walk through the door and discover everything else a workspace sells.
Mendel put it in place early, priced it for the customers he wanted to keep, and built a community of hundreds of businesses.
Ready to get started with iPostal1? Contact us today to start building a new revenue stream for your workspace with digital mailbox solutions.
