Q. What has been the performance of the company over the past three years, especially during 2008-09, when the global as well as the domestic economy was undergoing a major slowdown? A. We have shown considerable growth in revenue and profitability since inception. However, the year 2009 had its perils due to the economic slow down and we were not an exception to it. But as an organization we did take necessary steps to set the platform for growth in 2010 and beyond.

Q. What are the factors that provide the company its competitive edge in India?

A. Our products and solutions in the mailstream space are the best in the industry because Pitney Bowes invests generously in R&D and currently holds over 1500 patents. Pitney Bowes India is the only company to have a direct presence in India in this category with 11 strategic offices and 150 trained professionals. We serve both large and small customers to help them connect with their customers and increase their business communication better. Trust the over 12,000 customers who have made us the choice solutions provider., In the transactional communication space having a direct presence in India provides the required comfort and confidence to the customers in using our technology for all the machine critical jobs. Due to these factors, we command leading market share in the mail stream technology space.

Q. Could you elaborate on the mailing solutions offered by Pitney Bowes?

A. Pitney Bowes offers a wide variety of mailing solutions in India. In the high end, we have post production folding & finishing solutions in the transactional printing space to process documents like telecom bill statements, credit card statements, bank statements, insurance premium notices and other utility statements. In the mid and low segment we have solutions that can address the needs of document processing in the office scenario right from routine communication to others like marketing mailers, collaterals, dealer communication, pay roll processing etc. We are in a unique position of being able to provide technology including software solutions to manage customer communication requirements of organisations and institutions. Many companies offer solutions, but only Pitney Bowes offer smart, secured and connected solutions.

Q. What are the primary market segments of Pitney Bowes in India?

A. The primary market segments for the high end products are in the BFSI & Telecom segment and for the mid/low volume, it is SMEs. Our entry level products like franking machines, table top folding/inserting machines, letter openers etc. are used across the spectrum in lare and small offices that value efficiency and integrity. Currently, the products and solutions offered by Pitney Bowes at the high-end of the value chain are in the nascent stage and the market is opening up with growth in volumes in the transactional printing space. The verticals like Telecom, Banking and utilities do present very clear opportunities for us to provide the value added solutions to help them manage their customer communication.

Q. How do you help the telecom companies to effectively manage their digital and physical communication needs in the growing market?

A. Pitney Bowes plays an important role in managing the documents effectively across the globe and we process millions of vital communication for our customers to their custoners. The telecom companies can benefit considerably from our solution through centralization of their entire billing operation in a single hub instead of processing bills in many different parts of the country. Their productivity and efficiency can be increased to a phenomenal level by using our solutions. Faster processing of bills as a result of centralised billing would certainly result in improved collections. This would have positive impact on the cash flows of telecom companies. In addition, solutions of this nature will enable companies to react quickly in the dynamic market to connect with their customers.

Q. What measures is the company taking to expand its business opportunities in the Indian market?

A. The technology and innovation are certainly our two key strengths. We are leveraging these strengths to provide the appropriate technology to expand in the Indian market space. Q. Pitney Bowes has successfully launched the digital postal meter powered by “Postage by Phone’’ in India in 2008.

Q. Could you discuss about the opportunities and benefits that the various sectors are going to derive from this product?

A. There are over 20,000 postal franking machines installed in India. However, this is relatively under-developed vs the volume of mails per capita compared to other markets. The market needs to understand the value the digital franking meter offeres in terms of cost accountability, accuracy and convenience. A major advantage of digital meters is the remote resetting feature as compared to conventional meters wherein customers had to carry the franking machine to post office for the purpose of loading. In addition, the technology does provide facilities to customers to download rate changes and software upgrades as and when required. The digital printing of the postage amount along with the slogan does provide a very professional image to the mail piece.

Q. Pitney Bowes has announced the option of Growth strategy called Vision 2012 aimed at capitalising the growing opportunities for mailstream solutions in India. Could you please elaborate on the growth strategy and the diverse market opportunity that India presents?

A. Pitney Bowes in India has adopted a growth strategy to capitalise on the growing opportunities in the transaction printing space. The growth is mostly going to come from the increasing opportunities from the Retail, Banking and Insurance sector that are growing more than 20%. Also, with the telecom subscription touching nearly 600 million, the growth in document processing is imminent from the telecom sector. To address this situation, Pitney Bowes has recently started acquiring new talents and has created three broad revenue streams in the organsiation like Enterprise, Commercial and Channel to address different market needs.

Q. Would you like to shed some light regarding the new solutions that the company is planning to implement in the near future?

A. Our focus would be to provide end-to-end solutions in the customer communication management (CCM) space to help organisations leverage the power to find and communicate with more customers effectively and efficiently, with high integrity and accuracy.

Q. What according to you would be the major challenges that the company may face in the near future?

A. One major challenge is to have postal reform complement and reward mails which have accurate addresses and enable postal efficiency. The Post sits between the sender and the recipient and a balanced shared commitment will definitely benefit the economy.

Q. What would be the emerging areas of growth in the near future?

A. The growth could mainly come from organization differentiating between customer groups by their needs. There are emerging trends in more developed markets enhancing technology and data mining to reach individuals more intimately. The wave of transpromo and direct mails could be the emerging growth for the future.