Pitney Bowes 2002 Annual Report Download - page 4

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Throughout the year, we remained focused and committed
to our shareholders, customers and employees’ long-term
success. In this letter, I would like to share with you how
we are uniquely positioned to help engineer the flow of
communication—providing our customers with a broad
set of leading-edge, global, integrated mail and docu-
ment management solutions that increase efficiency and
effectiveness, thereby improving our customers’
relationships with their customers. In fact, “Engineering
the flow of communication” is the foundation of our
new branding initiative, which will be driving all our
marketing efforts.
Accomplishments
With respect to our 2002 financial results, we met our
earnings guidance, generated over $680 million in free
cash flow, completed a $300 million share repurchase
program, made year-end contributions of $339 million
to our pension plans and increased our dividend from
$1.18 to $1.20, our 21st straight year of dividend increase
and grew our revenue by 7%—all great accomplishments.
As part of our plans for growth, our focus was on improving
customer-facing processes—making great progress
throughout the year in the following areas:
∏Enhancing services on My Account on pb.com resulting
in over 500,000 registered users and 1.9 million portal
visits. Nearly 9% of our supplies, service and postage
reset transactions are web-based.
∏Streamlining installation and billing processes,
increasing customer satisfaction by 10%.
∏Improving customer care in our call centers—
increasing first call resolution by 11%.
∏Our Management Services customer satisfaction
increased to nearly 99% because of superior service
delivery aided by our new Service Excellence customer
feedback tool.
I am excited about the launch of a new series of digital
mailing solutions and two inserting solutions that give
mailers access to valuable new services and help them
increase productivity and profitability within their business.
The revolutionary DM Series™digital mailing solutions,
our flagship Advanced Productivity System (APS Series™)
and our new FlowMaster™system provide mailers of all
sizes with profitable customer connections.
In 2002, we successfully completed two major acquisitions
integral to our growth strategy: PSI Group, Inc., the largest
mail presort company in the U.S., and Mailcode, Inc., a
premier provider of mail sorting and tracking technology.
Going Forward
For 2003, we have undertaken three strategic imperatives:
growth, streamlining our infrastructure, and developing
talent. To support these efforts, we’ve established a
One Company Vision and a set of Operating Principles.
These principles will guide our planning and decision
making as we move ahead.
Here are our plans for growth:
We are expanding our core business. We will build
on the strengths of our existing business and yield new
growth from compatible businesses. The DM Series
To Our Shareholders ∏ ∏ ∏
“I am proud of what Pitney Bowes
accomplished in 2002,
and very positive about our future.”